Hope nobody posted it before: A club assembly suggested to reform the UEFA cup. They want to reduce the system to 40 participants and introduce a group system (8 groups with 5 teams). In these groups everyone plays once (!) against everyone in a way that each team has two home and two away games. Only the first ranked of each group qualifies for the quarterfinal which is held in regular k.o.-system. I'm just afraid that 32 of the participants play the regular UEFA way to qualify for the competition - and the UEFA cup as introduced here only starts after the first Champions League group stage to take over the 8 CL 3rd ranked teams.
I don't think it's wise to reform the UEFA Cup without reforming the CL. The UEFA Cup, with the proposed changes to group play, will look no different (aside from some technicalities) than the CL, especially after the CL teams, some of which will be domestic champions, have dropped into the UEFA Cup. I have an idea. Why not combine the UEFA Cup and the CL into a 72-team event, as the two are losing their identity and differentiation anyway? With nine teams from England, eight from Spain, seven teams each from Italy and Germany, and six teams each from Turkey, Greece, the Netherlands, and France, we'd be sure to finally find the true champion of Europe.
I like the idea, only I'd go with the format of 16 groups of 5 (80 teams), to ensure that a good number of smaller teams make it in. Each team plays 4 matches (2 home / 2 away), winners advance to Round of 16. Finalists only play 11 games (compared to 17 in the current CL, and 13 in the CL next year with the elimination of the second group phase). Note that in the CL, the group phase is 6 games (each team home and away, top 2 advance), but in the UEFA Cup it would be just 4 games, with who plays who randomly drawn, with only the winner advancing. I would not increase the number of teams from the big nations, as this would slightly reduce the numbers of teams in the UEFA Cup (currently 96 enter the first round).
I don't like the single round robin. The importance of home field is too great. I like the knockout system with home and home. League play takes too many games in an overcrowded schedule.
Have a better idea? If I'm not mistaken this how Italy's Serie C Cup works (or at least how I think it does in my computer game).
Is there any point in keeping the UEFA Cup anymore ? As it seems only the smaller sides care about winning it. What's the point in holding a tournament to find the best 'mid-table' team in Europe ?
I have to agree with AFCA, don't like the merger idea either. The Champion's League is there for the best teams in Europe. I see some complaining on this board that only the "champions" should play in this Cup, but the truth is that the CL has improved a lot since other teams from the best leagues have joined the fray. Would the World Cup be better or more enjoyable if only the winners from each continent's cup (European Cup, Gold Cup etc. ) were allowed to play? I sure as hell don't think so. The UEFA Cup is there for the "lesser" teams. Might seem like a pointless Cup, but it brings an extra income and goal to reach for the smaller teams in the different leagues. Many of whom most likely wouldn't stand a chance in the Champion's League, and would find opposition more to their level in the UEFA Cup. Merging the 2 would just result in a Cup with too many clubs, of which the difference in quality is even bigger than that of FC Rosenborg against let's say Real Madrid. Not so long ago I read on 1 of the America's board here that you people were planning the same thing over there, you know, the one where they wanted the champion of that Cup to play a "special" match against the UEFA Cup winner. Didn't see too many negative reactions to the idea on that thread. Don't know if the actual plan goes through or not, but apparently to find the best mid-table club from a region appeals to not just the Europeans.
I should definitely start looking at the location thingy looked at your name and thought you were Argentinian...sorry for the insult.
If you want to keep the UEFA cup, it'll has to face changes. Cause realistically before the quarter finals it simply isn't interesting. I mean, it's clear that every country has to be included and it's very important that it's not getting a mere elite competition, but realistically all these small opponents don't attract anyone (see e.g. German teams in the first round Berlin vs Aberdeen, Schalke vs Gomel, Stuttgart vs Ventspils and Bremen vs Metallurg Donezk - these four can be glad if together they have a 25.000 attendance in stadiums that together have about 200.000 capacity). The problem is that the really big clubs (=those who regularly make the Champions League) aren't interested in the UEFA-Cup competition, they just want to make sure to get enough income if they accidentially finish 3rd in the first Champions League group stage. From a sportive point of view this merger absolutely makes no sense. I don't know a perfect solution, but maybe it would help to abandon UEFA cup and have a longer Champions League qualifier - or maybe start there with 16 groups of 4. At the moment UEFA cup is just a financing machine without sportive value as the winner at best is Europe's no 17 (as the best 16 advanced in the CL) - or as Franz Beckenbauer called it "A cup of losers".
all these small opponents don't attract anyone (see e.g. German teams in the first round Berlin vs Aberdeen Yeah, but whaddaya gonna do? Aberdeen will just have to make do with their small German opponents and hope for someone with a European club competition record more in keeping with their own next time. You can't get to play your equal every time round. I like the UEFA Cup as it is. It's interesting for the fans of the clubs involved and everyone else is wanking off to the Champions League in any case. Why bother messsing about with it. We have surely got better things to be getting on with.
They should never have killed the Cup Winners Cup. At least that cup had teams who had rightly qualified because of winning a competition. If UEFA wanted to have only two cup tournaments, they could have put the UEFA cup to rest instead.
"Have a better idea? If I'm not mistaken this how Italy's Serie C Cup works (or at least how I think it does in my computer game)" Yeah... keep it the way it is. What's wrong with it? People here say it's not interesting. Not for the majority of wankers that only watch the likes of Barca, Real, Inter, Milan, Manure, etc.... but they usually don't have a commitment to a club so what do they know? Keep the UEFA cup and long live the smaller clubs and their supporters!
1) Give the UEFA Cup winner an automatic spot in the following year's CL. This way, with a $20M pot at the end of the rainbow, clubs and their supporters won't view the Cup as more of a chore than the honor that it is. 2) DO NOT ALLOW THE 3rd place teams from group stage into UEFA Cup. I'm sorry, but they already had their shot at the CL and failed. They don't deserve "two bites at the apple." 3) Add a group stage. First or 2nd round or both can be group round robin stages. 4) And this may be the most controversial - neutral site "one and done" games. One game knockout rounds like the World Cup. In one game, on a neutral site, anything can happen, as the WC showed us. This will perhaps be fairer to the small club teams who may "get lucky" one night.
I don't agree with 2, 3 and 4. 2) Why not? 3) What good will this do? What is wrong with knockout? It's BS anyway since it's clear that people like the knock-out aspect. The Clubs might not agree, but we all know they are a bunch of greedy bastards that think of nothing but money. 4) That's a crap suggestion. This would mean that a lot of (for instance) eastern European clubs would miss the support they have at a home game since only a few have the money to travel. This would not add anything to the game, or the atmosphere.