Champions League Failures Are Evidence of English Premier League in Transition

 

With Arsenal still in intensive care after the massacre in Milan and Chelsea left with gaping defensive wounds after being ripped to shreds in Naples, there's a very real chance England will be without a representative in the Champions League quarterfinals.
It would be the first time since 1996 that no Premier League team has made it through to the last eight—hardly an endorsement for its oft-quoted status as "the best league in the world."
So where did it all go wrong for England's finest this season? Are we witnessing a momentary blip? Or is there evidence of a more significant general decline?
At the start of the 2011-12 Champions League, it was business as usual. Manchester United were third favorites behind Barcelona and Real Madrid, while Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal all carried none-too-far-fetched hopes of their own.
La Liga offered up two pure thoroughbred stallions, but the Premier League's stable has never boasted greater strength in depth. Meanwhile, Serie A and the Bundesliga were more or less one-horse towns, populated by AC Milan and Bayern Munich, respectively.
Or at least that's what we thought.
United had made it to the final last spring, but this season the Red Devils were found wanting at both ends of the field and went out at the expense of a plucky (but hardly frightening) Basel side in the group stages. It was the first time that had happened since 2006.

Sir Alex Ferguson's team paid for its lack of invention and some seriously lax defending. United conceded five goals in three games at Old Trafford and looked a long way from the defensive tour de force that triumphed in 2008.City, meanwhile, were making their Champions League debut, and can class themselves more than a little unfortunate to have drawn a group that included both Bayern Munich and a potent Napoli team in the ascendancy. Theirs was the much-fabled "group of death."
City's narrow failure to advance has to be put in perspective. Roberto Mancini's men were unbeaten at home and ultimately put in a pretty decent account of themselves in their fledgling campaign. They'll be back as a more gnarled and star-studded collective next season.
As it turns out, it was the Premier League's two weaker sides, Arsenal and Chelsea, that emerged in the last 16, with both winning their groups to set up ties against Italian opposition.

 

The two London clubs entered the first legs in widely perceived states of disarray and proceeded to advertise their weaknesses against two teams that had prepared for much sterner tests.
Both Arsenal's humbling in Milan and that inflicted on Chelsea in Naples were the results of disastrous defensive displays. They also painted a picture of two teams in flux, with no clear sense of identity and desperate need for leadership.
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal have lost their way. Andre Villas-Boas' Chelsea are yet to find theirs. Confusion reigned as both sides were cut down by Italian teams that played to type and did exactly what we expected of them.
Should we be surprised at these results? Not based on the defensive evidence both English teams had presented this season. And certainly not when you factor in the upward trajectory of a Milan side that won the Serie A title last season and the best Napoli team since Diego Maradona wore the shirt.
Tales of Serie A's demise have clearly been exaggerated. But it's also far too soon to start writing off the Premier League.
You only need to study the charts in this article to see how the successful English clubs have been in recent campaigns. The Premier League has been represented in six of the last seven finals, and in the last five seasons, England has provided 16 of the 40 quarterfinalists.

Hardly the performance of a league in crisis. And when you consider Barcelona triumphed in 2006, the season after Spain had failed to put a team in the last eight, it's a little early to start writing an epitaph to the Premier League.
It might just be the time to put your money on an English club winning next season.
Arsenal and Chelsea are at opposite ends of life cycles, and when we consider Ferguson is rebuilding yet again at Manchester United, and City are adjusting to a new weight of expectancy, maybe this Champions League season has simply caught the Premier League in transition.
That's not to say England's top clubs don't need to address their defensive frailties and cut a more knowing figure on the biggest stage next season. In the case of Chelsea and Arsenal, more drastic changes may be required.
Arsenal have to spend, and I'd argue they need a new manager. Chelsea have to embrace the future and let go of their past. And if they don't overcome Napoli at home, they could well have a new manager too.
But let's not forget both clubs are some distance behind their London rivals Tottenham as we stand, and may not even make it to the Champions League next season. Then we can start talking about a changing of the guard, a new force in Spurs who just last season knocked Milan out of Europe.
It's all too easy to start writing off the Premier League, but don't be surprised if we're back here next season talking about the demise of La Liga.
And entertaining the possibility of four English sides in the quarterfinals.