Serious relegation fears

[Baleforce]

I think that could very well be a feature rather than a bug. Would we want to see rapid fluctuations where leagues have 4 places one year, 3 the next then back to 4 a year or two after that? I think a fairly high barrier of entry makes sure that a league actually has to overtake another and get reasonably far ahead rather than a single good run for one thing or an off season for a couple others making a huge impact.

yes, but you punish teams with smaller win now periods, only squads capable of sustained success will be able to make the jump and rely on other domestic clubs to increase the coefficient, and as we know when less established clubs start to do well they tend to get raided quite quickly

look how long it took for Italy to lose that 4th slot, despite the drop in performance of their continental qualifiers

personally I think I would rather see those rapid fluctuations and see different clubs involved in the CL as that would spread the wealth a bit more

 

[braineclipse]

yes, but you punish teams with smaller win now periods, only squads capable of sustained success will be able to make the jump and rely on other domestic clubs to increase the coefficient, and as we know when less established clubs start to do well they tend to get raided quite quickly

look how long it took for Italy to lose that 4th slot, despite the drop in performance of their continental qualifiers

personally I think I would rather see those rapid fluctuations and see different clubs involved in the CL as that would spread the wealth a bit more

It's not really at a club level though... It's at a national level... If a club quickly jumps ahead of the CL chasing teams in their country they get in. It's just that to get another slot in the CL the clubs from that nation will have to do well.

Italy lost their 4th spot after some time. But it was in 12/13 I think, and as late as 09/10 Inter actually won the CL. And the impressive runs in the CL from Dortmund came after the change iirc. Though Schalke had done well previously.

England are now at risk at losing a 4th spot to Italy. I don't think that's come particularly slowly... Same rules now isn't it?

 

[Baleforce]

It's not really at a club level though... It's at a national level... If a club quickly jumps ahead of the CL chasing teams in their country they get in. It's just that to get another slot in the CL the clubs from that nation will have to do well.

Italy lost their 4th spot after some time. But it was in 12/13 I think, and as late as 09/10 Inter actually won the CL. And the impressive runs in the CL from Dortmund came after the change iirc. Though Schalke had done well previously.

England are now at risk at losing a 4th spot to Italy. I don't think that's come particularly slowly... Same rules now isn't it?

it's not about the clubs that jump ahead of the CL teams in their country, its about the ones with small windows who jump to CL standard but can't hang around long enough for their nation to get a 3rd or 4th place

i'm not complaining about how the rules are being administered, just that I think they protect the status quo, seedings only exacerbate the problem by easing higher ranked clubs through the group stages aiding the collection of coefficient points

I understand why its not in the interests of the sponsors to change things and thus why UEFA continue, but, it could be more fun if things were done differently

 

[braineclipse]

it's not about the clubs that jump ahead of the CL teams in their country, its about the ones with small windows who jump to CL standard but can't hang around long enough for their nation to get a 3rd or 4th place

i'm not complaining about how the rules are being administered, just that I think they protect the status quo, seedings only exacerbate the problem by easing higher ranked clubs through the group stages aiding the collection of coefficient points

I understand why its not in the interests of the sponsors to change things and thus why UEFA continue, but, it could be more fun if things were done differently

Would the CL really be a better competition if one of the smaller leagues very quickly could get a 3rd of 4th participant just because one team went on a hot run for a season or two?

I would like to see the CL more competitive, for me that happens by teams in the smaller leagues building over time and some level of predictability of income from a steady CL run help that I think.

The rules do of course protect the status quo to some extent, anything else would be really strange. I think UEFA have struck a reasonable balance.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Would the CL really be a better competition if one of the smaller leagues very quickly could get a 3rd of 4th participant just because one team went on a hot run for a season or two?

I would like to see the CL more competitive, for me that happens by teams in the smaller leagues building over time and some level of predictability of income from a steady CL run help that I think.

The rules do of course protect the status quo to some extent, anything else would be really strange. I think UEFA have struck a reasonable balance.

There's only really 4 big European leagues now. France and Holland have fallen away quite significantly over the past 15-20 years and Russia flirted with becoming more significant, but didn't sustain it.

