EPL Talk » AC Milan

Why Aren’t English Teams Making Their Dominance Count in the Champions League?

Sebastian Shepard — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:11:24 +0000

That the EPL is the best championship in the world is plain for everyone to see. The teams are far and away the strongest, most physical, and quickest. With exceptions to super teams like Barcelona, the four Premier League teams involved in the Champions League can (and do) knock off foreign opposition rather easily.

Yet in 5 finals in which an English team has played, only two have been champions. A 40% winning percentage doesn’t seem bad, but consider that the winner between Man United and Chelsea had to be from the EPL. That leaves 4 finals that a continental team could win, and they have won 3 of them. 1 out of 4 is not at all impressive, especially considering the ease with which the EPL teams seem to reach the final. So what accounts for this discrepancy in dominance and silverware?

One account might be that the English teams have been unlucky to only win one. I would disagree. If anything, Liverpool (and by extension, the EPL) are the luckiest winners of the four games, beating a Milan team that really should have won if not for a string of miraculous goals and saves. Barcelona and Milan in ‘06, ‘07 and ‘09 were in far greater control of the games than their British opposition, though Arsenal at least had the excuse of being a man down.

One account might be that the EPL is not as dominant as it seems. There is strong bias in the English-language press, and it manifests in the constant recitation of English superiority. Considering this, one could argue that despite the routine losses, continental clubs actually put up the stiffest resistance to English clubs.

One can see this during the 2009 edition. Over two legs, Manchester United beat Arsenal by 3 goals, but Porto by 1 and Inter by 2. Chelsea beat Liverpool by 2 but could only beat Juventus by 1 and could only tie Barcelona. Against weaker opposition in the group stage, the EPL looks fantastic, but against top clubs, especially those with lots of players with Champions League experience like Milan and Barcelona, passing through to the next round in the knockout stage is never assured.

Unfortunately for this theory, those who actually watched the games will probably say the 1 and 2 goal score lines do not really do the games justice, and that Chelsea should have won the second leg by at least 1. The EPL teams have been stronger over the past five seasons; it should be quite clear to anyone who watches for a few matches with EPL clubs and then compares it to a Porto vs. Atletico Madrid showdown, for instance.

I would argue that the reason is a strange combination of luck and inspiration, and maybe a touch of club attitude.

The best team does not always win the Champions League. In 2007 Milan was not the best club in the tournament. They were lucky at times, but mostly it came down to a Kaka playing like he was inspired by God. (Oh, that’s right, he actually was.) He single-handedly took apart Man United, downed Celtic, and was the impetus behind both Inzaghi goals in the final. During that season in the Serie A, they finished 5th. Runners-up Liverpool were 3rd, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference. They were also not the best team in the competition, they were like Milan in that they were best at the competition.

AC Milan, according to their website, is the most successful international club in the world. It seems part of their culture to do well in in tournaments, just like Liverpool seem to light up on European nights as they flounder in EPL purgatory. There’s no science to it. Arsenal and Chelsea try and try to be successful in the UCL but it hasn’t come. Sometimes the best win, like in 2006, 2008 and 2009 but often times the teams that are good at winning it do so, like in 2005 and 2007.

This season the best team won, but they also had all the right ingredients. They had Messi the inspired superstar; they had the 93rd minute Iniesta wondergoal, and the general team inspiration in quest of the first Spanish treble. Barcelona might not have the history of Milan or Liverpool, but it looks like they’re trying to build it.

While the EPL dominance may continue for 2 years, 5, or 10, I’m not sure how many Champions League trophies will find their way back to England. As long as teams like AC Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are around, the gulf in class can be overcome on any given European night.

Chelsea Confirm Ancelotti As New Blues Boss

Paul Bestall — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:26:07 +0000

Well, the most unsurprising managerial appointment of the summer has thankfully been completed this morning, with Carlo Ancelotti taking over as the new manager of Chelsea on July 1st. It was no real surprise at all really and a couple of weeks ago, I posted my thoughts that Ancelotti was making sure that Chelsea really wanted him and sure enough, they did.

I feel for Ancelotti over his treatment at AC Milan, the owner was never the type that was ever going to stay in the background, as Berlusconi’s system was to buy aging stars and then give them to Ancelotti to try and fit into his system. He also had to cope with the fallout from the Calciopoli match fixing scandal, which saw Milan lose their Champions League place for the 2006-2007 season and start with minus 8 points. With the continual pressures of working for Italy’s Prime Minister, it was always going to be tough but he managed to deal with the situation as well as could be possible.

Of course, the detractors will point to his language skills and it is unusual for Chelsea to move so quickly for a manager learning the language, considering the problems with communication that apparently led to Scolari’s demise as the Blues manager. Tactically, we are constantly told that Abramovich wants Chelsea to play a fluid, attacking game, which is something that could never really be applied to Ancelotti’s tenure at the Rossoneri. Yet here is a manager that has had to deal with some of the largest ego’s in world football over the last few years, with Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Shevchenko and Beckham all being thrust upon him by his owner, trying to fit them into his system.

