We were very fortunate to be in that Final. Somehow, we managed to avoid any big teams right until the Final. And it was Eriksen who single handedly rescued us against Sheff Utd in the semi final. It might have mentally affected Eriksen so much that he has never looked like the same player since then !
Of course we don't run riot every weekend - the level of the PL is far, far higher than that of all but a handful of teams in the ITV4 Cup.
That's precisely why it's so damn boring - the **** teams are **** and the (few) good teams don't care enough to make it interesting. Put teams like Spurs in at the first/second knockout stage and you'd have a decent competition, otherwise it's like us joining the FA Cup at the Southern Combined League stage - there's a good reason why the organisers avoid that.
Velkjovic and Carroll tomorrow ? Save Dier for the weekend.
Reducing the number of teams is a start - that in itself would reduce the number of "unfashionable" teams we need to play before we get to the good bits.All three teams in our group are more than capable of giving us a game. I think Monaco will top it if they don't put out a B-side.
There's a whole lot of things wrong with the European cups, but having to play sides from less fashionable leagues isn't really one. That's really one of the main points about it. The number of teams is a problem. There used to be 30+ nations in UEFA and the lowest ranked ones were allowed one entry in each cup. You had 32 teams in the European cup and the Cup winner's cup and a few more in the UEFA, but since 1990 the number of nations has grown to 54. Everyone except 4 countries have at least 4 entries. Both cups need a restructuring. Starting by cutting one entry from every league.
Reducing the number of teams is a start - that in itself would reduce the number of "unfashionable" teams we need to play before we get to the good bits.
I still think the early rounds need seeding and byes. If UEFA insist on having this many teams, then just let teams like ours (24th ranked in UEFA, BTW) join in the second knockout round. That way, just like the FA Cup, if a little team does really well their reward is to play us. If they're not doing well, let's not waste our time and let teams like ours concentrate on the PL.
That's the right idea but it's not nearly enough. If they halved the number of groups and brought the 2nd seeded group in at the first knockout and the 1st seeded group at the second knockout it would be a better competition all round.Right now their reward is making the group stage and playing us. The qualifying rounds basically replace the old intertoto. Some of these smaller ex-Soviet countries have some very wealthy people living in them. One of their hobbies is to import lots of Brazilians to play football.
An even better competition would be to have one team from each country in the CL and have those who finish 2nd-4th in the PL (and equivalents in other leagues) enter the ITV4 cup.
I see there are still a few fans who think we are above this tournament, delusion abounds.
Have another competition for the cup winners and we could be onto something. I wonder why no one has ever thought of this?![]()
European football actually used to be interesting and exciting prior to 1997 didn't it
That's the right idea but it's not nearly enough. If they halved the number of groups and brought the 2nd seeded group in at the first knockout and the 1st seeded group at the second knockout it would be a better competition all round.
An even better competition would be to have one team from each country in the CL and have those who finish 2nd-4th in the PL (and equivalents in other leagues) enter the ITV4 cup.
where are the europa league games being shown on British t.v. this year?
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