Premier League strength open to question as German sides impress

SOCCER ANGLES:This autumn, Bundesliga clubs are convincing in Europe as English clubs struggle

ARE WE turning a corner?

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell just what it is we are watching. And just how good it is, really.

Statisticians can provide information of a certain kind and in a direct line sport such as sprinting or rowing the numbers can be broken down, analysed and learned from.

But in a team sport that flows in all directions, that is invested with such emotion, external and internal, it is always harder to be exact, no matter how many stats are thrown at us.

For example: how good are Manchester United? It is a very simple question. But it’s not easy to answer. Another is: how bad are Arsenal? Another: is German football beginning to bypass English football?

These were just three of the thoughts that arose from another midweek of fascinating Champions League football, though they have been in the ether for longer.

Manchester United are at Chelsea tomorrow. It is a heavyweight collision between first and second in England and it could tell us much about the eventual destination of this season’s title. It is sure to be intense and part of the intrigue will focus upon how United deal with Chelsea’s new midfield.

It was again praised last weekend for the manner in which Tottenham were beaten 4-2 at White Hart Lane.

Juan Mata scored twice and Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas spoke of “individual brilliance from Oscar, Mata and Hazard”.

Mata’s second took his goals tally to six in his last six matches. He is in fine form yet did not even make Vicente Del Bosque’s squad for Spain’s two recent World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and France.

Mata did not make the Spain squad. Were he English, Roy Hodgson would be constructing a team around him. Witness the fuss that will accompany Jack Wilshere’s return to Arsenal colours.

Mata is a star in the Premier League but he and Oscar started at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night – Eden Hazard played 72 minutes – and Chelsea were well beaten. The final score was 2-1 but Hazard’s goal came in the 88th minute by which time Shakhtar had accumulated 23 shots.

Of the two performances in five days, at Tottenham and Donetsk, which says more about Chelsea’s true standard?

And what do they say about English football when combined with United’s odd victory over Braga, Arsenal’s home defeat by Schalke and Manchester City’s collapse at Ajax?

Taken in isolation, a dangerous option, they say that, at the very least, there should be some introspection in the self-styled best league in the world sponsored by a bank fined £290 million (€362m) in June for rate rigging.

After all, Chelsea are the European champions, though their luck in that achievement was not minimal. They may need some more to escape a group that suddenly looks tricky.

But, yes, Chelsea are the European champions and Manchester United were beaten in the previous final. Those are two reasons to acknowledge the strength of the Premier League.

But we should probably also recall that Chelsea were the only English club in the last eight last season. City and United did not make it out of their groups. Arsenal conceded four at Milan in the first leg in the last 16.

The season before there were three English clubs in the last eight – United meeting Chelsea and Tottenham losing to Real Madrid. The previous season, both Arsenal and United made the last eight but both were eliminated, by Barcelona and Bayern Munich.