The Big Europa League Adventure

claretandbluesky

Now the dust has settled I take the view that Europa is perfect for us at this time. I think I wanted Champions League for the kudos of it, and to be able to believe that we really had already made it to the next level. However when you look at the teams qualified through Europe we would have been very much out of our depth. I think all the qualifiers from our own Premiership this season did the double over us and that provides perspective I feel.

I do think that if we keep our best and reinforce then this Europa campaign could be a lot of fun and we could properly test ourselves. We may need the draw to be kind as there are always four or five stand out clubs with European pedigree but there should also be plenty of teams that with our current quality we could get results against.

I would consider it a success if we could make it to knockout stage and win a match or two there.

alderz

I think it’s hard to say what’s a success until we see the draw, tbh. Looking at the other ‘Big 5’ league teams that qualified, I don’t feel particularly intimidated about the rest of the teams. But that also feels like maybe I am a bit deluded.

Yeoldhammer

have we got a comprehensive list of who is in the Europa League ? and who our opponents are possibly going to be ? i imagine we will be seeded in the bottom pot ?

claretandbluesky

If you go to the BBC page you can view the final league tables of the main leagues in Europe and they display as ours does with a cut off denoting Champions League and Europa. So for example from Spain we have Real Betis & Real Sociadad, from Italy Lazio and Napoli, Germany, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Leverskesan & from France Lyon and Marsaille.

ASLEFshrugged

Lokomotiv Moscow (Russian Cup winners, 3rd) and Braga (Portuguese Cup winners, 4th) are also through to the Group Stage,

Along with those 12 teams there will be 10 teams from the Europa League qualifying rounds and 10 teams that got knocked out of the Champions League qualifying rounds

I've just switched by day off from Wednesday to Thursday

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

The issue with the Europa league that hasn't been fixed even with the teams getting whittled down is that the teams that fail to make it out of the group stage of the Champions League drop down, and quite often its these 'failed' champions league teams are the ones who go on and make the closing stages

But I agree, I think the Europa is a really good competition for us

Getting rid of a lot of the weaker league teams plays in our favour massively as does not having to qualify during Pre-Season which has in the past disrupted us

Really looking forward to it

Hamstew

I can't wait. It's gonna be sick!

thornburyiron

C&B I think you’re doing us down a bit. We got a draw against City.

buffybegood

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years said:

The issue with the Europa league that hasn't been fixed even with the teams getting whittled down is that the teams that fail to make it out of the group stage of the Champions League drop down, and quite often its these 'failed' champions league teams are the ones who go on and make the closing stages

But I agree, I think the Europa is a really good competition for us

Yeah, I really hate the fact that teams that have qualified for the Champions League and then aren't good enough get a second bite at the cherry in the Europa, it's completely wrong imo.

alderz

Yep. And it's just there to guarantee their money from TV income. I really miss the old UEFA Cup and Champions Cup with straight knockout games, personally. I'd be far, far more interested in European competition if there was more jeopardy like that from the start.

ASLEFshrugged

Nice idea but European club competition is UEFA's big cash cow and the longer the big teams are playing the more money they make

I'm sure they got a considerably bigger audience with Man U, Ajax and Shakhtar Donetsk playing in the Europa League after they'd got knocked out of the Champions League than if LASK, AZ or Rapid Wien had progressed from the Europa League group stage

And in the end football is a business

Fortuneseeker

buffybegood said:

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years said:

The issue with the Europa league that hasn't been fixed even with the teams getting whittled down is that the teams that fail to make it out of the group stage of the Champions League drop down, and quite often its these 'failed' champions league teams are the ones who go on and make the closing stages

But I agree, I think the Europa is a really good competition for us

Yeah, I really hate the fact that teams that have qualified for the Champions League and then aren't good enough get a second bite at the cherry in the Europa, it's completely wrong imo.

If this is correct we might just have a second bite at the cherry but of course we won't need it. I know it's for Pochettino's new teams benefit, if the Daily Mail is to be believed, but it indicates third place in the group stages drops you into the ECL?

https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/news/tottenham-uefa-europa-conference-league-20661923

alderz, only two games for us and it could end up all Astra Giurgui!

alderz

ASLEFshrugged said:

Nice idea but European club competition is UEFA's big cash cow and the longer the big teams are playing the more money they make

I'm sure they got a considerably bigger audience with Man U, Ajax and Shakhtar Donetsk playing in the Europa League after they'd got knocked out of the Champions League than if LASK, AZ or Rapid Wien had progressed from the Europa League group stage

And in the end football is a business

Yeah, I’m not suggesting it would ever return, because it absolutely won’t. All I said was that I preferred it.

