Whelan turns Premier critic

THE Europa League trophy was officially handed over to the city of Dublin yesterday, the ceremony in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham a reminder that the finals of Europe’s premier club competitions are now only two games away.

And a reminder too that, of the eight clubs remaining in contention in the Champions League and Europa League, only one, Manchester United, hails from England.

And according to former Republic of Ireland and Liverpool great Ronnie Whelan — UEFA’s official ambassador for the 2011 Europa League — that stark statistic should give the Premier League’s cheerleaders pause for thought.

“The Premiership is supposed to be the greatest league in the world but I don’t think it’s got the greatest teams,” said Whelan. “They are elsewhere, mainly Spain. Look at the Europa League — three Portuguese teams and one Spanish team in the semi-finals. No English team and they’ve all spent millions and millions of pounds. So I think the standard has dropped in the Premiership and that’s why we’re not seeing so many in the final stages in Europe.”

Whelan is tipping Barcelona to win the Champions League and Porto to come out top in the Europa League, the final of which takes place at the Aviva Stadium on May 18. But first up in that competition are the semi-final first legs, on April 28, when Benfica host Braga and Porto welcome Spanish outfit Villarreal.

Last year’s winners Atletico Madrid were represented in Dublin yesterday by defender Alvaro Dominguez and club officials, while the physical handing over of the trophy to Lord Mayor of Dublin Gerry Breen was carried out by UEFA president Michel Platini.

“A long time ago I used to receive the trophy but now I give it,” quipped the French football legend on stage, although, disappointingly, he declined to talk to the media.

Ealier in the day, Platini had inspected a new all-weather mini-pitch in inner city Dublin which has been installed, with support from UEFA, as part of the grassroots legacy for football in the capital arising out of the hosting of the city’s first major European final.

But it was grassroots of a different kind which were on the mind of journalists who questioned FAI chief executive John Delaney about the state of the Aviva Stadium pitch in light of worries that the surface is betraying the ill-effects of a harsh winter and a succession of football and rugby games.

The FAI boss conceded that UEFA recently expressed concerns about the pitch but said assurances had been given that it would be “in great nick” for the final on May 18.

“Naturally, when they saw it in the last month or so they said, ‘are we okay?’. We would have given them assurances, with STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute) — who are our experts for the Aviva and also UEFA’s — that the pitch would be in good shape. They (STRI) came to thestadium board meeting last Monday week — the FAI and IRFU stadium meeting — and they gave assurances that the pitch would be in great nick.

“When you have an overlap with rugby and soccer, particularly around February and March, that is a difficult time. There is the Six Nations, and we have our matches. That is probably the most pivotal time. But STRI have no doubt, absolutely no doubt, that the pitch will be in great order for the European final on May 18.”

Ironically, Whelan reckons the superior quality of the Aviva surface might actually not be to Ireland’s benefit in international games.

Whelan, a member of the Irish team which famously beat Platini’s France 3-2 at the old Lansdowne Road in 1981, said: “It’s completely different to what it used to be. You used to have the hollows where the scrums used to be and the ball would never run smoothly. And the crowd was magnificent. If I was an opposition player coming here (now), I’d think this was beautiful.

“There’s no fear factor anymore like there used to be.”