Jamie Carragher believes English teams have seriously under-performed in the Champions and Europa League competitions because their big money buys are “obviously not good enough in terms of the real top end” in comparison to Europe’s major clubs.
The former Liverpool and England defender and now Sky Sports pundit was reflecting on the fact that no British teams have made the quarter-final stage of the Champions League or Europa League.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Carragher said: “We have got top players. But I think the money we’re spending on certain players, the players that are being brought in they are obviously not good enough in terms of the real top end when you see Barcelona, PSG and so on.
“These clubs spend big money as well; it’s not just the English teams.
“But why are these clubs getting the better quality than English teams?"
The 2005 Champions League winner added: “It’s sad considering the funds available to all of our teams at the top end of the division and at times like this you think they should be dominating European football.
“Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and all these giants will always be there and they were six or seven years ago when the Premier League had its heyday in Europe. Every season there were maybe two or three teams that could win it.
“At the start of this competition I felt it was only Chelsea who could’ve won it. I know they went out and it was disappointing for them but more often than not Jose Mourinho will go close.
"Last year was the semi-final and it’s not a competition you can expect to win every year. It’s a cup competition you need a little bit of luck along the way.
“But for all our teams to go out so early, plus Liverpool in the group stage, it’s massively disappointing.
“We’ve got to improve, because it’s embarrassing for our league really.“
Carragher, who played out his entire 17-year career in the Liverpool shirt, said English teams had fallen behind noticeably on the pitch in Europe in recent seasons – and were being outdone even in their former strengths.
“The intensity in their games, especially when I see Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona against Man City – how quickly they get the ball back, how quickly they’re playing their football,” said the 37-year-old, who hung up his boots in 2013.
“That’s what we were doing a few years ago. Teams couldn’t cope with the intensity of the Premier League. We’d take it from our domestic league and take it into Europe.
“Now I’m watching top foreign teams and they’re more powerful and sharper which is not normally something you’d associate with the foreign teams.
“You’d always expect the technical side that they’d trump English sides on that, but they’re doing both now and that’s the big worry.
“It’s something that got to change and change quickly because it’s been a recurring theme the last few years.”
For more listen to Game On, weeknights from 7pm on 2fm
