Have Premier League clubs become complacent?

PSG defender Thiago Silva celebrates scoring an extra-time goal against Chelsea

As the post-mortem on Chelsea’s Champions League exit to PSG at the last-16 stage continues, people are now asking questions about the Premier League’s real place in the standings of European football.

Brink

Chelsea are out of the Champions League, while Manchester City head to Barcelona next week with a 2-1 deficit.

Meanwhile Arsenal travel to Monaco for the second leg of their tie following a 3-1 home defeat by the Ligue One side.

Neither of the two English sides left in the Champions League look to have much chance of making it into the last eight. Both will have to be at their best to make it through their respective ties.

For Arsenal to exit at the round of 16 would be a major disappointment, considering they were handed what was perceived as a comfortable draw against the Ligue One side.

Unfortunately they never showed up in the first leg and paid the price, with Monaco producing an outstanding performance at the Emirates.

Out

Even in the Europa League, Liverpool and Spurs both exited in the last-32. Neither had the Europa League down as their priority this season, but neither were good enough to field much-changed teams in the competition either.

Lone Survivor

By next Thursday Everton could be England’s sole representative in European football. The Toffees produced a stirring second half display on Thursday night to defeat Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev 2-1 at Goodison Park.

That is a very narrow lead to take to the troubled Ukraine, but as the Toffees have shown in previous rounds they tend to make a habit of winning at difficult places.

If Roberto Martinez’s side do exit the competition though, it could mean that no Premier League teams will be left in European competition, which at this stage of the season is a major disappointment.

Hype

The Premier League is regarded as the best in the world by some. However, a lot of that rhetoric comes from the people that run England’s top flight, the men that make millions from selling the worldwide rights to the league.

These are nothing more than used cars salesmen with better suits and bigger houses. In the last twenty years the Premier League has been the most marketed in the whole of the world.

Richard Scudamore and co. should get in touch with the owners of MLS and they may be able to make even more money for themselves marketing their league.

Standard

In truth, the top teams in the Premier League are nowhere near the standard of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, or Germany’s biggest hitter Bayern Munich. They are simply not in the same league, as much as some people like to think they are.

Chelsea’s defeat against a ten man PSG side proved that even the Premier League leaders are struggling to compete with some of their European counterparts.

Let’s not kid ourselves here, PSG are a very good, expensively assembled team and just because they play their domestic football in Ligue One does not mean they are not a top team.

Just like Chelsea and Manchester City, PSG have very rich and ambitious owners who are attempting to make the Parisians a worldwide brand. They have invested heavily to achieve this aim and their investment has already paid off with domestic titles.

However, just like Chelsea’s owner and City’s they are not going to be happy with just competing in the Champions League they want to win the prestigious trophy.

It is the ambition of clubs like PSG in recent years that has illustrated the fact that English clubs have stood still in recent years.

Manchester City are a prime example of how money cannot buy you success in Europe if it is not invested wisely. The Citizens continue to struggle to make an impact on the Champions League.

Has the summer signings of Fernando and Eliaquim Mangala really helped them achieve their ambitions this season? I will let you decide the answer to that one.

Complacent

Premier League teams have grown complacent over the last few years and instead of judging themselves on results and success they have judged themselves on the hype that is spun by the league spin doctors.

English teams performances in Europe really should lead to clubs questioning where they are going wrong and attempting to fix it. However for teams like City that does not mean going to Porto and snapping up a vastly over-priced star, because the problem runs deeper than just money.

For too long English teams have had a superior complexion, based on very little really. There was a short period when English teams were successful in European competition.

However, that cycle is now over and English football has to accept the fact that the Premier League and its teams is not the be all and end all.

Have Premier League clubs become complacent?