Getting AC Milan to three Champions League finals is also some achievement, but does that gloss over some of the failings of Milan’s recent Serie A showings, with no title in 5 seasons and third place only secured with the weekend’s victory over Fiorentina? Maybe, but Milan have still consistently shown well in the Champions League during his time as manager. Perhaps my main criticism, if it is one, is the age of the Milan squad. This is a team that creaks when it takes to the field and the over emphasis on Kaka and Pato is perhaps too much for even those two to drag the rest of the onwards.

Ideally, he’s probably left AC Milan at the right time, with his position questioned several times in the Italian press, a team massively in debt and a squad that needs a major overhaul to compete both domestically and in the Champions League. He’s left before Kaka has to be sold, which is in his benefit, no manager wants to be in charge when Milan finally cash in on their main asset and with the continual issues affecting the Italian League (Lack of exposure, rising debts, continual issues with hooliganism and Inter already looking like they can’t be caught again next season), Ancelotti will look back at leaving Milan with some relief I imagine.

Now he becomes Chelsea’s 5th manager in 3 seasons and with stories covering just how much he’ll have to spend ranging from £50 million to £200 million, Ancelotti has an opportunity to take Chelsea forwards. Of course it’s a big job, Chelsea’s squad does need overhauling, with more options up front and in midfield the key aspects that he needs to address. Being a top level manager in a major city will be fine for him, he’ll be used to the pressures that come with the terroritry and he’ll know exactly the type of players he wants.

It’ll be interesting to see if Chelsea sign anyone before July 1st, to see if Ancelotti has given a list of targets to the club to get for him, and with John Terry wanting the owner to spend big this summer, once again, Stamford Bridge will be an interesting place to be pre-season.

Is Carlo Ancelotti Leading Chelsea Or A.C. Milan A Merry Dance?

Paul Bestall — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:25:13 +0000

When Guus Hiddink stepped into the breach after a heartfelt plea from Roman Abrahamovich, the only definite thing we knew was that Hiddink would only be there until the end of the season. Hiddink has stuck to his line of response throughout his time at Stamford Bridge, politely but firmly dealing with the increasingly banal questions fired at him over his future plans.

So once the tabloids and television journalists finally got the message after 2 months, speculation moved towards Hiddinks inevitable successor. Of the names mentioned, the one with the most column inches seems to be Carlo Ancelotti of A.C. Milan. A former hero of the rossoneri, Ancelotti took the reins at the San Siro in 2001 and had the daunting task of rebuilding a floundering Milan.

Yet over the weekend, Ancelotti has been dismissing any link with Chelsea and the managers vacancy, by staking his future is still with Milan. “It is not a problem which concerns me, I don’t have to give my availability and the time has not yet come for me to be replaced at Milan.” Yet as is always the case with football, especially in Europe, 24 hours is a long time. Milan’s shy and retiring owner, the little known Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi then came out and blamed Ancelotti for A.C. not winning the scudetto by his poor tactical choices throughout the season.

I think Mr Berlusconi is probably not the best person to be criticising other people choices right now, but the lack of support from his club for Ancelotti since the outburst is deafening. With all indications that Abramovich is about to signal a return to the spending power of his first 3 seasons in charge of Chelsea, it was probably the indication for Ancelotti that he should wait for Berlusconi to sack him, rather than walk out for the Chelsea job.

Regardless of what Ancelotti has achieved in his 7 seasons at Milan, the 8 trophies he’s collected and the fact he survived the refereeing scandal that tarnished Italian football in 2006, only one person has the power at Milan and unfortunately it seems he doesn’t seem to care for Carlo’s achievements one little bit. Perhaps the statements from Ancelotti were simply a case of fishing for a response to see exactly where he stood in the scheme of things at Milan. By offering the bait of stating his intent to stay to see exactly where he stood, Berlusconi bit and has probably made up the mind of Ancelotti to join Chelsea. It’s a plan of lubricious deceit if it plays out correctly and Ancelotti now must know his future lays away from Italy now.

If Ancelotti has now found out just how much he’s appreciated in the corridors of power at Milan, his position was always under pressure once Marco Van Basten left Ajax. Berlusconi will have noted that and perhaps that was the signal for Ancelotti to check if the seat was still free for him in SW6. With Abramovich promising plenty of money to spend, certainly more than he ever had at Milan, it’s probably going to be the easiest thing in the world for him to wait for the sack and hop straight on the next flight to London.

England Respects David Beckham, Why Can’t We?

Richard Whittall — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:35:55 +0000

Say what you will about David Beckham, but at least the man isn’t on Twitter.

