Am I right in saying that if you made it to the final of the Europa, you'd only play 1 more tie than if you made it to the final of the CL?
1 more round? Assuming that you join at the same stage, then yes.
Am I right in saying that if you made it to the final of the Europa, you'd only play 1 more tie than if you made it to the final of the CL?
tl;dr? The Europa League/UEFA Cup clearly has an effect upon the teams playing in it which doesn't appear to transfer when the same teams play in the CL.
There must be something more to it than just playing some extra games.
Hmm... So the excuse about their being more games in the EL is a weak argument, too.
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.
Redknapp's campaigns wouldn't have been effected, as he basically dropped everyone.
Redknapp's campaigns wouldn't have been effected, as he basically dropped everyone.
LOL, I knew what I meant, but I can see how it was confusing.
I'll try and simplify it.
we've been giving reasons as to why the EL and a successful domestic campaign combined, seem very difficult.
I personally don't like using the excuses of: Thursday-sunday matches, distance travelled, always playing a game a day after everyone else in the league etc. etc.
However, there must be something in it. Maybe a combination of lots of things, including the above (in bold). As I've said, you can look at the form of serveral teams in recent years to see that the EL has some sort of affect.
My point in the previous post was a reply to your comment about "not being able to handle the CL if we can't handle the EL".
what I was trying to say, is that when we were in CL, we had much less depth in our squad, yet we managed to reach the 1/4 finals of the CL and still finished 5th. - so saying that we wouldn't be able to deal with the CL/prem, just because we can't deal with the EL/prem, isn't necessarily true. Ok, our first team performed much better back then, but we have far more depth now.
So, if we now take into consideration that the CL usually involves less traveling, playing on a Saturday (not always under pressure after seeing everyone else's results), and extra day's rest potentially (tues-sat), AND the fact that we've got more squad depth, perhaps we would be ok dealing with a CL and prem campaign?
To write one off (CL), just because we find the other difficult (EL), may not actually be at all accurate, especially if some of those things above in bold have some truth to them.
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
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.
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 if can have domestically?
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?
It turns out that the second outcome holds true: teams consistently drop points when playing on Sundays after Thursday European matches.
There is some variation by team, too. Curiously, Redknappâs former team Tottenham have actually scored more points after European games since 2001, but it seems unlikely that this will hold over time.
âThe Europa League takes an even bigger toll [than the Champions League] in my opinion, that's the problem,â said Harry Redknapp in April 2011. âThat Thursday night one, every week, and playing Sundays every week.â