April 24 , 2007 Big - four stranglehold has suffocated life out of gameOur correspondent on why the ‘ dream ’ all - English final is more like a nightmareRichard Whitehead The large white type caught the eye on the newsstand in precisely the manner intended . Positioned directly underneath the stately Times masthead , it read “ The dream final ” , advertising TheGame ’ s comprehensive coverage of the FA Cup semi - finals that ended with the progress of Manchester United and Chelsea to Wembley . A dream final for who exactly ? For fans of the two clubs ? Definitely . For the FA ? Of course . For ticket touts ? Certainly . And for media executives with their famously hazy grasp of how real supporters think ? Yes , probably them , too . But for the rest of us , forget it . The “ dream final ” is a nightmare . You will read a lot of guff this week — some of it doubtless on these pages — about how this is a momentous week for English football . Three teams in the Champions League semi - finals , wall - to - wall coverage , Clive Tyldesley oozing gravitas — what ’ s not to love ? But for the majority , the truth is different . Chelsea , Liverpool and Manchester United in the last four of the premier club competition in Europe , Chelsea v United in the FA Cup Final and the same three plus Arsenal occupying the top places in the Barclays Premiership — the “ big four ” have a stranglehold on English football and they are choking the last breath of life out of it . Admittedly , they are fine teams and three of them — the ones wearing red — have been the dominant forces in the English game since Herbert Chapman first began to mould Arsenal into a sporting institution in the decade before the Second World War . But this is not an argument about style or the excellence of Cristiano Ronaldo , Steven Gerrard , Cesc Fàbregas or Frank Lampard . It is about real competition , the element of surprise that used to be considered part of the essence of the national game being devoured by huge corporate monsters . My colleague , Simon Barnes , wrote a typically eloquent piece about two years ago about the monoculture of football taking over the sporting landscape . The four leading clubs have colonised the game in the same way — a monoculture within the monoculture . And nothing perpetuates the cycle more than the Champions League . Clubs playing in it are rewarded lavishly each time they step on the field . With every passing year , United , Chelsea , Liverpool and Arsenal gain more income , enabling them to draw farther away from the pack . United ’ s 8 - 3 aggregate thrashing of AS Roma that earned their place in the last four was a black night for English football . Why ? Because a spectacular performance live on terrestrial television during a school holiday week will have garnered tens of thousands more impressionable young converts to the Old Trafford myth machine . Can anyone smash the cartel ? Well , anything is possible and success in football is famously cyclical , but consider the example of Tottenham Hotspur , the most recent club to make a serious attempt . They have a fine head coach , have traded players like Merlin stickers in the playground and invested large sums in the transfer market . Yet this season they have failed to challenge seriously for the Champions League place that eluded them so cruelly last year and have had to endure a hugely symbolic and deflating defeat by Arsenal ’ s second string in the semi - finals of the Carling Cup . Here is a question . What would you consider the most significant goal in a domestic match since the formation of the Premier League in 1992 ? For me , it is Paul Rideout ’ s header that gave Everton victory over United in the FA Cup Final of 1995 . An odd choice , perhaps , until you consider that the triumph of Joe Royle ’ s “ dogs of war ” represents the only time in 15 seasons that the outcome of one of the two leading domestic trophies has been anything approaching a shock . And do not try to say that Blackburn Rovers ’ s title win in the same season was against the odds when it was achieved with the most expensively assembled squad in the game at the time . When the Premiership came into being , the fear was that the clubs at the bottom end of the established Football League structure would flounder , but this has not been the case . The game thrives in the lower divisions because it retains the capacity for shock . Contrast that with the sheer Groundhog Day numbness induced by being a supporter of Tottenham or Everton or Manchester City . My club , Aston Villa , have acquired a brilliant new manager and a visionary new owner boasting an amply filled bank account , but the best we can hope for is to challenge for fifth or sixth place . Excuse me for not getting overcome with giddy anticipation . So please do not expect the majority of football supporters to grow feverish at the prospect of an all - English Champions League final , or lose sleep in expectation of the “ dream ” FA Cup Final or fret over whether Liverpool or Arsenal will claim that oh so coveted third or fourth place in the Premiership . We lost interest long , long ago . GIANTS ’ RULE The present –– Manchester United , Chelsea , Liverpool and Arsenal should occupy the top four places for the second consecutive season –– In the 15 seasons since the formation of the Premier League , big - four clubs have won the championship 14 times –– In the same period , the same clubs have won 14 FA Cups –– Increasingly , they monopolise the League Cup , too , winning it in five of the past seven seasons –– Manchester United and Arsenal occupied the top two positions in four consecutive seasons between 1997 - 98 and 2000 - 01 The past –– Tottenham Hotspur ( 1950 - 51 ) , Ipswich Town ( 1961 - 62 ) and Nottingham Forest ( 1977 - 78 ) all won the title in their first season after promotion to the top flight –– Between 1972 - 73 and 1979 - 80 , the FA Cup was three times won by teams from the second tier of English football –– Eight different clubs won the title in the 1960 s –– Nottingham Forest were European champions two seasons after being promoted from the old second division –– The last four of the League Cup in 1974 - 75 had no sides from the top division