Derided in the Uk , mocked, laughed at. A long Journey mid week and a flight back on Thursday night or Friday morning all with a football match inbetween the life of the modern footballer is truly hell! But hold on its not just footballers and their respective clubs that dislike this European Trophy, the fans agree. All over social media or on the radio and TV fans can be heard aiming their displeasure at their club having to play in this so called second rate European Trophy. It's sad that the modern football fan has become as spoiled as the rich players they often ridicule. We've once again been driven by the media tricked into believing their agenda. It's a trophy that the club I love has a chance of winning, a European trophy at that. Some hardy dedicated fans will follow Liverpool all over Europe hoping that we can progress, praying that we can win it as the competition progresses. Something tells me this group of fans don't look down on this competition. Neither should any fan. Whether it's the Europa Cup or the latest incarnation of the League Cup as fans we should be urging our team on to go win that prize and add it to the trophy cabinet, yes we want more, yes we want bigger but winning is infectious and could drive us on to these higher echelons of the footballing world. The very first steps have been difficult in recent years and a Europa Cup win would have been a joyous occasion so let's step back from the press driven nonsense thought up and printed by these hacks and remember why we watch football, it's not to finish fourth or to get more money for the club, it's to climb that mountain, to clear that hurdle, we must build momentum we can never give up, we simply have to win and we have to do it together one club players and fans.
Really want us to try and win this trophy, said the same for the last couple of years too. We look shot in the league already (I know its early days) and the EL offers a route to CL football AND a trophy!!! Why would we go for it? The reality is, we won't bother even trying.
The way things are going it might be our only way into the CL anyways. Nothing wrong with adding an EL trophy to the cabinet too.
I 100% agree with the sentiment Gonz and it pisses me off if we don't take any cup seriously however the problem with the UEFA is format....long winded, half 5 kick offs, too many ****e teams, CL losers coming in half way through etc etc....I'd love us to take it seriously but we're ****ing **** even when we are taking things seriously so we have no chance
When we won the Uefa cup under Houllier that gave us a taste for it again and was followed up 3/4 seasons later with the Champions League win. Those kind of time frames are not acceptable but we haven't won a European trophy for 10 years now, 10 ****ing years !! If we can win the Europa league and it sets us up for another push at the CL then great. I'd take that, even if it's a couple/several seasons turnaround time between them.
Exactly this. The UEFA Cup was a great tournament. The Europa League is too much of a slog with a bunch of teams coming into the tournament half way through it! The Cup Winners Cup was great as well. No idea why they binned that.
I suppose with the CL places being allocated to 3 or 4 teams in the bigger leagues, often it wouldn't be the team that won the Cup that would play in the ECWC. If the final was contested by two of the top three/four then the FA Cup semi finalists would have to play off for a place in the ECWC!
1. Long winded. It's only 2 more games than CL (think there is 1 extra round between groups and last 32) 2. Early kick offs Mean you can fly back same day so in theory you get more rest than teams in the CL who finish games late and have to stay in Country 3. **** teams Should make it easier and be even more of an incentive to go far in it as more chance to win than the CL