European Football Is In Stagnation, And Something Needs To Change

European Football Is In Stagnation, And Something Needs To Change
16:08, 26 Apr 2018

Jurgen Klopp should be rubbing his hands with glee having watched the first leg of the Champions league semi-final between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

If that showing is anything to go by then they will easily win the final. The supposed two best sides left in the competition served up a drab comedy of errors, with wayward passing and mistakes the order of the day between two sides who had no actual plan. Could anybody actually say what Bayern’s or Real’s tactics were?

Even the usually vocal Bayern crowd were left flat by the end, such was the pathetic showing on offer.

Bayern Munich - the German powerhouse on a run of six consecutive Bundesliga titles – looked jaded by 70 minutes as if they hadn’t had a proper match in months.

Real Madrid – undoubtedly full of individual talent – seem to rely on defensive good fortune coupled by a moment of magic from one of their star attackers.

It seems a far cry from some of the great games of the 2000’s where teams outside the so called ‘big teams’ bracket would regularly infiltrate the latter stages.

Between 2000 and 2010, the Quarter Finals of the Champions League regularly featured teams who now never get out of the group stage.

Deportivo La Coruna, Panathanaikos, Fenerbache, Ajax, Lyon, PSV, Galatasaray, Villareal, Valencia, Porto, Benfica and CSKA all featured in Quarter Finals during that decade.

Only once during that period did five of the quarter-finalists from one year feature in the same stage the following year.

In contrast, since 2010, four times there have been five of the same quarter-finalists from the previous year.

As the big clubs have bent the rules in their favour, the group stages have become a mere procession, barring usually only one supposed group of death.

When was the last time one of the genuine favourites failed to make it out of their group?

The last 16 then follows the same pattern until eventuall,y the quarter-finals throw up something of interest.

But even then there are few surprises. This year for example arguably the two best sides in it met each other, with Liverpool the victors.

Both Guardiola and Klopp have tactics that resemble each other, but there is no denying what they are.

Even the much-maligned Jose Mourinho may well be one of the last actual tactical managers in the game. At least you can see his plan and philosophy no matter how much you dislike it.

Ten years ago, you had knowhow of AC Milan, Inter or Lyon. Then there was always the surprise package like Schalke or Malaga.

Not anymore. Most teams play a similar bland attacking brand of football, nearly always an incarnation of a 4-3-3, with no hint of specific tactics being rolled out to navigate each particular tie.

Even the brief revival of the Europa League thanks to a Champions League spot being awarded to the winners was seemingly short lived with very few of the supposed ‘big teams’ in the competition treating it seriously enough to put out a full-strength side.

As a result the average fan who may support a side outside the upper echelons of European football has switched off. The away goals rule also seems redundant and the hope of seeing a genuine tactical match-up between two sides seems a thing of the past.

Of course, there are still great games and fans buy into it as we have seen this season. But the outcome has become dull and predictable.

Nobody can say that what fans witnessed in Munich was the best on offer. Something has to change.

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