Are there any real benefits to play in the Europa league? I'm a Napoli fan and I wonder if Benitez should just throw away that championship (or distraction, depending on how you should look at it) so he can focus on Serie A top 3 spots, go to champions league next season, and make some TV money in that. Does Europa League offer more of a distraction, than financial benefit, to club teams??
But it's such an exhausting way to go about it... Just focus on the league, finish top 3, and you not only qualify for champions league but you may actually win Serie A sll while competing in 1 competition.
I would say: see where you are in Febraury and (re)set your priorities then. Depends on the club of course, but most teams at Napoli's level or above should be able to pass the group stage even if they rotate out some regulars for these first six games.
Europa League is a good way to make coefficient points and to get experience playing in two legged ties. Sure the quality is a lower but sometimes winning those ties is more about strong nerves than actual footballing quality Atletico got forged in the fires of EL I honestly don't like Chelsea but I respect that they took the competiiton seriously Plus winning EL is not that easy like many teams will find this year. Because there are plenty who will see this as easy way to get into the CL and they will have shock of being eliminated by teams that should be easy because hey it's the EL. Shock I don't mean Napoli being eliminated by Spurs or viceversa that can be expected it's this game not happening because one or both are eliminated by weaker teams And while money wise is not that big for most of Europe's clubs those money matter. For many teams it mean a bigger budget. Even for bigger temas the money is not pocket change. Sevilla got 14 million + 2 million for playing the Supercup. Not to mention 7 home games. I don't think teams like Napoli or Spurs or Everton look at what must be around 25 million and say it's not worth it. And that is lowballing it because for Spurs for example they have about 2.5 matchday revenue. Let's say less interest and cheapers ticket and call it 2 million/game. 16+ 7x2= 30 mil. That is Lamela money Plus it's a bigger achievement that winning any domestic cup CL, dometisc title, EL in this order
Won't make a difference, Europa League will only be won by a team who have dropped out of this seasons Champions League at the Group Stages. UEFA need to scrap this if they want this competition to be taken seriously by all.
1) Spurs wouldn't make €30m from winning the Europa League, and in any case, if they were to seriously challenge for that trophy they'd end up finishing about 14th in the Premier League. More realistically, about €15m, and less money in the league for finishing lower down. 2) The new competition, the Europa League, isn't viewed as that prestigious in England. Thursday night football, Champions League teams dropping into the competition, boring Group Stage matches, and little financial rewards make the Europa League the 'Carling Cup of Europe'. I wish UEFA would sort out the Europa League, make it worthwhile, get rid of the group stages and Thursday night football, but they won't.
They would get 15 million just from prize money. They also have matchday revenue. I showed the math No offence but people don't really care about what people in England (or any other country) think about football. I assume you noticed that at Euro 2008 when nobody cared that England weren't in it Especially the fans of the PL who say PL is more prestigious/bigger than CL. Only fans I ever heard saying that. Europe is a big place and there are enough fans of this competition. You can enjoy playing vs the same teams over and over again In that case Spurs are a small time club that will never enter the CL consecutively because that is what teams that have value do. If they can't be good in PL and EL how can they expect to be good on 2 fronts when the other competion is CL? I don't really think Spurs are a small time club
Surely the idea of a forum like this is for different sets of fans to express their opinions? That's what makes it interesting; different opinions. I'm expressing my opinion. I don't like the Europa League. I'm not really that interested in it, can't stand Thursday night matches, and having our league matches rearranged to a Sunday. I don't think the financial rewards for the competition is worth the financial reward, find the monotonous mini-league Group Stages boring beyond belief and don't like away games in 10,000 stadium where away fans get allocated 500 tickets. If you like it, then that's your opinion. One man's trash is another Man's treasure!
In the eyes of everyone a Spurs EL win would matter much more than Arsenal's last year cup win For teams like Porto Atletico and Benfica it helped them a lot and they reaped the benefits in the CL And looking at EL past winners all I see is CL regulars except Sevilla for some reason EDIT: I also have respect for United fans because after being eliminated in 2012 they trot out the "they didn't care " excuse Well some of course did but they wre the minority. Most of them said that they weren't good enough plain and simple EDIT: I am not telling you to like it, I am telling you EL has big benefits. Benefits that some of you guys don't see. And the benefits are wayy bigger than any domestic cup
Well historically, less than half of the UEFA Cup/EL winners started the season in the CL. So I don't know how you can be so sure. Especially before knowing who those 8 drop-outs will be. Either way, I don't know what you mean by "won't make a difference". Just because you came from the CL, doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be in the CL next season.
