didn't see tonight games i was traveling.. but anyone still doubt the EPL Quality and strength?... we seriously must study & even emulate them ... and please it's not about the money Real for example make more money yet way behind.. not about the stars as well .. EPL made players stars.. not the other way around.. i'm hardly a pro-EPL person.. i don't even like watching it.. but things need to be studied and analyzed
we have fallen behind and it's very sad.. but if the Liga & Serie teams don't move and move quickly things will turn really bad...
3 consecutive years .. 3 out of 4 CL semi Finalist are EPL teams.. never happened before NEVER.. it's fucking scary for the future of our beloved Liga and UEFA club competition .. the dominance of the EPL teams is a catastrophe for the other leagues.. not this way
Correction: Everyone apart from Barça has fallen behind. TBH it is the English style plus the adaptation to what made the Italians a force, Catenaccio. When English teams go away from home and open up (like Man Utd against Milan in 06/07) they fail miserably. They have simply became more tactically aware tbh. Then there is the finances, which will not last forever as alot of the big 4 English sides are in crippling debts which WILL catch up to them eventually.
Look at it this way even Man Utd at their best only just squeezed through against a (by all standards poor) Barcelona side last season. Barça even if we lose against Chelsea have been in 3 out of the last 4 semi finals...The dominance isn't EPL, it is EPL + Barça. Also suffice to say this has been a bad year for Spain even in the UEFA Cup. BUT it hasn't been fantastic for EPL teams either. Beyond the top 4 I'd match up Atleti, Valencia, Villarreal, Sevilla with Spurs, Everton, Villa and Man City.
The solution is simply to keep going with our style Beast but to buy into what makes the EPL so dominant, power. Their players are big and strong but are also fitter than they have ever been before. How did they do that? by hiring foreign coaches, and using their methods. You'll hate it but you do what Pep has done and what has arguably made Barça so hard to beat in La Liga this season beyond our possession, bring in powerful players who are also good with the ball at their feet.
Look at us now with Keita, Busquets and Pique (a signing you thought wouldn't come off but has come off amazingly well as he is the big guy who can mark the English's big forwards like Drogba). You could also say Alves is physically strong, even if in stature he is small. Hleb even though he has not come off, is a player with EPL experience. Add to that Toure, Abidal, Puyol and Marquez who we already had, and Peps orders for Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Eto'o to spend hours in the gym outside of training to bulk themselves up for an English tie and we have been preparing for this all season. All our players look physically more muscled now than they did early in the season.
Then look at how our tempo of play has sped up immensely. TBH You can try say it is the Liga's problem Beast but right now Barça are way ahead of the rest in meeting the English threat. You'll probably disagree but we are the best equiped team to meet the English, not only because of our attack either.