I think the travelling has a massive effect especially when your flying halfway round the world like we have. If you look at the CL group stages its mainly English/French/german/Italian/Spanish, EL tends to be more eastern Europe/scandanavia, not the most accessible countries.
All the individual reasons we've come up with for the EL seem to be weak ones. But put them all together and it must make a difference.
It's been proven that by playing games on a Thursday, it creates a negative mental impact on players form, especially due to the negative impact of travelling late in the week. Plus if a game is played on a Thursday, players feel like they are playing twice in a weekend. A Wednesday to Sat break, gives players more time to relax between games, even if it's all in the mind. Source. Premium rate dialled psychologist.
Except that there normally are more games and, as Yidokev points out, the opposition are normally rather inaccessible when compared with the CL teams. Facing Thursday/Sunday rather than Tuesday/Saturday or Wednesday/Sunday is probably a big issue, too. EL teams generally go in a round early when compared to their CL counterparts. Swansea had to play four games before the group, whereas Chelsea and the two Manchester sides played none. The extra finances of the bigger competition, which don't bear any relation to the one we're in, help to fill out squad depth.
I'm sure Newcastle/Swansea/Stoke/Wigan would also agree the EL has an effect. I remember a couple of years ago Newcastle fighting with us and Chelsea for a CL place, they qualified for the EL the following season and went backwards with virtually the same squad as the previous season. TBH for us to be still challenging for top 4 is a miracle really, imagine if Everton/Liverpool were in the EL this season they wouldn't be anywhere near the top 4 if they played strong teams like we have, the difference is Saurez or Sturridge wouldn't have even watched an EL game let alone played in one.
Been on this myth with someone elsewhere. No statistically significant evidence that Spurs UEFA campaigns have affected the subsequent PL games. And I took the four most recent seasons. This season has been different. But you will have to show the following PL results were not accountable to chance, or facts like Spurs have been playing ****e for most of the season.
I actually understood what you were talking about yesterday, what i was confused about was my own opinions/thoughts on the matter, sorry for the confusion. What i really need to clear my head is for Spurs to get some ****ing direction and play some nice football. I don't mind the odd defeat, thats football, i just wanna see some sign of progress and/or ambition. I don't count spunking £100m that you've just made selling your squad as ambition. Actually, what i'd be fairly happy with is trimming the squad (again!) and buying in a couple (no more) QUALITY first teamers and then using the EL to play the youngsters. If the club have any hopes of these youngsters either being sold for money or making an impact on the PL then they should be able to handle beating farmers from Arseville or wherever. If we are in the quarters then perhaps bring out the big guns depending on how the league is going
Thing is, I thought/ hoped that was what we done this season. All of our 7 signings were players of a very high calibre that'd all played international football for their respected countries. Admittedly most have failed to adapt and perform to the level required but I don't think we'll be doing too much spending in the near future (just hopefully a new LB!), even if we trim the squad a bit. Talent wise, we already have a superb squad of players that shouldn't really require much additional strengthening but the form of many has been the main issue. If we can get even some of the new (and old) players to reach the form we know they can reach then we're laughing. If this squad could play to their potential (when fit) then there really aren't many better players around unless you look under the "world class" bracket: Lloris, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Rose Sandro, Dembele/ Paulinho Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli Adebayor/ Soldado That team on form would be phenomenal to watch. This season promised so much but has so far, delivered so little.
Interesting. At what point does familiarity kick in? what I mean is we've been on this Thur/Sun cycle for years, some of our younger players don't know any other pattern....how is it proven to be negative for them?
The top sides generally don't play to a pattern because games are constantly moved for TV. The EL adds to the irregularity because it means that even non-televised games are shifted. Add in the extra games, travelling to far flung parts of Europe, playing on generally poorer pitches against opponents who rely more on workrate and tempo than finesse and skill and you have all the conditions necessary for fatigue - which is always what the PL teams playing in the EL suffer every year.
Nice to see that from a neutral point of view. Luke, next season if you're in Europa, what are your thoughts on it? Would you want united to play the kids and focus on getting 4th or above in the league, or would you want to try and win the Europa, knowing the affect it can have domestically?
Utd's priority will be to get back into the CL. That means competing in the PL and finishing above teams who Utd have been inferior to this season. Addressing form and consistency in the league is crucial. The EL would be worth winning if the format was different, but no club, however great its resources can have the depth of squad needed to compete at full throttle in all competitions when required to play 60+ games. There has to be some sacrifice and without hestitation, it would have to be the EL. That means resting most of the regular PL squad for all EL games, IMO.
LOL Notso, it was invented BS! But there is definitely something in the Thur/Sun cycle having a greater effect. If you asked most footballers, I'm sure if all given the choice, would prefer the Wed/Sat cycle of cup to league games, and for that they would be generally be more energised to perform.
.....ok I 've gone to google and see if there is anything behind the Thursday night effect. found this: http://www.prozonesports.com/news-a...opa-league-and-the-thursday-night-effect.html please log in to view this image ..My own BS logic, is that the Thur/Sun cycle has a mental effect on players performance, as footballers are human (surprising!) and by playing Thur/Sun it decreases mood and creates an impression they are rushed to perform while not getting the same rest as teams who traditionally play on a wed to sat.. Its my BS logic but there could be something in it! But just to ruin (or back up) Roos argument D) that article says this Which depending how you view it, likely answer will be because under Redknapp we never took the EL serious, something Redknapp often gets slack for, yet he is our most successful premier league manager so when he says You can understand why we never took it serious and in turn Redknapp will say it benefited our league form.
