Champions League Raises the Standard

Supporters have differing views on the Champions League (CL). Some are not interested in watching Europe's 'elite' strut their stuff on a Tuesday and Wednesday night (and we don't mean just Chelsea fans). Like all football, if your own team is not involved, it always takes a bit of the sting out of the viewing experience. And let's not deny it, it has been fashioned deliberately to make sure the top European teams enjoy the lion's share of the spoils. So it is not surprising that many choose to disregard it with a slightly inverted snobbish attitude.

However, if you're like us (and we're not alone in this), the CL represents an opportunity to see football from a completely different perspective. European football is a different game which is why it sometimes takes teams a few seasons in the CL before they get fully abreast of its subtleties. It took most English teams a while to get used to the CL style of football and there are now encouraging signs that the Scottish teams are no longer there just to make up the numbers either. There is no doubt that the pace of the game and level of skill are very different to what supporters are used to seeing in British football. From our perspective, that makes a welcome change.

One thing is for sure. The standard has improved immeasurably since the days when each nation's champion (in our case usually Liverpool) used to slug it out in a two-leg knockout competition over the course of the season. With all due respect to the various winners at that time, if the draw was kind to you, you could find yourself playing Grasshoppers in the semi-final for the chance to meet Malmo in the final. Now, you tend to get the very best club players in Europe, competing against each other at the very highest level. And isn't that what its all about? Not money (although in the end, of course it is hard to ignore) but football of the best calibre put together for the supporters' appreciation. That's how we feel and one of the reasons why, for us at least, the CL is worth giving up an evening or two's viewing for each fortnight. Remember, the World Cup was once the best standard of football by a country mile. Yet, by the late '90s it was becoming clear that, by being able to draw on the best players in the world, the CL had surpassed it in footballing standards.

But hold on. Foreign players. Yes that old chestnut. They're ruining our game apparently. Which is why various proposals are being put forward to limit the number within each team that can compete in the CL. Of course, as England and Scotland fans alike, we want our national teams to do well. We want to produce great home-grown players. But putting artificial limits in this way surely just puts a premium price on average England players, just because they have to be there. The end result is not a better England team but a far poorer CL competition and a less attractive proposition to drag you away from Eastenders! (well OK even the UEFA Cup is more attractive than Eastenders but you get the point). We've been shown the best and we can't now go back for a half-arsed idea about protecting national teams.

It's a tough dilemma for supporters because let's face it, we all want to see our teams jam-packed full of highly skillful English players. Surely we achieve that by setting the standard high and doing everything we can to make sure English players are coached and developed to that standard. This of course, means we have to put up with watching foreign players for a while if we want to see good football. The good home-grown players will naturally then find their way into the best teams. Chelsea and Manchester United have proved that. But, giving some average Joe a place in a CL team that he doesn't have to work to keep, simply because he's the right nationality, is not the way to raise standards and give supporters the highest level of football is it? This whole foreign v home-grown players debate needs a lot more consideration before bringing in arbitrary rules for dubious benefits.

Reclaim the Game - The Week's Events

• Of course there has been widespread condemnation of the Celtic fan who, after a little too much of the old falling down juice, came on and 'made contact' with Dida, the AC Milan keeper. Celtic will, no doubt, be subject to whatever punishment is deemed fair and necessary as a result of this. Dida himself may also be up before the Beak for his part in the amateur dramatics. After squaring up and looking like he was going to lamp the guy, he instead went down like a ton of bricks clutching his face. Now, since it was a fan and not an opposing player, he should be warned that this behaviour (apart from making him look like a prat) is not acceptable. However, maybe there is an ulterior motive. Should Milan find themselves struggling to qualify, RTG wonders if this incident might be an excuse to have Celtic thrown out of the competition. Watch this space!
• A lot has been said in this blog concerning English players and their relative shortcomings and overrated status. It was great from an England perspective to see John Terry fit to play against Valencia and Wayne Rooney back and scoring against Roma. Great. But the highly-critical media are the ones who put these players up on a pedestal to the detriment of England (and possibly their clubs as well). John Terry is a good player no doubt. But these people should always be looked on as having to prove themselves constantly. Instead we get a media who, through their lack of intelligence and "me too" attitude elevate these people above their station. You only have to consider how the inclusion of a clearly unfit David Beckham was integral to England's failure in the 2002 world cup. Still, he sold a lot of England shirts in Japan, so I'm sure the FA would have considered it all worthwhile. So when the likes of Tony Cascarino speaking on the radio bang on about John Terry being "absolutely essential" to Chelsea and England's success, he is just following the crowd in making over sensationalist statements. Sorry chaps but if he is that essential, Chelsea and England are doing something seriously wrong. Don't forget, England have not been especially brilliant over the last few years with or without these media favourites.
• Now it isn't always de rigeur for your average English football supporter to speak out in praise of the Scots (or vice versa). But, as already mentioned earlier, Rangers and Celtic deserve all the accolades for their results this week.
• As if we haven't said enough already about over-exposure of the game, bring on Channel Four's FanBanta. Without going into details about content, is there really any need for this show? Yet more hype and lazy programming that the game doesn't deserve or need. But, if you want to know what we think of it so far, it can best be described in two words - shite. And shite.