Europa League

Just a simple question... Do you think the winner of the Europa League should get a champions league place for the following season? Now, im not saying the winner should get a group phase place or anything but maybe a first or second qualifying phase place. Its a simple solution staring UEFA in the face IMO, as teams would take the competition more seriously i.e. not field weaker teams because they would actually want to progress. This should then lead to better games. UEFA already link the competitions together with the 3rd place teams from the group phase of the champions league dropping into the knockout phase of the Europa League so why not reward the winners of the Europa with a champions league place? Lets face it who ever wins the Europa League has to be a decent team so I dont think there is an issue about them being "good enough" to play in the champions league and if we need further evidence to support this we just have to look at the result of this year's super cup!

 

It only seems to be in this country that the competition is not taken seriously. So I think having the winners go to the Champions League might actually lower the amount of Prestige the trophy holds in the rest of the continent,

 

Does allowing champions league rejects to enter it not lower the prestige already?

 

I personally think you should get a chance in the qualifiers. You shouldn't go straight into the group stages.

 

So, because it's been lowered once it cannot be lowered further?

 

Have always felt that the winners should go into the Champions League and for me i think it should be the Group Stage.

 

The winner should be put into the first qualifying round of the Champions League imo.

 

Even if it's what clubs want it's not in the tournament's interests to make it a glorified qualifier for the CL. If I was going to award the winner of a trophy a CL spot I'd give it to the FA Cup to make it more competitive again, no one really takes it seriously until they get to the quarters these days.

As for the Europa League, ditch the group stage and make it two legged knockouts from the very start like the old days. 6 game group stages just to halve the number of teams in the tournament? Totally pointless when you can do it in two and make the competition more popular with managers.

 

it would add more ooomph to things.

 

You cant alter the fact that the Europa League is a second stage competition so will always have less prestige than the Champions League but the financial difference between the competitions is absolutely massive so i cant see how giving the winners a place in the Champions league will lower the prestige. Surely in anyones eyes that potential financial gain from winning will give it more prestige not less.

 

I can see what you are saying there as the F.A. cup has lost some attraction. However, the sheer financial gain for just being in the champions league will always make it a more attractive competition to clubs and the best way to do that is thro the league whilst those already in the CL will always focus on that cup first because of the money involved. Lets not forget also that even in the days when the FA cup was more attractive it could still be won by a small team (League placing at the time not club size) who with the best will in the world are unlikely to be able to compete at CL level and could be an embarrasment to the country and with that maybe eventually cost the country a CL place.
Nevertheless it is still a problem looking to improve the attraction of the FA cup but that is a question for the English FA whereas the EL winners to the CL is a question for EUFA to answer to improve the attraction of that tournament. As for the FA cup maybe a play off between cup winners and 4th in the league for the CL is an idea.
Can see your point about the group stage but as the competition has so little financial gain to clubs already i think losing the group stage would make it even less of an attraction.
I think the 3rd place CL group stage teams should not be entered into the EL thus making the competition shorter but also more winnable and therefore more attractive to the EL teams particularly if a CL place is available to the winners but that place needs to be far enough into the CL to either offer a EL place if they go into the qualifiers and lose or into the financially lucrative group stage which is where i think they should go. Lets face it are the EL winners really a less attractive option than a team who has only finished 3rd or 4th in their league?

 

So FA Cup and League Cup are glorified qualifiers for Europa League?

It would just be a big prize for winning the Europa League.

 

It may sound strange coming from a Spurs fan but what kind of achievement is finishing 4th in the league? It's not anything special so why should you be invited to Europe's elite competition for such a non-achievement. Surely winning a domestic trophy is more of an achievement to warrant a place in the Champions League is more suitable? Yes lesser teams can win the competition but what's wrong with that? Most teams at the top are stuck there by money, wouldn't it be great if other teams were helped to compete better financially after their side becomes successful on the pitch? Who cares if they don't get as far, is watching Arsenal get knocked out at the 2nd knockout round or quarter final each year really that exciting? Look at the way Celtic celebrated their win last night, doing well in the competition would mean far more to them than the English teams that are just out to avoid slipping up so they can hopefully field under strength teams for the last one or two games of the round.

