The following are three quotes from Jason Cundy who was debating recently with Graham Hunter on Sky Sports News about whether Barcelona would win the Premier League.
Jason Cundy: “You saw the way Chelsea played against Barcelona, that’s the way to play against them”
Jason Cundy: “English football is very very different to Spanish football, it would be a fascinating game between Stoke and Barca, particularly at the Britannia”
Jason Cundy: “La Liga is nowhere near as strong as the Premier League”
It would not be too speculative for me to say the sentiments expressed above are shared by many football pundits in England. We are then presented with an ideal opportunity to investigate the credentials of the Premiership and whether we ought to be proud.
The first of these quotes is a semi-victory for Barcelona fans as the Blues arrived at the Nou Camp in April with the team bus parked clearly in front of their goal. They committed 17 fouls to Barcelona’s 7 and achieved 30% possession in both legs. No doubt what Raman Abramovich had in mind when he bought the club in 2004.
When a Premiership giant such as Chelsea endorse this type of philosophy a message resonates through the whole edifice of English football. The message to youth team coaches and players is clear, thwart your opponents, stifle them and be aggressive. Major competitions have indeed been won with such footballing theories, but it’s not how they do it in Spain or Brazil and it’s not the way we should do it.
The second quote provides further ammunition for my argument. Are we to be proud that Stoke City could bully Barcelona into submission in the intimidating environment of the Britannia stadium? Is this a brand of football we would pay to watch? How many Premiership managers have said “If we let them play, we will lose”?
As Jason Cundy says the Premiership is the strongest, but the financial incentives in the league have helped to propagate an ill founded ‘do what it takes’ mentality. Let us not complain then when England does not produce a Zinedine Zidane, a Thierry Henry or a Lionel Messi.
