In England, the Big Four have the resources in terms of squad strength to successfully compete in three or four different competitions without losing power but clubs like Everton and Aston Villa do not. Whenever they are involved in the UEFA Cup, their domestic seasons fall short of the top four finish they promise early in the campaign. Then you get a side like Tottenham who win the Carling Cup and effectively have nothing else to play for over the last three months of the season. Across Europe the UEFA Cup also exists to distract the next best teams outside the top four. Fiorentina's form has certainly suffered as a result of the UEFA Cup which has allowed AC Milan to recapture fourth position.
I honestly believe there are clubs in every major European league which could break the dominance of the established powerhouses and, at the very least, focus on earning a champions league spot each season.
Now, let’s turn to Mr Blatter.
“Shall we let the rich become richer and say nothing?” spluttered the man who lords over the cash cow that is FIFA.
"The big money is coming out of the Champions League. It's the biggest league in the world and practically 80 per cent of the income goes directly to the 32 participating clubs.
"The Champions League has been very successful financially but it has also favoured national inequality.”
Blatter was basically using this as an excuse to reiterate his proposal that teams field five homegrown players.
"This rule,” he declared, “will be fighting against the monopolies of clubs and leagues. We are not fighting the problem of money but for the identity of national teams."
It was unfortunate Mr Blatter made those comments just days after Zenit St Petersburg smashed Bayern Munich 4-0 in the UEFA Cup. Yes, the same Bayern that spent 108 million dollars on players last summer.
UEFA president Michel Platini made a far more valid point recently – as did Steve McMahon and our Football Focus pundits this week. They suggested the real danger posed by financial inequality in football comes not when clubs are able to buy the likes of Ronaldinho, Kaka and Messi but rather when the Big Four and their continental counterparts weaken smaller clubs by buying Scott Parker, Michael Carrick and Steve Sidwell and turning them into squad players.
Can the likes of Keegan and Blatter convince talented players to shun big money moves to the Big Four? If they can come up with the rhetoric needed to convince the likes of Micah Richards or Gareth Barry of the need for loyalty ahead of financial advancement, then they will have passed my language test with flying colours.
Tu parle Anglaise?
By Shadlee Rahman
Dhaka,Bangladesh
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