The problem managers and clubs in England have with the Europa League is the combination of more games than the CL for fractional rewards. From a fans point of view they don't want to see Liverpool's kids take on Udinese reserves. Make it a knockout from the start and the games are reduced to please the clubs and those that choose not to take the competition seriously are quickly weeded out. The 3rd finisher in CL groups has to happen otherwise UEFA will be left with the embarrassment of league winners from countries around Europe preferring to enter Europa League than the Champions League as they have a better chance of doing well and making money from it. It's not ideal but that's the way it is.

No, the clubs that win the FA Cup or League Cup will still be there to defend their title in the next season. If you win the Europa League and get "promoted" to the Champions League then it's hard to see how the Europa League can be seen as a proper trophy in it's own right.

 

I wasn't arguing against the FA cup winners going into the CL as such just pointing out that teams at the top will see it as being more achievable finishing in the top 3 or 4 of the league than pinning hopes on the relative lottery of winning the FA cup thus will always take the league more seriously and taking the gloss away from the competition which is exactly the problem we are discussing. Can see your point on smaller teams getting a go at the CL which would be interesting but not so interesting if UEFA take away one of our places due to underperformance in Europe and don't put that past them. We always seem to get a raw deal from europe.
Another point of course is that the FA cup is seen as having lost some of its appeal yet how many winners in the Premier League era have qualified for the CL already anyway and no way runners up will be allowed into the CL.
As for the 3rd finisher in the CL group stage prefering to enter the Europa in the first place there is no chance of that as just reaching the CL group stage pays more than winning the Europa.
Yes there arn't many rewards for being in the extra games in the EL but there are still more for playing 3 group games than maybe one knockout game thus the group stage still more important to clubs and if the 3rd place CL teams wern't in it then there would be fewer games. Also the original suggestion of a CL place to the EL winners would make trying to actually win the competition more attractive than it is now.
As for not being seen as a "proper competition" at the end of the day we all know that enjoyable as it is to win the EL it is still only a secondary competition when all is said and done and teams would find it far more attractive to try harder in a "secondary" competition if the prize included a place at the top table in the CL.

 

Top post I agree completely.

 

The teams that drop out of the Champions League into Europa are going to be favourites to win it, 9 times out of 10. You could end up with say, 4 semi finalists in the Europa League who have all been knocked out after the groups of the Champions League. These teams could qualify via their league positions for the Champs Lge - the winner of the Europa League's spot would then have to be allocated elsewhere. I'd be all for it, especially if they stopped putting the CL flops (like us last season) into the Europa League, it would likely be taken a lot more seriously then, but as well as these measures, rat face Platini has to ensure that it is lucrative financially for the teams involved; the footballing world is dominated by finance, so the Europa League cannot afford to stand still in this respect or people will treat it for what it is right now, a 2nd rate trophy.

 

The teams qualifying for the CL group stage recieve at least £3.9 Million. Winning the EL gives £3Million so CL 3rd placers should not need the europa and potentially can earn more as losers than a team finishing in the top 2 of the CL group who loses in the next round.

 

Of course finishing 4th is no great achievement compared to winning the FA cup but the point is that as long as that exists or is even just the top 3, teams still see financially aiming for top 3 or 4 is better than gambling on trying to win the fa cup. Not to mention the fact that the fa cup winners nearly always finish in a CL place anyway so obviously something else is needed to revitalise the fa cup.
This is also a different question as to whether or not the EL winners should qualify for the CL anyway. We are talking about revitalizing two separate competitions run by two separate organizations.

 

That's only the prize money for winning the final rather than the accumulated prize money gained throughout the tournament. You might be right about getting knocked out in the groups being more lucrative than getting to say the quarters of the EL though, if you take into account TV money too. Maybe I got that reasoning wrong.

 

The problem isn't that the top teams aren't playing their full teams it's that no one really is. Put a £30-50mill carrot at the end and you'll see a very different approach from teams who'd normally prioritise the league. At the moment in the competition, the top clubs are at more of an advantage than lower clubs for the same reason they're at advantage in the league - because of their superior squad depth. I'm sure you'd be surprised if you really don't think clubs battling to get in the top 3 won't take the FA Cup seriously. Mostly though I think it's important for us to be putting domestic winners forward for the Champions League, not just those that can afford the squad to put in a challenge at the top of the league.