Saturday, 11 May 2019

English Dominance

It was the summer of 2009 when Manchester, England was filled with hope of landing yet another Holy Grail, however everyone knew what they were up against and their manager more than anyone else. Their opponent was a behemoth whose bench would humiliate most of the European teams and yes you have guessed it right, it was Barcelona. To add insult to the injury, they had a new manager who was an ex-Catalan himself and had brought a whole new style of play which later was infamously called "tiki-taka". On the other hand, Manchester United had this really good young kid and arguably the most famous headmaster in the history of football - Sir Alex Ferguson and you can guess why he had a knighthood. Manchester United were crushed as expected in what was almost a one-sided game. It was the beginning of what resulted in a all out Spanish dominance in Europe. Spanish teams won all the finals that they played after that. Barcelona and Real Madrid shared 7 of the next 10 Champions Cups and for most of the parts, it was nothing but a piece of cake. It was 2016-17 campaign when Madrid didn't lose even a single game out of the 13 they had played. These were those times when even a random guess for winner would be right 70% of the times. The most coveted competition in Europe started to lose its meaning and critics had nothing but praise for Spanish teams and criticism for other leagues. This consistency and publicity was helping Spanish teams as good talent was attracted towards them like a moth to the flame and money was definitely a big plus as that was helping them in sealing the deal.


How it impacted English Football


English Premier League (EPL) faced the most criticism as it was the most popular league at that time and had Russian and Middle Eastern billionaires backing them. Increasing pressure led to investment of billions of pounds which led to rejuvenation of these clubs with new managers and players but with similar results. Top 4 English teams saw departure of 23 managers during this period and it wasn't the case that no one was producing results. English teams did play 4 finals during this period and managed to win one. Its just that owners and fans were expecting more than a  meager trophy in 10 years and as a result of constant failure, these teams started losing good players. Cristiano, Suarez, Bale, Coutinho, Courtois and other big names in English leagues booked their one way tickets to Spain. Although English teams got a lot of money in exchange but they weren't able to put it to good use due to dearth of players in the market and a bunch of combined bad decisions.


What next?


While this was misery for many, some sensed an opportunity.  English premier league saw arrival of some of the best managers across Europe in past 3 years and they started building and money was never a concern as billions of pounds were pouring in from advertisement deals, kit sponsorship and obviously expensive transfers. These big managers started attracting big players as well but fans got nothing but disappointment in the first year. None of the teams were able to impress with the torch bearer, Manchester City getting eliminated in round of 16 and while everyone was thinking that it is next to impossible for English teams to leave a pan-Europe impression, these creative geniuses had something else in mind. They were doing their magic and a culture of constant evolution became perennial in English football. They were developing a team with depth, character and rigor and they showed it the very next year with Liverpool reaching the final of Champions League and 3 of the 4 semi-finalists and both the finalists from England the year after (2018-19). Those who didn't make it to Champions league secured the final spots in sister European competition and English teams created the history as for the first time ever, finalists across all European competitions were English and remind you that these are the clubs that play 3 domestic leagues every year as compared to 2 that other clubs do. Actions indeed speak.


Is it really a dominance?


As you must be wondering what good one season would do and you are right, English teams still have a long way to go. It is time for celebration for English football and its fans. While there are a lot of reasons to believe that these teams can repeat the same feat next season, it is too early to predict the turn of events. Stay hopeful.