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View from the Kop

Are We Guilty Of Europa League Snobbery?

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REWIND yourself back to April 2 years ago when Liverpool were on course for an all-English Europa League final.

Awaiting us would have been a Fulham side who were on the back of a heroic campaign under the tutelage of our future managerial flop Roy Hodgson. I was covering the game for a news website that day. I still remember the odd sense of apathy which filled the ground after Diego Forlan killed off our hopes of yet another Euro final.

I thought to myself, ‘why don’t we care? There’s a trophy at stake here and is that not what the culture of this great club is built on?’ We had gorged ourselves at the top table of European football for a few years and now indigestion had set in, decreasing our appetites for something less satisfying.

When Spurs came to town in our last league game of the following season, it was essentially a game in which the winner would secure a seat in the second tier of the European game. In a bi-polar season, we were on the up, Thursday night football was low on our priorities, building on a rapid improvement in league form was paramount for the year to come. There were no tears and few recriminations when the game was lost and the baton was passed.

The rise in popularity the competition enjoyed in the 2011/12 season stems from the refreshingly cerebral and intoxicating football that was performed. Wish lists were compiled of players on show such as Falcao, van Wolfswinkel, Javi Martinez, Muniain and many more. Games were enthralling, dribbling was back in vogue and if goals are your thing, this was the place to be.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder and when the 3rd qualifying round arrives, dreams of big Euro nights at Anfield will seem closer and more tangible. Of course we aspire for more but a run in this competition should not be discounted as it will give our less experienced charges greater exposure to the tactical and technical diversity which the players and young manager will surely take a great deal from in the clubs long term future.

When pressed as to how seriously he will be taking the cup competitions, both domestically and European, in comparison to the Premier League, Brendan Rodgers gave a response which is music to Reds fans ears:

“Very seriously. I’m one to believe if you are in it you want to try and win it, that’s my feeling on it. So I’ll have a squad of twenty-five players that I hope can see us being strong in every competition. The reality is we want to ensure that we can improve on our league status, that’s the reality. In the last three seasons the club has finished between sixth, seventh and eighth, so we want to improve on that and build it and move upwards. But like I say every game you are a player for Liverpool football club the intention is to win and like I say hopefully in the competitions as well we can do very well.”
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Mentioning the large squad at his disposal knocks the traditional ‘flight home hangover’ excuse which many English clubs have found in the return game after their travels. The added fixtures will call for the occasional rotation of the side; this shuffling of the pack can only improve our fringe players and bring an extra competitive spirit to the club. Young starlets such as Shelvey, Sterling and Suso will be hungry to be let off the leash to prove their worth when these extra opportunities arise.

With the odds of upsets in the Champions League short enough for even the most sensible of gamblers to have a flutter, 3rd placed sides find themselves parachuted into the second tier where we want to be lying in wait. Manchester United were one such team last season. We watched gleefully as Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente and co. did not just beat them; they beat them in style. Underestimate opponents like these at your peril, as it may be someone else who will tear up the script next year and we will need to be on our toes so it is not us who are the victims of the next footballing uprising.

Many critics of this competition gripe about playing on a Thursday night, meaning most of our league games will be contested on a Sunday or Monday. I can’t help but to agree with them; I don’t think I can stomach much of Gary Neville critiquing our play on MNF despite the mild satisfaction it gives me when his professionalism means he has to pay homage to our club at times! Weekends will be thrown out of kilter with the lack of Saturday action but once we are back in winning ways, few will mind.

For the television watching public, we have Stan Collymore’s never ending eulogies on the game, Jim Rosental’s satanic looking smug grin and Pat Nevin shivering outside in his cabin to look forward to on Channel 5’s quirky coverage. I’m especially looking forward to being informed by the commentary team of what Van Damme or Segal film will follow the game!

Of course I’m being glib. What we need to remember is this is another competition to compete in, therefore another potential trophy. Isn’t that the Liverpool way?

