Despite a slightly better showing in Europe from the Manchester clubs, this years Champions League, (and to a lesser extent, Europa League), have been sobering experiences for the English.

Chelsea collapsed to a dismal defeat in Porto last week, Arsenal have shown the same old defensive weaknesses with two defeats in two so far (both against very limited opposition), while both Manchester United and Manchester City lost games in the first round of matches that will hurt them deeply. Add to this some mediocre results from our representatives in the Europa League, and it’s becoming hard not to have the sneaky suspicion that our league is short of the highest standard of European football right now.

It wasn’t always like this of course. There was a period in the mid-2000s when English clubs dominated the Champions League almost as a matter of course. Chelsea regularly made the semi finals, and the final once, only to lose to Manchester United, who themselves were also regular diners at the top tables of European competition.

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The Red Devils made it to three finals between 2008 and 2011, losing twice but winning once, in Moscow thanks to a slip up from John Terry. The two defeats were not exactly failures on a grand scale either, both of them coming against what surely must go down as one of the greatest modern (or indeed, ever) football teams; Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, with Messi, Eto’o et al.

Liverpool also had their period of dominance, making two finals in three years, both against the Italian giants AC Milan. A return of one victory and one defeat from these two encounters was a fair enough return for a club that were struggling to make the top two in the Premier League at the time. Indeed, their epic comeback against the Rossoneri in Istanbul must go down as one of the greatest ever finals.

Even Arsenal had their moments in the continental sun, making one final against Barcelona in 2006 and regularly making it to the latter stages of the competition. Indeed, the slump has only really become obvious in recent years, with Chelsea still making the final of the competition in 2012, when Didier Drogba secured his position in Stamford Bridge immortality by slotting the winning penalty against Bayern Munich at the latter's home ground.

The main year the downturn in our fortunes was felt was the next year, when none of the four teams that we sent into Europe even made it to the quarter finals. United fell somewhat unfortunately to Real Madrid in the round of 16 while City suffered their usual early failure. Arsenal bowed out to Bayern in the round of 16 (obviously), and Chelsea could not repeat their heroics of the previous season, failing to get past the group stage.

The stage was set then, really. In the two seasons since, only one club has made the semi-final stage, and only two the quarters, both in 2013/14. With some disastrous results so far in this year's competition, it is hard to say with any confidence that there will be much English involvement in the competition past Christmas.

So what has gone wrong? Money has played a part, as new financial powerhouses have sprung up from nowhere around Europe. Paris Saint-Germain felled Chelsea last year, while newly-minted Monaco did the same to Arsenal. Inexperience could also be partly to blame, as a young Manchester City team without much knowhow concerning European football seem to fail too soon year after year.

Tactical naivety must also be looked at, with some of the decisions Manuel Pellegrini, Arsene Wenger and even Jose Mourinho have made over the last few years open to some serious debate. Another problem is that the fact remains that the best players at all English teams will always run when Barcelona, Real Madrid and (to a lesser extent) Bayern Munich, come calling.

Solve these issues, and we might just see English teams lighting up the big stage at European finals once again.

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