Too bad in a way, because Beckham epitomizes the Internet age. Thirty years ago, football’s ignominious sideshow used to be known only to players and pub owners; today, David Beckham has made the 24 hour netnews tabloid periphery the main event. Or rather, he hasn’t per se. Had he married a twenty-six year old accounting executive and never dropped by the hair salon, it’s very likely we’d view David Beckham much in the same way as we view any aging England star—nice that he’s still chugging away, but when will he secure that TV pundit deal and drop out already?

And no, this isn’t just another David Beckham harangue. The man is on the verge of breaking Bobby Moore’s venerable record of 108 England caps. John Terry has openly spoken of giving him the armband if he gets subbed on against Slovakia. This after he’s already quieted, if not silenced completely, his critics by playing well with AC Milan after a dubious pair of seasons with the LA Galaxy. Even though, like the late George Best remarked, the man can’t score, dribble, or mark to save his life, all he’s got is that right foot.

But what a foot! Many fans under twenty might think a player like Beckham would be inconceivable playing for the fluid, short-passing United of the late naughts, but as Rob Smyth pointed out today, his partnership with Scholes, Giggs and Keane was for a time the most effective midfield in English football. His foot brought qualification to England for WC 2002, and, via Shearingham and Solskjaer, won Manchester United a European Cup.

So why all the animosity? It can’t be because he’s been overrated; certainly no one worthy of attention has or will ever call him one of the all-time greats. Some ‘real’ fans hate him because he is the face of ’sah-ker’ for the unconverted, even while the Leonel Messi’s and Dani Alves’ of the world play a much better game at a much younger age with relatively little outside regard. To others, he simply represents everything wrong with modern football—sponsorship, ad deals, money, his b-list celebrity wife and chavish looks, fame without the once requisite talent to justify it. They regard him as soccer’s Paris Hilton.

Perhaps. To them, I would only say that in thirty years time, no one, outside of some nineties/naughts retrospective, will care about Victoria or sunglasses or 100 million dollar transfer deals to North American bush leagues. They will remember the football. It wasn’t always great, but whether it was or it wasn’t, at least the man was dedicated.

And didn’t feel the need to Tweet about it.

Can Manchester City Win The UEFA CUP?

Paul Bestall — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:13:00 +0000

Could Manchester City finally put their 33 year major trophy drought to bed this season by winning the UEFA Cup this season? Why not, what with Ajax crashing out last night at the hands of Marseille and Zenit St Petersburg and CSKA Moscow losing today, the competition for the trophy is getting into the nitty gritty stage and it seems to be opening up for City. Mark Hughes side has been wildly inconsistent, putting 6 past Portsmouth and 5 past Hull City, but dumped out of the League Cup by Brighton on penalties and were humiliated at home 3-0 by Nottingham Forest in the F.A. Cup but they’ve been impressive in the UEFA Cup both at home and abroad this season. With only one away win in the league, it’s been a strange season for the City faithful.

Tonight they travel to Northern Jutland to face Aalborg with a 2-0 lead and a chance to move into the Quarter Finals for a real crack at the trophy. Yet, Manchester City have a history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory which is unparalled in English Football that has seen their fans develop a very healthy ability to laugh at themselves. Surely this could be their season to finally put a proper smile on faces of the City faithful? It’s certainly a weaker UEFA Cup than it could have been with AC Milan, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Fiorentina, Bordeaux and Valencia all being removed from the competition before we even reached the last 16.I don’t think Mark Hughes will be upset to see any of those sides out at all. Their first 11 is certainly as good as some of the remaining teams in the competition, maybe one of the best, so it’s not impossible to imagine City lifting the trophy in Turkey on May 20th.

City though have perhaps received a little too much stick this season for me. Sure they’ve become the richest club in the world but it’s still a transitional season for them. Thankfully for us, Chief Executive Gary Cook seems to have kept a very low profile after his rather childish comments about AC Milan and Kaka in January, which is a blessing for us all. His rather acidic nature and bombastic attitude doesn’t sit well people and attracts as much criticism as it deserves, but Hughes has also had a fair amount of flak, unfairly I feel. It’s a learning curve for everyone at Manchester City, ever since the Robinho signing, they’ve suddenly moved onto a different level but they’ve got their best chance of some serious silverware for a long time in the UEFA Cup.

If they can negotiate tonight’s away leg, which knowing City, is no forgone conclusion, then the key teams to avoid are Werder Bremen and whoever wins in the tie of the round, Galatasaray v SV Hamburg. Martin Jol’s team have a lot to do and need to score in Turkey tonight to have any chance to get through but if they do, then they’ll become the favourite for the cup. If City can avoid those teams, then reaching the final becomes a realistic proposition for Mark Hughes. I hope they do get there, he’s dealt with rumour and counter rumour all season with supreme patience, fending questions about his future, transfers, ongoing issues with certain big name players and the change in expectations once Manchester City were ought by the Abu Dhabi United Group, with courtesy.He deserves a bit of luck after everything that’s been thrown at him throughout the season.

I wish them all the best in Europe and hope we get a Hamburg and Manchester City final for the last ever UEFA Cup final before we welcome the Europa League next season.