If you are going to win the competition you have to be prepared to face the best teams. The change you are angry about is a relatively small one as the closed draw takes place a round or two earlier. It is the same essentially as the WC Finals draw. I also struggle to see how this makes our job of winning the competition any harder or easier on average than for example this year.all about keeping certain teams happy and barring a complete meltdown still in the competition in the knockout stages with new seeding so you’ll know once the first knockout draw is done you can meet or not right threw to the final.Yes we knew after beating Munich we would be up against Madrid or Chelsea but this is going to be completely mapped out,throw in extra games now as well it’s a load of bollocks,thank god we won it this year as it’s a complete stitch up now ..
It is a suggestion frequently made but does seem to have been seriously considered to date. The approach so far as you know is to allow the European qualified teams to enter the competition at a later stage. Extra games in Europe may make the current approach impracticable depending on the scheduling of the extra European fixtures.Who’s suggested teams in Europe won’t be in the League Cup? I’ve not heard that.
I’m struggling to see how this format increases the chances of the “usual suspects “ prolonging their run in the competition?
With the coefficient they get which I believe will seed them? As Will doing ok in other euro competitions , plus not making the top 8 and still going through, via another round of games, this, seems to me to benefit the likes of teams like the rags, dippers, Barca Bayern etc, more than other teams like Villa and Newcastle et al..You need to explain yourself better as this is a random knee jerk comment.
The 4 groups of 9 is correct, split into the last 5 years club coefficients, so effectively 2 clubs from each category of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th seeds. Each club will play 2 games against ALL categories, something that doesn’t happen now, as you say, 4 home and 4 away. Those groups are created purely to determine fixtures, it will be just one league of 36 teams, there will be no tables for the 4 x 9 “groups”.I am only going by the OP in which it clearly states there will be 4x9 Groups with teams playing each other once 4 home and 4 away. I struggle to see how fixtures are arranged in a group of 36 from the information stated.
It’s 2 more games obviously, Italian, German and PSG wanted 10 group games, the latter stating they’ve pared their league to 18 teams in preparation for the changes.The current format is fine, these changes are to help the old guard financially. Ajax and Munich will be creaming themselves.
With the coefficient they get which I believe will seed them? As Will doing ok in other euro competitions , plus not making the top 8 and still going through, via another round of games, this, seems to me to benefit the likes of teams like the rags, dippers, Barca Bayern etc, more than other teams like Villa and Newcastle et al..
If I’ve got this wrong I’m happy to be educated but it’s not a knee jerk reaction, just my interpretation of it…
Fair enough mate, thanks for the explanation and making it a bit clearer ..Once the teams for the competition have been established the coefficient points are irrelevant. Those that qualify for the play off round and the knockout stages proper are seeded solely on their results in the group stages.
You can make a case that the two additional places in the competition given to the countries with the highest coefficiency could help the likes of Liverpool and United gain a place they wouldn’t currently. ( Liverpool would have qualified if this format had started this year. But Bayern and Barcelona are never likely to need that buffer. The teams most likely to benefit are smaller teams who sneak into fifth place unexpectedly in Spain, Italy, England and maybe Germany.
Fair enough mate, thanks for the explanation and making it a bit clearer ..