Our youngsters did everything they needed to do. It was the game vs PAOK where we ballsed it up. All we needed to do was draw that, at home to PAOK, and we would have gone through, but we lost, and we didn't even play a weak team in that game. The 11 that ended the game: Gomes Walker Bassong Gallas Corluka Lennon Modric Livermore Bale Falque Defoe That team got us knocked out!
yes not weak but we are a football club with a squad of players...yes not weak but not strong enough to do the job for the club...one extra game for the rest would not have killed them....not playing them killed us. Harry should have put a team out like the one against Inter.....so i expect the same wimpering next season from our team in europe....its not luck..its bad management...i dont know who we played after that match in the league the following sunday but id be intrested to know if the gamble paid off at all.
Tbh we ****ed up with **** defending at the beginning. Then they parked the bus for the whole game and we were pretty poor breaking them down.
you got me there! well AL...im sure we will exchange many more views in the week...bedtime for me...have a goodnight sir...and COYS FOREVER!
1. Yes we should try to compete in UEFA, I think we should try and win it in fact. Not to compete is arrogant as others have said. 2. The winners of UEFA should get a spot in the CL, gives it far more credibility. 3. As was pointed out, UEFA don't have to create a place in the UEFA cup as we will take Chelski's place BUT the logical extension of this rule/argument is that it is still possible for a team that was not actually qualified for any European competition to win the CL... and under those circumstances are they saying that they will get a CL spot, someone will drop down to UEFA and that a team that was in UEFA will then not compete in Europe at all? To me it's already ridiculous that the 6th place PL team are heralded as "European Champions" but lets be clear, the logical extension of this is that a team placed even lower could still win it. This could even come by throwing multiple league matches in order to concentrate solely on the CL... in which case I think such teams should be fined for fielding weakened teams. The only excuse Chelski has is that they could play the CL suspended players for their last couple of league matches but don't think that if those players had been available for the CL they would have played in the league... yet would they have been penalised for fielding a weakened team?
If we are taking Chelsea's place in EL, who is missing out? Chelsea qualified for EL as winners of FA cup, so runners up get that spot. Liverpool had already qualified through Carling cup so I believe the place goes to the next league position-6th, which was Chelsea's as well so should go to 7th ie Everton. What I am trying to say for those following is that we have actually taken Everton's place in EL and not Chelsea's
I'd like to have confirmation on that. Shame we can't rely on a station like TalkCrap which is supposed to talk about sport but is of course only interested in the CL and top of the PL. We're probably going to have to rely on an Everton fan to work that out. Come to think of it, I don't think anyone misses out because it's like we swap with Chelsea. Nobody ever that that place to lose except Chelsea, so its only a technicality (but still a mess thanks to UEFA). So how did they manage it in the season that Liverpool got added to the competition? There must be a way.
Chelsea were qualifying in Europa via the FA Cup win. So we've just technically taken their spot haven't we? In regards to participating in Europa or not, I think we should go for it. Early stages blood a few youngsters mixed with squad players. Then push on and get stronger as we (hopefully) progress. I wanted CL footy but I wouldn't discredit the fact we have a chance to win some extra silverware.
I think the Uefa cup, sorry Europa League should be some silverware harry should get us to get back in our good books. We have had a good history in the competition. Just as long as we still do well in the league to finish 4 or 5
totally agree, but our only problem is the affect that the Europa can have on your domestic campaign. - it does worry me. It'd have to be kids playing in the CC and FA cup, if we were gunning for the EL. And we have to get enough good squad players to cope with the prem football and EL on thursdays and sundays and actually rotate!. - if we can do that over the summer, I'm bang up for it. 6 years ago, we'd have loved a place in the "uefa cup". now we're up there competing for it more often, we should actually have a go at it. bearing in mind we play in arguably the hardest league in the world and came 4th, (which would normally get a side into the CL),therefore we're of CL quality. We have a damn good chance of winning the thing, if we get it right.
There's a difference between fielding a team for the sake of getting 11 players on the pitch and fielding a team that rests your key players whilst still remaining competitive. For example, none of these changes could be said to be fielding deadwood in any competition: Sandro for Parker Dawson for King Kranjcar for Lennon Huddlestone for Modric Cudicini for Friedel Corluka for Walker Pienaar for Bale Similarly, fielding Livermore or Defoe wouldn't count as fielding deadwood - fielding Alnwick, Bentley, Jenas and Khumalo would be fielding the deadwood.
its hard to win this cup, ask United or Barca and a host of other big clubs that went in over the years and failed to win it. To think Spurs are above the EL, c'mon, its money its putting the club out there a bit more, it aint the CL, but fk it, make the best of it.
These are all players that could benefit from starting these games when they are on the bench for the league games - a team made up of our bench plus a few youth/fringe players will be the best strategy in the early stages at least. Players like Jenas and Bentley can still do a job if they can be bothered!
The main problem we had in the EL this season was depth up front and at the back (well, that and the fact several of the aforementioned players were injured for the majority, if not all, of the games) Next season we could, in theory, field a team (based on what we have ATM) of... Cudicini Corluka Dawson Caulker Naughton Kranjcar Sandro Huddlestone Pienaar Kane Saha ...along with Gallas, Nelsen, Livermore and Defoe on the bench, as well as youngsters such as Townsend, Carroll, Smith, Coulibaly and Falque who can come into the squad. This is before any summer activity, of course - it's feasible we could bring in some youngsters (Uvini for one, and we have been linked to a lot of youngsters who can play in various midfield positions, centre back, and left back in recent weeks), just as it;s feasible Corluka, Pienaar and Defoe leave.
It should be Newcastle through the league, Chelsea and Liverpool through the cup. We have just switched with Chelsea and is their place we have taken? Only way Everton would have got in was if City, Utd or Arsenal had won the Carling cup.
We need to sort our squad out, so that we can play a depleted side and not struggle so badly. A number of our back-up players just weren't interested in being at the club this season, so we need to clear out the dead wood, replace them with decent prospects and make it interesting for the fans. Reduced ticket prices is a must too, frankly. Redknapp's not going to start fielding our best XI in it, so the prices should reflect that.