ASLEFshrugged

Fortuneseeker said:

If this is correct we might just have a second bite at the cherry but of course we won't need it. I know it's for Pochettino's new teams benefit, if the Daily Mail is to be believed, but it indicates third place in the group stages drops you into the ECL?

https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/news/tottenham-uefa-europa-conference-league-20661923

alderz, only two games for us and it could end up all Astra Giurgui!

Indeed, the knockout stage of the Conference starts with the eight 2nd place teams against against the eight 3rd place teams from the Europa League with the winners of those matches against the eight 1st place teams

It's all a bit complicated...

claretandbluesky

I agree with Alderz, business aside both comps should be knockout, no seeding and two legs all the way to the final.

MrsGrey

Useful summary of format of the competition, and key dates:

https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2021/may/25-may/what-does-finishing-sixth-mean-west-ham-united-guide-202122-uefa

alderz

MrsGrey said:

Useful summary of format of the competition, and key dates:

https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2021/may/25-may/what-does-finishing-sixth-mean-west-ham-united-guide-202122-uefa

This is really interesting. Teams that finish first in the group go into last 16, teams that finish second go into a playoff against the third placed teams that drop out of the Champions League to decide who goes into the last 16 against the group winners. So, let’s just win the group, I reckon? That probably is simpler, I’d have thought.

Fortuneseeker

Do you reckon due to our "fantastic" history in the Europa League that we will be a dangerous third seed when the draw is made or do you think the Manchester clubs & CFC will have helped with the country's co efficient this season so we will be in the second pot?

buffybegood

Doubt we're going to be in the second pot reading that, more likely the 3rd or possibly even 4th pot imo (only 2 of the known teams have a lower rating than us, and we're going to get some Champions League qualifying round losers to join us as well, so they could easily be ranked higher than us).

IronHerb

We have a Club Coefficient of 1.5. England has a National Coefficient of 20.028. We take the higher of the two Coefficients. The twelve teams so far in the Group Stage have Coefficients of -

Real Sociedad - 19.542
Real Betis - 19.542
Leicester City - 32.00
West Ham United - 20.028
Eintracht Frankfurt - 33.00
Beyer Leverkusen - 57.00
Napoli - 74.00
Lazio - 54.00
Olympique Lyon - 76.00
Olympique Marseille - 28.00
Sporting Braga - 35.00
Lokomotive Moscow - 31.00

whupathman

I bet we get Marseille, the Payet derby

yoyo

If we do then I'd love it soooo much if Coufal crushed him like the insect he is

buffybegood

yoyo said:

If we do then I'd love it soooo much if Coufal crushed him like the insect he is

Coufal be mongoose to Payet's snake.

IronHerb

Rikki Tikki Coufal?

claretandbluesky

They should just make a draw instead of giving already advantaged teams even more advantage. When you read this stuff it makes that super league idea seem perfectly in line with it all. It;s not too many steps from a club coefficiant to allowing a team into the comp just because they are a big club.

IronHerb

But isn't that like saying West Ham should enter the FA Cup in the 1st Qualifying Round?
Why should England have more teams in the competition than say Hungary? It's a case of were does it end.

ASLEFshrugged

IronHerb said:

But isn't that like saying West Ham should enter the FA Cup in the 1st Qualifying Round?
Why should England have more teams in the competition than say Hungary? It's a case of were does it end.

Hungary has a population of 9.7m, England 56m, why shouldn't we have more teams in Europe?

yoyo said:

If we do then I'd love it soooo much if Coufal crushed him like the insect he is

Payet left for family reasons and took a pay cut to leave. I respect him for that

-----------------------------------------

I really hope we draw Napoli at some point, I went there in February 2020 just before the world went into lockdown, great city

Cuz1

In Napoli, where love is king
Where boy meets girl
Here’s what they say
When the moon it’s your eye like a big pizza pie
That’s amores, classic

ASLEFshrugged

In Napoli I saw three girls on a moped and all three were on their mobile phones while smoking fags

Via Duomo, the street of the cathedral, has more bridal shops than can possibly be necessary

but the pizza is fantastic

MrsGrey

ASLEFshrugged said:

In Napoli I saw three girls on a moped and all three were on their mobile phones while smoking fags

Amateurs. In Greece you get a bloke, a passenger behind carrying a ladder and granny sitting side saddle. Driver is checking his mobile, passenger is smoking and granny has a coffee. Oh, did I mention the dog in the footwell?

OutcastLondoner

In Bangladesh I saw a calf on a rickshaw.