Why Champions League play-off is a turn-off

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13 April 2012

If the Premier League were to adopt a Champions League play-off system it would only further dilute Europe's elite club tournament to an almost farcical level and fail to address the financial imbalance that has destabilised English football.

UEFA's 1992 decision to revise the old-style European Cup into a relentless money-making machine coincided with the inception of our very own Premier League, which has followed a remarkably similar path thanks to the advent of Sky television.

The two competitions have grown to such an overwhelming size in terms of money and influence that they seemingly cannot co-exist without impinging upon one another.

With a telling nod to England, UEFA president Michel Platini continues to sound off about clubs with spiralling debt being barred from its competitions, while the edge has been taken off the Premier League's competitiveness by European prize money helping to create and cement a Big Four' that has thus far proved impervious to all advances from those beneath.

It is only right that the Premier League should endeavour to level the playing field but the suggestion tabled again earlier this month – it was first discussed 18 months ago – that clubs finishing fourth to seventh should play off for the final Champions League berth would be a mistake.

For a start, the Champions League' is already that in name only as up to four teams from any country can compete in any one year; call me old-fashioned but this move weakened the whole competition as a spectacle, destroyed the credibility of the UEFA Cup and, in this country, diminished the integrity of the FA Cup.

The prospect of the seventh-best side representing English football in the Champions League' is too abhorrent to contemplate and would destroy the Europa League altogether.

And don't forget the play-off victors would reach only a qualifier — the solitary side to break the cartel, Everton in 2005, failed to enter the main competition anyway, losing to Villarreal in a two-legged qualifier.

It is also hugely debateable whether it would make the Premier League more competitive.

The Big Four' is so well established and is supported by the Premier League distribution of funds so that in the present structure, any break in their monopoly would be a mere anomaly unless backed by large and consistent outside investment, such as at Manchester City.

And so the real change that needs to be made is in the allocation of TV money to give sides a more equal starting point - it should not be a case of making things easier for the chasing pack but rather to address the staggered start in something akin to the restrictions Formula One placed on its competitors.

Allow me to venture an idealistic alternative. Only the champions go into a two-legged, seeded but straight knockout old-style European Cup and the next four sides go into a revamped UEFA Cup.

Both competitions alternate on Tuesday and Wednesday nights to allow even TV coverage and the dead matchdays' would be removed, leaving only decisive fixtures throughout the competition.

With five sides vying to enter two high-quality competitions, the notion of a "Big Four' is immediately crushed – the best sides will always prevail but their safety net will be removed.

The FA Cup and Carling Cup winners could go into a UEFA Cup play-off, helping to restore interest in competition among mid-table sides who know they can achieve the same European success with a cup run as a fifth place finish.

It is, of course, too much to ask. Maybe the easiest answer is a European Super League. And that seems to be where we are heading with all this anyway.

Bridge must strengthen case for World Cup call-up

All sympathy should be afforded to Wayne Bridge in his current malaise but unless his game improves prior to the World Cup, he does not fit Fabio Capello's criteria and should not go to South Africa.

Capello shattered the form is temporary, class is permanent' mentality of the Steve McClaren era and while John Terry has proved himself classless, few could doubt his form in difficult circumstances up until Chelsea's defeat at Everton.

By contrast, Bridge has made just five appearances since the beginning of December and only 16 in an injury-ravaged season, while his level of performances have suggested a man wrestling with inner demons, and understandably so.

But if Capello is to stick to his guns, Aston Villa's Stephen Warnock and Everton's Leighton Baines have grounds for complaint should Bridge be selected to start England's friendly against Egypt next month.

Dressing room harmony is of course an issue – in albeit less inflammatory circumstances, Kolo Toure and William Gallas were able to perform together as a centre-back pairing at Arsenal despite barely sharing a word with each other off the pitch

But whether or not he can play alongside Terry after his indiscretion is an issue for the time when the evidence for his inclusion in the squad is irrefutable.

Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/JamesOlley

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