English Premier League clubs can't buy European success, former German football player Paul Breitner said. The 1974 World Cup winner told SBD Global that the quality of play in the EPL has been getting “worse and worse” over the past four-to-five years. Breitner, who retired in ’83 after a successful career with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, said English clubs stopped paying attention to the tactical changes in football. “They stopped learning,” he said. “They said five or six years ago, ‘We are the best. We have the most money and that’s it.’” The problem for the Premier League is that all the money only attracts second-class players, Breitner said. “Because the best players aren’t willing to play at this level in the Premier League,” he added. “They want to play for Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Maybe for PSG (Paris St. Germain). It’s a great situation for us.” Breitner made those comments during a stop in Charlotte, NC to promote Bayern Munich’s Int’l Champions Cup game against Inter Milan at Bank of America Stadium on July 30. For the 64-year-old, Leicester City’s improbable championship run this season was the logical result of the EPL’s declining level of play. And Breitner is certain that the league’s new TV deal with Sky and BT will not change European football's balance of power. “Even if the EPL would get €100 billion, they will not get the players they need to dominate the Champions League because the best players earn good money in Germany, Spain, France, or anywhere else,” he said. “It’s not necessary for a player to go to England just for the money, and, therefore, only the second-class and third-class players are willing to join any English club, but not stars like Messi, Ronaldo, Ribery or Robben. And you need stars like those to dominate European football.” The last EPL team to win the Champions League was Chelsea in '12. The London club defeated Bayern 4-3 on penalties at Munich's Allianz Arena.
PARTING SHOT: Breitner did also not shy away to take a little shot at German national team captain Bastian Schweinsteiger. The 31-year-old, who just like Breitner was born in the small Bavarian town of Kolbermoor, left Bayern Munich last year and joined ManU. Asked about Schweinsteiger’s decision, Breitner said, “He’s at the end of his career. It was the right decision for him. It gave him a lot of money and the chance to play every game, providing he stays healthy. We knew that for him it would have been very hard to play every game [at Bayern] because we have the best squad.” While the Bundesliga is currently in negotiations for a new broadcast-rights deal, Breitner is sure that no European league will ever catch up to their rivals on the island.
Breitner talked to SBD Global about a number of other topics. Here is a short excerpt.
On Bayern Munich's return to the U.S. and joining the ICC this summer ...
Breitner: We want to be present for our fans and our supporters. We have millions of them in the U.S. and we want to say, ‘Thank you for supporting us.’ And we want to give them a sensation. We want to demonstrate our outstanding skills. We want to demonstrate that we are one of the three best teams. The idea of the ICC [Int’l Champions Cup] is a very good one because you have champions and not the fourth, fifth and sixth-place teams as we have in the Champions League. It’s a real ‘champions’ cup.
On whether the club's top players will play in the U.S. following Euro 2016 ...
Breitner: Yes, of course. They have to be part of the team. Whether they play in the [Euro 2016] final on July 10 or not they will play all three games here … Our best team will play these three games, for sure. Otherwise we could stay at home. We are a very serious club, maybe one of the most serious football clubs in the world. Our board knows how to treat our fans, supporters and partner.
On China's decision to put an emphasis on football ...
Breitner: I’m sure that within the next 10 years, one or two Chinese players will play in the Bundesliga because of the announcement of China's president that from now on football is No. 1 and ‘basta’ (‘finish’) ... It means that within the next five years, maybe half a billion Chinese kids and youngsters will play football, and it must be possible to form a good national team or an outstanding national team out of these millions of people.