Jerome Champagne, who is running for FIFA president, seems to agree. His position papers can get a little wordy [ http://www.jeromechampagne2015.com/programme.html ] but in the April paper (on European football) he seems to imply that he would keep UCL-qualifying-losers to continue in the Europa League, but not the eight third-place group teams [ http://www.jeromechampagne2015.com/documents/2015.lettre-n4-e.pdf - page 8] So it would seem that he advocates the UCL be at 32 teams, and the UEL at 64 teams, in the group phase.
Winning trophies is what it's all about. When David Moyes took charge of Everton, he took over a club that had failed to win a trophy in 7 years. He brought stability and concentrated solely on the Premier league. Everton had one of the best FA Cup records before Moyes took over. More Semifinals than any other English team and 9 finals. It pissed me off when Everton got knocked out of that comp before the third round for six years straight. Fast forward to his departure and next year will be Evertons 20 year wait for a trophy. Dismal record in the League Cup and and mediocre in Europe (If ever they qualified). Now Evertonians have a manager who is optimistic and everyone is looking forward to getting far in this competition. Europa league might not be important in the early stages. But once it gets the Semi-final and Final, it definitely get serious. And it is more prestigious than the domestic cups. People might stick their nose up at the League Cup in England, but once teams get to the Final. It's a whole different story. Millions watch it on tv or the pub, and 90,000 fill Wembley Stadium. I thought Tottenham fans would especially want their club to focus on winning this competition. Since Tottenham are a club that is built on winning cup comps and not league titles. And I thought Tottenhams squad was massive? But in my opinion: 1.) CL clubs should never be demoted to the Europa League. Europa League should be a competition all on it's own. Not a second division Champions League. 2.) UEFA CUP sounds so much better and more prestigious than "Europa League" 3.) Europa League should be a knock-out competition only.
I think clubs with ambition need to adjust to more demands. If Napoli do well in Europa League and finish in top 3. Then they will be used to the demands of playing in Europe, which can only help them do well in the CL next year. Europa League is still European football. I think the experience is huge.
I strongly agree with #1 the Europa league is unpredictable in the group stages because of the champions league thing and teams don't know their opponents in the next round. I support CL teams being moved down to the Europa league if they miss out on the CL in qualifying stages (like what happened to Napoli), but not if they finish 3rd in their group. I also strongly agree with #2 I kind of agree with #3. I think you should only play each team once in your group
1) Agree that EL shouldnt act as a backup for CL failures, but those who fail in CL qualifiers (all rounds) should be given a second chance in the EL 2) +2 3) EL should be straight knockout. IMO introducing a group stage is what has destroyed this competition. How I would format the competition: Qualifiers: to get to 128 teams (of course some teams will entry Last 128 directly) R1: 128 teams, same match days as CLGSM1 and 2 R2: 64 teams, same match days as CLGSM3 and 4 R3: 32 teams, same match days as CLGSM5 and 6 R4: 16 teams, same match days as CL Last 16 Legs 1 and 2 (and with that, the dates for the EL Last 32 can go) QF to Final: As current By same match days, I mean play on the Thursday that the CL play on Tue/Wed
Now that the groups tagef of the CL are over I see a bunch of fans that want to win the competiton On top of Liverpool and Spurs fans who saw that 4th place is far away we now have AS Roma Liverpool and Spurs fans don't believe that their favorite teams can win it but they want to
Actually the change I would like to see most is EL moved to Tuesdays. It's annoying that the big UEFA clubs all play early on Saturday, or sometimes even Friday now ahead of a CL mid-week.
It certainly isn't seeing good reffing. Qarabag just got royally screwed, at the death, of a goal to put them through. That was brutal.
Totally agreed . As a neutral footy fan, I just add my view on the Ref Topic on big soccer. <> Azerbaijan team Qarabag Agdam robbed by REF. Before the final whistle, one of the most bizarre whistle of the season. What was the point to cancel the GOAL ? Offside?.Foul ? Final Whistle? or None ? Why is goal line Ref didn't do anything in that whistle?,or is he the one that changed the main ref whistle? It was the one of the weird scene in the long time that many witnessed probably…. In the End, Qarabag Agdam not goes to second round. game ended 0-0 Qarabag Agdam vs Inter ... Thats a huge REF blow . If that goal allowed ; It would be the first Azeribaijan club to get chance to play in the second round. at the end; one error whistle make the dream over . What a pity End for the Azerbaijan club. All in all, poor poor ref'S performance . Regards,
Yes, the goal was called off because of offside. The linesman called it. He was shielded a bit, and apparently thought that the Qarabag player deflected it in, when in fact the ball was 4 or 5 feet away from him and actually deflected in off the Inter player. The goal line ref was standing RIGHT THERE and had to have seen it. If he didn't, he is blind. If he did and didn't tell the center ref and the linesman, he is incompetent or worse. If the rules state that the goal line ref can have no input on calls on the field but for the goal/no goal situation, then it's the rule that is pathetic and needs to be changed. What a horrible way to be bounced out of any competition.