I AM flabbergasted by how poorly our top teams are performing in the Champions League.

There were signs of it even last year, even when Manchester United and Manchester City went into the Europa League, because they got blown away by teams who were supposedly inferior.

I have seen Ajax a couple of times and they are very pretty – but they are naive.

They are no powerhouse of Europe and are only fourth in the Dutch League, but they made City look very, very ordinary the other night in winning 3-1 after being behind.

People have been complaining about tactics and defensive set-ups, but the truth is City should be comfortably beating sides like Ajax.

Braga are a very average Portuguese side, no world-beaters in their own country, and yet they were 2-0 up at Old Trafford before United came back to win.

There is a school of thought that our Premier League is so marketable because it’s exciting, yet the quality isn’t there. There is no doubt our top league is exciting, but we do seem to have hit a lull in Europe – not even a lull really, because we seem to be going backwards in European competition.

People will probably point to the fact Chelsea are the current European Champions and think I’m talking rubbish, but they used up every bit of luck imaginable to win last year’s final.