English sides have struggled collectively in Europe in recent times and former Manchester United winger and assistant manager Ryan Giggs believes that it all boils down to the fact there are simply not enough world-class players playing in the Premier League.
Only Leicester City progressed to the Champions League quarter finals, with both Manchester City and Arsenal getting knocked out at the round of 16.
And Giggs feels that of all the Premier League players who turned out in the Champions League this season at present and incidentally both of those players were knocked out in the last 16.
Writing in his Telegraph column, Giggs stated that only Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez can be considered world-class.
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He said:
"It has been a factor throughout the performances of English teams in the Champions League that the quality simply is not there any longer, or not as it was when English clubs had that good run in the competition from 2005 to 2012'."
"It seems the very best players are concentrated elsewhere, and there is just a sprinkling of the leading players in the Premier League sides.
"Aside from Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez it is hard to think of the world-class players in the English Champions League squads this season."
Of course, he made no mention of the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Philippe Coutinho or Zlatan Ibrahimovic as none of them competed in Europe's premier competition this season but he does make it abundantly clear that he feels as though there aren't many world-class players in the Premier League on the whole.
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He also referenced leading clubs such as Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have no shortage of elite-level players.
"While Leicester have gone the furthest without [a world-class player], it is striking when you consider how many there are at Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in particular.'
"To win the Champions League most years, and ever more so in recent times, you need three or more of those leading players and it says something about English football that there are so few in our teams.
"It is not as if the money is not there to buy the best players, it just seems that the recruitment has not always been right."
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What do you make of Giggs' comments? Does what he said strike a chord with you?
Let us know your thoughts.
(h/t Daily Mail)
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