As long as EPL have the meaningless mickey mouse cup (read Carling Cup) tiring their players by the business end of the season they won't do jack shit in Europe! Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it's the main reason for them flopping in Europe, it of course still is poor tactics. But having a winter break sure should help the players to re-energize! And with EPL clubs being forced to play an extra cup and of course the greed for money cause of all the boxing day hoopla, the EPL is robbing that from their players!!
And no matter how much we decline it, the high level of competitiveness (which does exist) must be playing some role! I mean the money brings chance for all the clubs to build good teams, which would increase the level of competetiveness - increasing the chances for any minnow in getting a surprise result on a given day. Sure, the minnows would not be able to go ahead and win the league (Leicester being an exception) but there always is a chance for them to cause an upset on a given matchday. This should force the bigger clubs to try and play with their best possible team all the time rather than give chances to the youngsters or rotate. This would also end up tiring the bigger clubs come the business end of the season!! (We have been noticing this ourselves the lst few seasons)
