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Man United should 'snub the Europa League - a tournament for losers'

By what right though?? Swansea and Wigan have been knocked out already and last year I believe Saudi Sportswashing Machine and Liverpool had been knocked out before now too. Just because the EPL is a strong league does not give our clubs the right to jump into the latter rounds.
 
Cochise said:
By what right though?? Swansea and Wigan have been knocked out already and last year I believe Saudi Sportswashing Machine and Liverpool had been knocked out before now too. Just because the EPL is a strong league does not give our clubs the right to jump into the latter rounds.
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We already do - the reason being that if we started in round 1 it would congest our fixtures too much and be a pointless game because our U16 ladies teams would win blindfolded. Much like the group states of the UEFA.
 
It is a loser tournament but not a tournament for losers, not to begin with anyway but when they allow CL dropouts in it becomes a tournament for losers.

Extended, changed the format several times, it's just rubbish until the quarter finals. The prize money is massively out of sync with the number of games and impact on the league schedule.

It has been systematically devalued to make the CL the holy grail.


However, you end up where you end up and no one BELONGS in the Champions League.
 
A trophy is a trophy, is a trophy. Was good enough for Chelski last year.

The best thing they could possibly do to make the competition worthwhile is to end the stupid 'fourth spot' and the winners of the Europa get automatic CL qualification. You watch the interest then . . .
 
Clubs bigger than competitions ..... ?


That way lies madness.


Remember Man U trying to bend over backwards to get out of the FA Cup to play WSC, so the FA bent even further and moved the 3rd round to December (which that year meant we went out of the cup twice in a calendar year). United's absence even featured in the FA's 150 year 'special moments' last year. Edit - didn't somebody (York?) get knocked out and reinstated because United didn't end up participating anyway..... or is my memory shot?

If a club (like Man U) declines, they should not be invited the next time (or two) they are eligible in the same circumstances. Furthermore, if they drop to Europa from CL their place should be passed elsewhere (to 4th club?).
 
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CL isn't a tournament for the biggest clubs, but the best teams. Quite often those are one and the same, but no longer in United's case.
 
I too only read up to Adrian Durham.

But I agree with the OP. Articles like this DO devalue the competition, especially to younger fans. I'm 20 and as a kid I viewed it as a big competition because of the stories I'd been told about Spurs winning the UEFA Cup. But I soon realized that other fans didn't, especially seeing as I grew up surrounded by Chelsea, Arsenal, United & Liverpool fans. The worst part is that fans of 'the traditional top four' don't even regard our UEFA Cup wins with any regard now as they think it was a small time competition back then as well!

UEFA certainly haven't helped matters. I think there should be two qualifying spots for the Champions League at maximum. Preferably one as it is the 'champions' league after all and yet way more than half of the teams that win it aren't even Champions.

I think UEFA have increased the amount of teams that get in the Champions League because of the money it generates, and it has worked whilst devaluing what is now the Europa League. I also think that they are getting close to the maximum amount of money the Champions League can generate and will increase the size of the competition and the amount of teams in it to 5 or 6 in due course, till that reaches it's maximum generation point, after which they will make a European League.

UEFA won't scrap the Europa League just yet because it still makes them some cash, and any amount is welcome. But if you said 'you can make a European Super League tomorrow' you wouldn't be able to get half way through finishing before they'd run off and pull out some plans. They're waiting for more fans to devalue their own domestic compeitions and fill acceptance of a Super League format, and I fear that will certainly happen in the next 20 years as older fans die off.
 
As far as where the competition ranks ... my abiding view was that the European Cup was a mix, as you won a league to participate in a cup. To me they devalued it by allowing more clubs in to make a league format whereweren't humiliated year after year.

The purest competition was the Cup Winners Cup, as you won a cup and had to follow through in a cup format. The odd thing was that this later became judged (and referred to) as the 'junior' competition, and was binned.

The Fairs Cup etc etc was an opportunity to get more clubs playing across borders, and was nice. Then it was expanded, and further expanded because the 'big' clubs in 'small' leagues and the 'big' clubs under-performing in the current year could have a chance at a trophy.

Ultimately, the FA Cup is the dog's bolleaux. Apart from staging the entry to get the form teams from the lower reaches, there is no seeding. Pure class will tell - and senior clubs take progress for granted at their peril. The French Cup a few years back was tainted because Calais (a Conference'ish side http://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/may/07/newsstory.sport4 ) got to the semi finals, but would not have been able to play in Europe because of ground requirements had they won. There were suggestions they were bought off - but that is not Johnny Frog's style.

Suffice it to say that, like the EU, UEFA sees itself as the owners of anyone or anything that associates with them. This is reinforced by such as Man U pandering to them whenever they are less successful on the pitch to preserve their place at the table.

Grease is the word. No, corrupt is the word, just not a musical.
 
With all of Europe's top clubs involved in both the Champions League & Europa League, just who do Manchester United think that they're going to play these friendlies against?
 
UEFA did the right thing by giving the winner a Champions League place from next season but the Thursday Sunday format needs to be re-worked,
 
Sport, business, fair play? This article says an awful lot to me. No other teams allowed to compete, sickening!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26782112

Manchester United troubles 'affect Premier League brand'
Manchester United's troubled defence of their Premier League title is harming the English top flight's worldwide brand, says the competition's chief executive Richard Scudamore.

Under new boss David Moyes, United are seventh in a disappointing campaign.

The 20-time champions are 18 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

"It's a double-edged sword," said Scudamore. "When your most popular club isn't doing as well, that costs you interest and audience in some places."

Former Everton manager Moyes has watched the Red Devils suffer 10 defeats in 31 league matches since he replaced Sir Alex Ferguson, who retired last summer after almost 27 years in charge.

His team were knocked out of the FA Cup at the third-round stage before being eliminated from the Capital One Cup in the semi-finals.

They have reached the Champions League quarter-finals, where they will face defending champions Bayern Munich next month.

"There are lots of fans around the world who wish Manchester United were winning it again," Scudamore told Bloomberg.

"But you have to balance that off against, generally, we're in the business of putting on a competition and competition means people can compete."

Overseas television deals will earn the Premier League more than £2bn between 2013 and 2016.

The Premier League sold its domestic broadcasting rights to Sky and BT in a record-breaking deal, worth around £3bn, last year.
 
Scudamore is a complete ****. The thought of someone so clueless being part of footballs' decision makers, it's sickening.
 
Can't stand Durham but he's not far wrong here. The Europa league has been nothing but a drain on us and it's no surprise to me that the only 2 times we've finished 4th in the last few years was when we either weren't in it or didn't take the group stages seriously.

Especially now the Champions League losers get to have a second chance at glory by dropping in at the end it makes even more of a mockery of the competition. If UEFA aren't going to take it seriously then why should any of the clubs.
 
Did I miss the part where he explains just how United are going to persuade the likes of Madrid and Bayern (who will be in the CL and will presumably have enough on their plate trying to win that competition as well as their respective leagues) to drop everything just so they can nip over to England to play United in a friendly?
 
surely it's big clubs around the world in off season, not European sides, maybe international 11's, a Brazil side for example, they have played money games using only home based players in recent years haven't they?
 
It would be games in Shanghai, Bangkok, Singapore, etc. They can play local teams as long as they bring the big names.
 
jts1882 said:
It would be games in Shanghai, Bangkok, Singapore, etc. They can play local teams as long as they bring the big names.
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Sounds like just the thing to entice top players to sign for them.

"It's not about the money, at this stage of my career I need to be playing in these showcase friendlies"
 
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