Although Chelsea sampled Champions League glory in 2012, it’s been a few years since English sides made a prolonged impression at the very pinnacle of European football.

Between the years of 2005 and 2012, of the 16 European Cup Final spots available, English teams occupied eight. But since the Blues’ wonderful victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, the Premier League’s elite seem to be a million miles away from being crowned kings of Europe; there’s been just one English semi-finalist in the last two years.

Technically they aren’t quite good enough, going forward they aren’t quite incisive enough, but the most pertinent concern is at the back. The stringent, unyielding defences that expedited English success at Europe’s top table not so long ago are but a distant memory.

So what’s happened? Where has this coveted cohesiveness gone? And why is it a matter that’s not been addressed?

The first reason can be attributed to plain hyperbole. There are cyclical trends in football and typically the English buy into the hype more than any.

After Barcelona swept aside Manchester United twice in three years in the final of the Champions League, tiki-taka was eulogised and objectively encouraged. Since Chelsea’s triumph, the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid have compromised in dominating the ball, but have preserved a marriage of technical prowess, unwavering industry and forensic counter-attacking.

The majority of Premier League teams have tried their best to mimic those kinds of principles. Fullbacks push high up the pitch, teams typically opt for a more cultured player at the base of the midfield instead of a rugged destroyer, and intense pressing off the ball has become increasingly commonplace

But the fact of the matter is that the English teams aren’t quite as good in these models—the very nature of the Premier League dictates so—and the standard of defending has consequentially suffered.

Take Manchester City’s midfield pair of Yaya Toure and Fernandinho. They have the requisite energy and ability to boss even the very best Premier League midfields, but we’ve seen them engulfed by the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and most recently AS Roma in the Champions League, regularly leaving the back line with too much on their plate.

It could be down to naivety on the part of teams like City and indeed Arsenal, who seem to go out and play in the same manner regardless, rarely adapting to the qualities of the opposition. But perhaps it’s simpler than that, maybe it’s just a reflection on the English top flight as a whole? Is defending in its simplest form just a lot worse now than it ever has been in the Premier League?

Statistics would certainly back up that notion. In the 2006/07 season there was an average of 2.43 goals per game, but since then the number has oscillated between 2.77 and 2.81. In this current campaign there’s been an average of 2.85 goals per game; if that continues, it’ll be the highest since the inception of the Premier League, per myfootballfacts.com

The numbers point towards a premise that is undeniable: attacking football is in vogue. Two teams scored more than 100 goals last season in the Premier League and the style in which a side goes about their business has become an increasingly big deal as of late.

Managers openly preach about their brand of football and supporters want to see their teams operate with an ingenuity and a swagger. It’s something that’s gone a long way to dictating the moves clubs make in the transfer window.

Last summer, Louis van Gaal recruited myriad attacking players at Manchester United, but has left his side way short in defensive areas. Arsene Wenger has done the same at Arsenal, choosing to indulge in the likes of Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez while neglecting an obvious dearth in holding midfield and defensive options. It seems that there’s an ever-increasing duty not only to win games, but to win them with a flourish, and that’s encapsulated by these kinds of luxury signings.

When you take into account the money that’s spent in English football these days, it’s startling to think that Rio Ferdinand was the most expensive defender in the history of the British game for more than a decade until City splashed out on Eliaquim Mangala this summer.

It’s says plenty about the direction in which club’s priorities have shifted and currently, there are very few defenders in the league who could measure up to the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia and Sol Campbell at their absolute peak.

It’s also worth considering the rotation that’s critical to the success of any elite Premier League team. Those English sides that play in the Champions League will be expected to go far in four different competitions—without a winter break, no less—meaning there’s myriad necessary rotations within a squad througout the season. Consequently, the traditional notion of a settled back four is no longer hugely prevalent, as manager’s are forced to chop and change squads bristling with increasingly sharply tuned athletes.

Familiarity and partnerships at the back are scare; could anyone honestly say with certainly what the likes of Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Brendan Rodgers and Manuel Pellegrini think is their best back four?

The fact that the Premier League remains the most physically demanding in European football doesn’t help either. Of course players aren’t allowed to be quite as robust as they once were in the challenge, but they certainly have a lot more license to do so when in domestic action compared to European competition.

Often you see Premier League players looking aghast at a refereeing decision that has been awarded for minimal contact in Europe. Xabi Alonso famously stated that “tackling is not really a quality, it’s more something you are forced to resort to when you don’t have the ball”, per the Daily Mail. And it’s a view that seems to be shared in the Champions League and something that’s becoming detrimental to the hearty approach a lot of players from Premier League still preserve in their defensive duties.

Chelsea are the team that look the best placed English side to challenge for the Champions League title this season. And while Diego Costa has afforded them a refreshing attacking edge that’ll stand them in fine stead, they warrant that tag because of the cohesion that’s instilled in this team and the principles Mourinho cherishes as a manager.

Aside from the Blues, the defensive concerns that seem to continually hamper City, Arsenal and Liverpool—who don’t have a clean sheet between them in this year’s competition—make them unlikely victors.

As supporters we wouldn’t want to have the English top flight anything other than open, fluid and rife with goals. But for managers striving for success in Europe, perhaps they’d be best taking a look at back at those Premier League sides that flourished in the Champions League not too long ago, and the rock solid foundations they were built upon.

Follow Matt on Twitter @MattJFootball