Perhaps the solution is to just give 4 spaces to each of the big 4 leagues (though it may seem interest driven to suggest that now when it's England in danger of falling out of the top 3)?

 

[parklane1]

It was a lot better when it only took the champions in, since they changed it its all about making money.

 

[El Guepardo]

It was a lot better when it only took the champions in, since they changed it its all about making money.

Which is sadly the nature of the game these days.

 

[parklane1]

Which is sadly the nature of the game these days.

Indeed.

 

[Jordinho]

Apparently we've had a much easier fixture list than Liverpool. Both have just one top half opponent left.

Expect Leicester and Southampton to drop away over the next few weeks.

 

[Robbo]

So Leicester haven't played either of the Manchesters, Liverpool, Everton and Chelski - will be interesting to see if they're still flying high after that. Arse look like they have an easier schedule coming up though. A bit worrying.

 

[Jordinho]

So Leicester haven't played either of the Manchesters, Liverpool, Everton and Chelski - will be interesting to see if they're still flying high after that. Arse look like they have an easier schedule coming up though. A bit worrying.

Let's just hope Leicester can nick the odd point.

 

[Robbo]

Let's just hope Leicester can nick the odd point.

Yep. They've earned that top spot playing well, so there's no reason they can't get a few points from the Sky quartet + Everton too. They did well at WHL.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Looking at arsenals here they have played none of the top sides away ye other than Leicester... thats going to be interesting for them next year

And we have the best home form joint with City but heavenly played one of the bottom sides at home which in theory bodes well.

 

[7percent]

The results comparison thread has us +8 on the same fixtures last season. We finished on 64 last season so an improvement of +8 would leave us on 72.

Last season 72 points would have got us 4th and it would also equal the club premier league record.

COYS.

 

[Coys300]

It was a lot better when it only took the champions in, since they changed it its all about making money.

The CL is actually fine as a competition, probably even better than the old Europa Cup 1. What the new rule did ensure though was that they made the Europa League an absolute sh!t competition, as opposed to the Europa Cup 2 and UEFA Cup which were actually proper cups with good teams.

 

[r-u-s-x]

Apparently we've had a much easier fixture list than Liverpool. Both have just one top half opponent left.

Expect Leicester and Southampton to drop away over the next few weeks.

don't normally sat this but have they not played most of the big teams away from home while we have a mixture?

 

[Coys300]

don't normally sat this but have they not played most of the big teams away from home while we have a mixture?

They have played all the 'traditional' bigger teams away from home thus far. That's definately an advantage for them. I think we have the capabilities to beat anyone at our place, but away at Anfield, the Eithiad, Stamford Bridge and Goodison Park are going to be very tricky fixtures.

 

[parklane1]

The CL is actually fine as a competition, probably even better than the old Europa Cup 1. What the new rule did ensure though was that they made the Europa League an absolute sh!t competition, as opposed to the Europa Cup 2 and UEFA Cup which were actually proper cups with good teams.

Disagree, the CL should be about champions not those that finish in the runners up / losers positions in their Lge.

 

[parklane1]

So Leicester haven't played either of the Manchesters, Liverpool, Everton and Chelski - will be interesting to see if they're still flying high after that. Arse look like they have an easier schedule coming up though. A bit worrying.

I think ( hope) that sooner or later Vardy will stop scoring as much and Leicester will drop out of the top four. There is usually one team who start well and fall away and I can see Leicester doing just that.

 

[Gutter Boy]

The CL is actually fine as a competition, probably even better than the old Europa Cup 1. What the new rule did ensure though was that they made the Europa League an absolute sh!t competition, as opposed to the Europa Cup 2 and UEFA Cup which were actually proper cups with good teams.

Early 90s European competitions (post-ban and pre-screwing up the CWC) were marvellous.

There was almost no difference in prestige between the EC, CWC and UEFA; in fact many considered the UEFA cup the toughest one because a lot of the 2nd and 3rd place teams had become better than the previous season's league and cup winners

CL bores me senseless now - I can't watch it. EL has retained a little bit of the magic