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Europa League Progression Provides Domestic Hangover

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AS we travelled to Italy this week for our final group game in the Europa League against Udinese, qualification is still in our own hands. A victory is guaranteed to see us progress into the knockout phases of the competition.

But would qualification be a distraction rather than a positive? Playing somewhere like Russia on a Thursday night and then playing a Premier League game on a Sunday is not really an ideal situation. If we could look to the future and say we would win the competition then I’d gladly accept the distraction that Europa League football brings.

People say that it’s the equivalent of playing in the Champions League on a Wednesday and then the Premiership on the Saturday. For me this is not the case due to us playing a weakened side in the Europa League.

The majority of first team players are rested and even left behind for the away games. This surely has an effect on these first team players as they are not training with the rest of the squad or the coaching staff when they are kept behind. Sunday would usually be a day off for the players if they have played on a Saturday. Instead, when playing on a Sunday, it is the Monday in which the players will spend recovering. The training schedule and the planning and preparation must be up the wall.

Football is all about building momentum and consistency and this is one reason why I believe we will always suffer domestically when competing in the Europa League. So far this season we have failed to win a Premier League game that has followed a Europa League game, losing two and drawing five. We are not the only ones who seem to suffer from a Europa League hangover, with Newcastle also winning just two of the seven Premier League games that have had following a Europa League encounter.
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I would welcome UEFA’s idea to make way with the Europa League and expand the Champions League to 64 teams. This would solve UEFA’s long standing problem with trying to promote and increase interest in the Europa League. This is never going to happen because the Champions League will always take the shine off this. On the flip side, UEFA could add plenty of glamour to the Europa League. How about they trim the Champions League down from 32 teams? Ditch having teams who finish 2nd, 3rd and 4th in their domestic league qualifying for a ‘Champions’ League, after all since when does finishing in these positions make you a champion?

An increase in prize money would also make the competition more appealing. Winning the Europa league is estimated as earning you €10 million in comparison to the Champions League which earns you close to €30 million. This is something again that would be possible if the Champions League was trimmed down. This would also see better quality teams competing in the Europa League, which in turn would no doubt lead to the bigger TV providers pulling out all the stops to gain the rights to live matches.

For the Europa League to be deemed worthwhile for English clubs changes are needed and these changes will have to impact on the Champions League.
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28 comments

  • simon says:

    We are Liverpool FC , we should be in europe . resting players has not helped our league form . we should play our best team possible and try to win it

    Exiting the Europa league tomorrow at the group stage is a humiliation i hope never happens again

    Being only in Europa league is bad enough , not even qualifying is not acceptable

  • Jimmy says:

    If we go out its BRs fault for his team selections

  • Andy ,durham says:

    Nonsense to blame europa league for poor league form , cos he has rested 1st teamers every week

    No point in making excuses . poor league form is down to Rodgers – poor cup form is down to Rodgers . The man is just not up to the job

    • ozred says:

      And at what point do the players take some accountability?

      Rogers fault… Don’t make me laugh.

      Is changing the way we play. Has not had one ounce of luck. Not one penalty which is absurd.

      His fault that he inherited some of the biggest flops in premiership history?

      His fault that Borini broke his foot?
      His fault that Lucas and Kelly broke down?
      His fault that the owners wouldn’t shell out for a striker to replace Carrol???

      I suppose you’re going to give him credit for the fact that Sterling would now be valued at about $15m?
      Or that Suso has come on and demosntrated that he could be a star?
      Or that Shelvey is getting better with every game?
      Or Enrique is playing the best of his career?
      Wisdom, etc etc…

      Pathetic.

      • kirbyking says:

        What a load of bull . All you rodgers followers do is make up excuses .
        excuses excuses excuses and more excuses
        Every manager in the league has hard luck stories , bad refs , injuries , bad luck , everyone !

        Stop being a biased tw@t and kop on
        You dont have a clue

        • ozred says:

          Excuses??? Just dealing in facts you lemon. Not saying it’s perfect but it is what it is…

          The only heros being biased are you fools who blame blame blame rogers for everything bad but are not able to provide any credit for the good he’s done.

      • vickers says:

        Its totally Rodgers fault
        – he spent the cash
        – he let the players go
        – he picks team
        – he picks formation
        -he picks tactics
        EVERYTHING you immature bell end

      • simon says:

        Go look at the league table you wally , you dont know what your talking about . Any moron could have got Liverpool through that rubbish group

      • simon says:

        Luck again ? blah blah blah . More excuses and bull

  • ozred says:

    Suarez in the best form of his Liverpool career?

    Lost our second, fourth, and fifth most prolific goal scorers last year with only Carrol’s loan having anything to do with Rogers?

    With the slightest bit of luck, we would be sitting alongside or above both Tottenham and Chelsea.

    • kirbyking says:

      whose fault that we “lost” them ? Rodgers you tool !
      and is that “luck” i hear again ? Nonsense , grow up

      • ozred says:

        Are you that dumb???

        Kuyt, Bellamy, and maxi were all gone. We could have brought in Pepe with Hiddink as the assistant and they would have still been gone. He then was shafted by the owners on a replacement for Carrol.

        Lets face it, if he gets 19m for Carol is an extrodinary piece of business…

        Whilst the scoreboard doesn’t reflect it yet, we finally have a direction.

        • vinny says:

          yes , unless your totally dumb when it comes to directions , you can see we have been going down since Rodgers took over

          well done for spotting that ! although i thought the league table might have made it obvious

        • redrum says:

          Basic laws of football , you make your own luck , – Liverpool have got exactly what they deserve this season , its all about who scores the most goals , nothing else .

          Making excuses is just being a bad spiteful loser – Its not the Liverpool way and its embarrassing for most fans

  • harry86 says:

    If we go out tonight , it is ALL rodgers fault

  • Matty says:

    For all you people laying into Brendan Rogers….Why don’t you offer solutions or support. ‘He does this bad,he not good at this & It’s ALL his fault’. Is this The Daily Mail? NO….so shut it!! Talk football & how things can improve & who exactly would you get in to replace him – surprising lack of names there eh!!

  • ozred says:

    1 – 0 away to Udinese… Not a bad result I would have thought. Anybody going to give any credit for that??? Noooo. Only the blame when we loose… Fools.

  • vinny says:

    wow , udineese the italian giants . struggling to get through a very easy group in the europa league .

    Have we sunk that low , that we are going to acclaim a victory against a average italian side who … really didnt give a fk ?

  • redrum says:

    Decent result tonight but lets not get carried away , Udinese are not a good side . With our far superior players that group should have been a doddle anyway

    Hope Rodgers picks best team every game from now on , and lets try to win it

    • Ozred says:

      We finished on top of the group playing with a shallow squad. Job done… Tick

      • Sammy says:

        what kind of a fool are u ? its the europa league ! if we didnt top THAT group Liverpool would never live with the embarrassment

        We qualified cos we have better players , even when resting a few . Liverpool should ALWAYS be in latter stages of european cups

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