Whilst Chelsea and their fans deserve to be caught up in their recent European success, the rest of English football should not take it for granted that their triumph was good for the English game.
Before I start this article let me say first that I am not part of this new phenomena of football ‘purists’. I am not someone who believes that it is better to lose playing football the right away rather than win in a negative fashion. Nor am I deluded enough to think that simply playing hugely attractive football is a success in itself. In short, I am not an Arsenal fan. However, like most football fans, particularly when watching games where my own team is not involved, I like to be able to enjoy a decent spectacle of football. As you can imagine then, I was hardly eulogising over Chelsea’s style of football in Europe this year.
Why Chelsea felt the need to play such staggeringly poor and wholly defensive football however is baffling. Up against Barcelona their decision to play the entire game in their own half was perhaps justifiable if not pretty for the neutral. However, against an average Bayern Munich whose squad was assembled at a fraction of the cost of Chelsea it was just mildly embarrassing. I don’t for a minute doubt that Chelsea deserved to win the Champions League. I don’t even believe that they were that lucky. However, no one can escape the fact that their brand of football was nothing short of appalling.
English clubs succeeding in the competition is obviously a good thing for English football. However, after Chelsea’s display you really can’t see many neutrals around Europe hoping English teams make it to the latter stages of the competition next year. The whole Champions League is a real spectacle. However the semi-finals and final in particular are something really special. Thanks to Chelsea instead of a spectacle we were treated to 5 hours of attack versus defence. It was amusing to see Michel Platini barely make an effort to disguise how annoyed he was having to hand the winning medals over to the Chelsea players. I want to be able to support English teams in the Champions League and I have always thought that without doubt it is more interesting when an English team is in the final. Roberto Di Matteo certainly changed my mind. His mind-numbing style of football left me with a real sense of dissatisfaction that I wasn’t treated to an enjoyable Champions League final.
On a final note, I have heard so called experts claiming that Chelsea needed to suffocate the game to have a chance. Why we were giving the underdog tags to the Chelsea squad whose three strikers in the match day squad cost £90 million. This was not even a good Bayern Munich team they were playing. They finished well off the pace in the Bundesliga and lost 5-2 in their domestic cup final. As I said, whoever wins the competition deserves it and there is no argument about that. But it is certainly sad that English football will be viewed within Europe as the league where teams spend more than anyone else and still play the least attractive football.
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| Chelsea success a threat for English Football |
Why Chelsea felt the need to play such staggeringly poor and wholly defensive football however is baffling. Up against Barcelona their decision to play the entire game in their own half was perhaps justifiable if not pretty for the neutral. However, against an average Bayern Munich whose squad was assembled at a fraction of the cost of Chelsea it was just mildly embarrassing. I don’t for a minute doubt that Chelsea deserved to win the Champions League. I don’t even believe that they were that lucky. However, no one can escape the fact that their brand of football was nothing short of appalling.
English clubs succeeding in the competition is obviously a good thing for English football. However, after Chelsea’s display you really can’t see many neutrals around Europe hoping English teams make it to the latter stages of the competition next year. The whole Champions League is a real spectacle. However the semi-finals and final in particular are something really special. Thanks to Chelsea instead of a spectacle we were treated to 5 hours of attack versus defence. It was amusing to see Michel Platini barely make an effort to disguise how annoyed he was having to hand the winning medals over to the Chelsea players. I want to be able to support English teams in the Champions League and I have always thought that without doubt it is more interesting when an English team is in the final. Roberto Di Matteo certainly changed my mind. His mind-numbing style of football left me with a real sense of dissatisfaction that I wasn’t treated to an enjoyable Champions League final.
On a final note, I have heard so called experts claiming that Chelsea needed to suffocate the game to have a chance. Why we were giving the underdog tags to the Chelsea squad whose three strikers in the match day squad cost £90 million. This was not even a good Bayern Munich team they were playing. They finished well off the pace in the Bundesliga and lost 5-2 in their domestic cup final. As I said, whoever wins the competition deserves it and there is no argument about that. But it is certainly sad that English football will be viewed within Europe as the league where teams spend more than anyone else and still play the least attractive football.
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