The demise of England’s teams so early in European competition is bound to prompt a few inquiries as to what can be done about the situation.
It has been fascinating just how big the divide has been in some of the games – particularly in the tie which saw Barcelona defeat Manchester City.
You can forget the arguments over whether Sergio Aguero’s missed penalty would have made a difference at the Nou Camp, because the gulf in class between Barca and City was just huge.
There was an extra intensity both physically and mentally from the Barcelona players, who were simply faster and quicker of thought all over the pitch.
And perhaps the reason for that is the amount of competitive football that our Premier League clubs are involved in.
Anyone who watches the coverage of Spain’s La Liga on Sky Sports will be well aware that in the vast majority of games the big clubs can play at about 50 to 60 per cent and still be doing enough to beat their opposition.
It certainly doesn’t feel the same when it comes to the Premier League.
Manchester City went to Barcelona after having been beaten in the league by Burnley – a side who also took points from league leaders Chelsea – and the truth is that the teams bottom of the Premier League essentially demand that the top clubs match them for effort and commitment otherwise their superior skill could well count for nothing.
In the Premier League in every match the three points have to be earned and that has to be physically draining.
Add into that most of the Premier League’s top players were in action in the World Cup during that summer, and very few of them have had a significant break for over a year and half.
While a team is winning it is fine, but as soon as they are chasing a game then the mental fatigue can kick in very quickly.
City never really looked capable of beating Barcelona, while Arsenal arguably only had themselves to blame for a poor first leg performance as they went out to Monaco, but Chelsea didn’t look to have enough in the locker to eventually overcome a ten-man Paris SG side in their last 16 meeting.
Even in the Europa league Liverpool and Tottenham bowed out looking as though their focus was very much more on their domestic duties rather than going on a protracted run to try and gain European glory.
Among the arguments over what can be done the issue of how many games our teams play will no doubt come up.
A reduced Premier League would help, but that is unlikely to happen, and perhaps having no FA Cup replays is a way forward – and definitely making the Capital One Cup semi-finals one-off games would be a start.
It was good to see Town take a point from their game against Norwich City, though they will still be wondering how they only ended up with a draw in the dying minutes.
Despite that late disappointment, the truth is that it was a strong display against a very good Norwich side and manager Chris Powell will be pleased with that.
However, I am sure that Chris will be impressing on the players that even when Town are safe that they cannot afford to let the season drift to a close.
