Can We Opt Out Of Europa League?

[BurnCK]

Lets be honest, we were never going to win the CL in our first season in the competition.

I'd be more than happy with winning the Europa league this season which would also give us a shot at the Super Cup. It would certainly continue to increase Citys worth around Europe regardless of getting knocked out of CL.

If it's not too detrimental to our league form then go for it I say...and I don't see why it would be as we have a big enough squad.

 

[Anonymous]

Lets be honest, we were never going to win the CL in our first season in the competition.

I'd be more than happy with winning the Europa league this season which would also give us a shot at the Super Cup. It would certainly continue to increase Citys worth around Europe regardless of getting knocked out of CL.

If it's not too detrimental to our league form then go for it I say...and I don't see why it would be as we have a big enough squad.

This finally some common sense

 

[minimalistic]

We should definitely go for it, even if it is only to raise our european coefficient for next seasons CL. Also, winning any european competition would be amazing. There'd better be none of those stupid 6:00 pm kick-offs though.

 

[colourmeblue]

If we drop down into the Europa League, can we opt out of it all together? Dont get me wrong, it would be great to win it, but its a nothing cup and will seriously hamper our league chances which i feel is much more important. If we can, i say get out asap. If we cant do that, is there any rule which states we must play a certain % of players who were in the Champions League Squad? If there isnt, i would put out the EDS squad and have the first team focus on the league. Thoughts?

Nothing Cup? Really? What arrogance. I take it you werent gutted when we went out of the Europa last season as its a 'nothing cup' to you

I was happy when Kiev beat us last year because if we'd gone four games further, we would have been too knackered to have finished third and probably wouldn't have had the energy to win the FA Cup either.

There is a reason the bigger clubs treat certain competitions with disdain. It's not due to arrogance, it's about rightful prioritisation.

If we end up losing the league by a point, as a tired team dropped points following a Thursday night trip to Ukraine, you might look at things more sensibly.

At the end of the day, the Europa League is a dumping ground for Champions League rejects and teams that weren't good enough to qualify for it. It's a runners-up cup and, therefore, is worth less than even the Carling Cup for me, especially when you consider the gruelling effects it will have on the team should we progress towards the end of the competition.

On that basis you wouldnt want to win the CC then either? I'll take both tyvm.

ANY silverware at the minute would be a fantastic achievement imo. Couple of years ago we would have given our eye teeth for a sniff.

 

[Pam]

Bring it on. Lets not sound like everything we've come to hate. It's pretty disrespectful to every other team in the competition to ask if we can opt out. Even if we could then luckily it isn't down to the op. If we are in it then we should try to win it. I personally love European competition and it can only help the team spirit.

I could understand it if we were talking about joining the competition in August or earleir because there are a stupid number of games necessary before you get to even a QF and it's disruptive to have to play at stupid times on a Thursday afternoon or evening. But we will be going in at the knock out stage and should be able to maintain a decent run without it being to the detriment of our progress in other tournaments. The title is the important thing but it would be rag scale arrogance to suggest that the Europa is suddenly not good enough for the likes of us.

We have to get over this Champs League thing quickly, starting with the Liverpool game. We can't afford hangovers from yesterday's result. We should go for the Anfield jugular.

 

[M.C.F.C.O.K]

I hope we go for it, some good trips along the way and The National Arena where the final is held looks a quality stadium.

 

[Ragnarok]

If we drop down into the Europa League, can we opt out of it all together? Dont get me wrong, it would be great to win it, but its a nothing cup and will seriously hamper our league chances which i feel is much more important. If we can, i say get out asap. If we cant do that, is there any rule which states we must play a certain % of players who were in the Champions League Squad? If there isnt, i would put out the EDS squad and have the first team focus on the league. Thoughts?

Nothing Cup? Really? What arrogance. I take it you werent gutted when we went out of the Europa last season as its a 'nothing cup' to you

I was happy when Kiev beat us last year because if we'd gone four games further, we would have been too knackered to have finished third and probably wouldn't have had the energy to win the FA Cup either.

There is a reason the bigger clubs treat certain competitions with disdain. It's not due to arrogance, it's about rightful prioritisation.

If we end up losing the league by a point, as a tired team dropped points following a Thursday night trip to Ukraine, you might look at things more sensibly.

At the end of the day, the Europa League is a dumping ground for Champions League rejects and teams that weren't good enough to qualify for it. It's a runners-up cup and, therefore, is worth less than even the Carling Cup for me, especially when you consider the gruelling effects it will have on the team should we progress towards the end of the competition.

Barring the arrogance, your point is somewhat valid say if we had a thin squad like spurs. Because of our rotation policy, we will still be able to field a strong side Europa League matches and still continue in the league strongly.

 

[sweep]

We have built a strong squad so we can compete twice a week. So some people want to 'play the kids'? And lose. And half our squad may not get a game for a fortnight or more? Brilliant.

^^That.

Plus it appears our squad could use some practice at non-English football.

 

[ID70]

Ridiculous not to want to win a trophy, whatever it may be. You only have to look at Arsenal over the last 5 years to see what not playing your strongest sides in cup competitions can lead to, Wenger under pressure for not winning any trophies.

 

[Panthera Tigris]

should a club that has won 1 trophy in how long even consider dropping out of the Europa League, when we'd probably be favourites to win it? Of course not.

1) What would happen if we told UEFA we weren't taking part? I don't know the techinicalities.

2) Will we realistically opt out? No chance. Eez important competition.

If the club were serious about opting out, better to get knocked out in the first knockout stage, field the weakest team possible and by that I mean play the reserve keepers Taylor and Pantollimon up front. Less criticism that way, and less ground for UEFA to ban us.

But with the squad depth we have now it would be fucking daft to opt out. That's the point in the big squad.