PARIS (AFP) - Is English club football the best in the
world? That was the debate in highly respected French sports
newspaper L'Equipe on Tuesday, sparked by a pair of excuses from
the bosses of underachieving teams.
Chelsea's Jose Mourinho lamented his lack of fit centre-halfs in
excusing his side's 2-0 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday before
suggesting it would be easier to win the Champions League than the
Premiership in his predicament.
"Maybe in the Champions League you can play without central
defenders when you are up against fast players with movement," he
said. "In the Premiership it is impossible when you have a tall
target man and people used to playing with their back to
goal."
And Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, whose side dramatically toppled
league leader's Manchester United on Sunday with an injury-time
winner, pointed to the performance of English teams in European
competition groups stages this season as he tried to explain away
the 12-point gap between his team and the top of the table.
Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all topped their Champions
League groups while Blackburn, Tottenham and Bolton achieved
likewise in the UEFA Cup. "That shows you how hard it is to win in
England," complained Wenger.
But while L'Equipe accepts that the English league is unsurpassed
for entertainment and riches, it questioned England's claim to have
the best league. "The Premiership is very, very rich, the football
is spectacular, as shown by Manchester United and Arsenal these
last few weeks," said L'Equipe.
"It's spectacular but that's about as far as it goes."
It points out that while England produced the Champions League
winners in 2005 (Liverpool) and finalists in both last season's
European tournaments - Arsenal in the Champions League and
Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup - English club's success in Europe
since being allowed back into the competitions in 1990-91 have been
left in the shade by Spain and Italy.
Spain have won five Champions League crowns and Italy three while
England sits joint third with Germany on two. Italy have won 11
European trophies in that period, with Spain claiming nine and
England again in third on six - helped largely by three victories
in the now defunct and previously derided Cup Winners' Cup.
England also sits only third in UEFA club rankings with 63.486
points compared to Italy's 66.731 and Spain's 72.748 - although the
top three are well clear of the rest, headed by France and
Germany.
"Is the Premiership an irresistible seducer? Certainly. A model?
That's not so sure," concludes L'Equipe.