Brendan Rodgers quote: courtesy of 7M Sports video

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I've been following the Reds ever since I set eyes on the majestic sight that is the Kop in full voice with flags aloft, albeit from the television with my dad as a 5 year old in my hometown of Dublin! He would tell me about the Irish contingent, the likes of Heighway, Whelan, Beglin and Houghton, he is a Leeds fan due to his hero Johnny Giles but I had to go against the grain on this one, his 3 year old grandson will not be afforded the same opportunity!
I completed a Higher National Diploma in Print Journalism back in Dublin where I briefly worked for the Irish Independent on a placement, covering Rugby, obituaries (including the great John Charles) and some sub editing. I then made the short journey to Liverpool, where I currently reside to undertake International Journalism at John Moores University. Some will say that over the years I have picked up a Jan Molbyesque native twang but I'm not so sure!
I was also lucky enough to have worked for the socialist publication "Morning Star" covering the Reds at Anfield which allowed me gain access to the press box and press conferences, I covered about 10 games and loved every minute of it!
I am excited to be joining the team at live4liverpool.com. From what I have seen so far the standard of articles have been first class, I hope to contribute to this by publishing pieces which create opinion and debate.

9 comments

  • sleeps with angels says:

    I dont like the way european football is full stop! its all about money and tv…the old uefa cup and european cup was when it was simply about
    football it was real,now its secondary and money
    is the be all and end all,at the fans expense,i would rather have f..k all to do with european
    football and its greedy corporative sponsers.

    • Chris says:

      Shut up you muppet Champions League nights at Anfield can’t be matched throughout world football. The Prem is all about money aswel that’s just the way football is today. So do you suggest we have F all to do with that too and settle for this cup side we are slowly becoming? We want to be amongst Europes elete because thats where we belong, because the football club is European royalty and because our history, fans and city won’t settle for second best. Shanks will be turning in his grave.

      • sleeps with angels says:

        Do you realize how childish muppet sounds?how old are you 18 – 25? dragged up in Kirkdale or norris green ? what do you know about shanks your not even old enough to know him fella or his team at least you could have used the term bell-end he,he
        lets get this straight i hate what football has become greedy b……s who roll round and cheat
        diving when tackled,these playboys dont know how
        to take or give a tackle like Tommy smith,Jimmy case etc,now they are players who new great nights
        in europe with shanks and paisley,so if i detest
        what the games as become it dont mean i love my team any less? or i dont want them to win the pl
        or champions league! your parents dont love you any less if you grow up a tool do they? its called
        unconditional love.

        • Chris says:

          It’s time u moved on love and stop cry-wanking over old memories of the 70’s. Sounds like you’ve fallen out of love with football altogether. The owner, manager, players and fans all want to be in the Champions League. The only person who doesn’t is you. So you are an old ‘back in my day’ mug who knows nothing about football today. You’ve not kicked a ball in 20 years. You can’t go to the game anymore incase u have an accident in your y-fronts. Your point is about football itself. Football has moved on. If you don’t like it then give it up you coffin dodger

  • Derek Byrne says:

    Rodgers got it spot on when he said we have a squad of 25 so why can we compete on all fronts? Professional pride and competition for the shirt will push the players on. Yes there are corporate interests but that the reality of the game, you may see it as an evil but its a nesessary one if we are going to fund all these tranfers which we are demanding. I doubt you will be switching off from the action if we make inroads in the competion.

    • sleeps with angels says:

      I understand the way the world runs Derek and that
      is whats making me sick,the thought of what my team once stood for and how real and honest the game once was and now its all about winning at any
      cost,years back players used to arrive at Anfield
      on the trams with the fans all kitted up!he,he
      players being dragged out of the pub before the game,players smoking at half time,bring it back i say!i think you understand the point am making,
      i blame Hitachi and crown paints for us selling out players buzzing watching their 52 inch tvs with 5 long buttons on their tv fronts and a REMOTE control watching Starsky and hutch in stereo sound in their semi-detached houses in woolton smelling of fresh paint that now comes
      in many colours of vinyl or matt!…I know times
      change and we move on but for me this is not progression its regression.

      • Ricky says:

        Haha think you’d be mor suited supportin a pub team la

        • sleeps with angels says:

          Yeah maybe your right ricky,He,he,aint it funny how these young tools think they know it all though? chris you bell-end you will never know what its like to experience nights like in the seventies,god it must cut you up!

  • Derek Byrne says:

    now now lads, we dont have to resort to name calling. That is a romanticised view and you are looking at it with rose tinted specs SWA. I cant say I was around during the old days, most of us would have loved to have witnessed the great sides of the past first hand, sure the culture surrounding the game has been neutured slightly but it doesnt dilute the magic of a packed Anfield on a European night, we dont have to have long memories to recall those days. Loving your bit of nostalgia all the same!

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