Uefa are considering whether to allow the winners of the Europey league cup into the Champions league in an attempt to give some meaning to a meaningless competition. But would allowing the second tier of teams into the CL water the competition down to an unacceptable level ? Some may argue that 2nd 3rd and 4th places shouldn't qualify either, but overall the PL over the season is a good measure of the quality of a club and whether they should be allowed entry into the CL. The Europey league teams, having finished even further down the table, or rejects dumped out of the CL could lower the standard of the competition. I can see where for the likes of Spurs this would be an attractive option, as even given their best team for around 15 years up against our weakest in the last 15 years, they are still not able to finish above us and qualify for the premier European competition by legitimate means, but it's a bit like saying that the winners of the Carling Cup or teams that finish 1st in the championship should be given entry into the CL. A charitable gesture for teams that can't quite make it at the top level, but ultimately it could be to the detriment of the best club competition in Europe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22640095
The CL should be for champions...it is the fact that 2nd 3rd and 4th place teams get into it that has led to this moronic situatiin that the fa cup, capital 1 cup and uefa cups are all considered mickey mouse competitions. Coming in the top 4 is what is killing football imho...I enjoyed our season in the cl but seriously I prefered winning the carling cup...the cl is purely about money and money is killing the game I love. And given a choice I would have prefered spurs to have won the fa cup in 2010 than come 4th...
That arguement has been had too many times already, i'd rather see the 4th place teams from Spain and England than the champions of Latvia.
I hear what you're saying. But the PL is the premier domestic competition and thus it could be argued that the teams who finish in the top 4 should take the 4 places in the CL. Although I do agree that as a result of this, the FA cup suffers and I'd be sympathetic to seeing a place offered to the FA cup winners. But the Carling Cup and the Europey League are second rate competitions and rewarding the winners of those comps could be seen an insult to the Premier League positions, which after all are a much better measure of the quality of the clubs who attain the top positions.
My point is that the CL set up is wrong....only the champions should be in the champions league... The fa cup, league cup and uefa cups have only been considered second rate competitions since the CL format was changed to how it is now. Prior to this the fa cup winners went into the cup winners cup which was a great competition but was killed by the CL. 2nd 3rd 4th place teams and league cup winners went into the uefa cup which uefa has pretty much killed by making it so long winded. The purpose of being a fan is to enjoy watching your team try to win a trophy nit trying to come 4th ... I know I am in the minority but the CL should be for champions only....its more of a money making scheme than a competition and itss helping to kill football in my opinion
I understand the sentiment, but I guess the argument is : Is it more difficult (are thereby a demonstration of better quality) to finish in the top 4 of the PL than to win the FA cup or Carling Cup ? Whilst it might kill the notion of romance of the smaller competitions, the Champions league should really be about the best club teams playing against each other.
Totally agree. The prize money is the ONLY thing that makes the Europa League '2nd rate', if the cash pot was comparable to the CL, teams would be full strength and going flat out to win it. I personally hate the current formats. Growing up as a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, I looked forward to the Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday nights of CWC/EC/UEFA cup coverage, and was the only time we could see these top foreign clubs playing...and they were the top clubs of their time, as only 3/4 top clubs from each country could get in as national champions/cup winners and 1 or 2 runners up from their leagues or lesser cup comps (eg: League Cup) So I would disagree with your claim PISKIE that the Europa League is a 'meaningless competition', it's still a major trophy but with crap prize money, and 'allowing the second tier of teams into the CL water the competition down to an unacceptable level' already happened in 1992.
A quote by Pod on the Europa league... brilliant! "The Europa League is s**t. You do not want to play in that tournament. Arsenal is a big club so it is good for us to be there again". Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...-english-football-is-great.html#ixzz2U8xDHpin
Disagree really. The prize money is less, but that reflects the quality of the competition, which is in turn measured by the standard of the teams in it to be honest.
In it's current format, yes, as to fill out the competition you need to go much further down the national leagues. Whereas before the CL circus took off, only teams in 2nd or 3rd place got in, giving you still the cream from each country taking part making it (back then) a prestigious trophy for clubs to win.
Sky Sports News confirming that UEFA are going ahead with this plan in 2015. The git reporting decided to remind us that if it was this year, we'd be in the CL next season
I think the key term is 'back then'. Like it or loathe it since the CL has come along the second tier of cup competitons have been watered down. The Europey league is something most of the big clubs try and avoid. I kind of agree with a cup winners cup though. So the Europey cup, the FA cup and the domestic cups around europe should be used to form the European cup winners cup (a bit like the old tournament) but I don't agree that teams finishing 5th in the PL should be eligible for it
I agree with Colin Lee, everything is pointed towards the top 4 and nothing else matters. I could be completely wrong here but do EUFA actually dictate what positions qualify for CL ? I thought (perhaps misguided) that EUFA simply allocate a number of spots for each country and it's up to the league rulers of each country to determine how they're awarded, is this wrong ? It must be. If not the PL could award a CL spot for the Cap 1 Cup, FA Cup, league winners and runners up, that could change teams approach...
I'd go for top 4 still for CL and have the FA cup winners go into a new (old) comp, The European Cup winnners cup instead of 5th place team. The league cup isn't really worthy of a European place in my opinion.
It worked perfectly well years ago when you knew that if you finished 6th it was EUFA Cup and if you won the FA Cup you were in the Cup Winners Cup....
That was before the days of the Champions League though. That competition has changed everything, the UEFA cup used to be the premier european cup competition, but not anymore. I do think that the FA cup winners and the domestic cup winners around europe should go into a cup winner cup comp though, not 5th place PL teams. That would give the FA cup the respect back that it deserves.
