The New European Elite

[madden150]

Bayern, Real and Barcelona don’t have great managers either, they have imbalanced squads and need three or four windows to really compete. It’s us and Liverpool who are at the forefront now.

Imo your correct, the two best teams in Europe are City and Liverpool. Problem is, despite us having the quality we have fallen short far too early in the CL. We all know how good this City team is but we need to be hitting a final atleast next year. There's no way Tottenham should be going through against us over two legs.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

After the Group Stages, CL teams’ domestic games prior to a CL game should be on Friday night or early Sat, with the following game being a Sunday game.

In addition, the CL dates are known well in advance, so there should be ZERO TOP 6 games on the weekends before or after CL games.

If Arsenal win the the Europa League there will be 5 teams in the CL next season.
It would be impossible to have all 5 teams avoid each other at some point during the 6 group games - or if you did, then during the latter stages of the competition they will be scheduled to meet during the weekend before / after the group stages. Just isnt practical.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

After the Group Stages, CL teams’ domestic games prior to a CL game should be on Friday night or early Sat, with the following game being a Sunday game.

In addition, the CL dates are known well in advance, so there should be ZERO TOP 6 games on the weekends before or after CL games.

If Arsenal win the the Europa League there will be 5 teams in the CL next season.
It would be impossible to have all 5 teams avoid each other at some point during the 6 group games - or if you did, then during the latter stages of the competition they will be scheduled to meet during the weekend before / after the group stages. Just isnt practical.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

We’ve just gone through a period where seven of the last ten Champions League winners have been Spanish and six of the last ten Europa League winners have been Spanish.

I can see the same ratio coming up for English clubs over the next decade.

 

[Plmokn]

It's not a league, it's a mini league for half of it, with weaker teams making up the numbers. To call it a league then all teams should play each other twice.
It's a knockout competition, with league winners included who might not be the best at 2 legged games (or are cheated out of it for whatever reason).
I would prefer the true concept of a league as that would show who is the best team in Europe through games against the best of each league.
And get rid of away goals rule as well.
What we've got is half mini champions league half European cup.

 

[vmsuhail]

Devalued?

It would be a better competition. Just the winners from each country. Rather then the shite that's chucked in there at the moment to fill up the spots. There are also a lot of dead rubbers. A knock out would eradicate that in one foul swoop.

The dead rubbers also happens when winners of Hungary, Switzerland etc. are in the competition as you proposed. The best teams in Europe include more than the champions of the Top leagues, and there is no denying that.

 

[BimboBob]

16000 odd tickets each. In a 68000 seater stadium. The rest go to "partners". Over half.

Of course it's for the fans. A 5th of the allocation are 385 quid!

One giant cash cow.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

If Arsenal win the the Europa League there will be 5 teams in the CL next season.
It would be impossible to have all 5 teams avoid each other at some point during the 6 group games - or if you did, then during the latter stages of the competition they will be scheduled to meet during the weekend before / after the group stages. Just isnt practical.

Yeah, everything is impossible where desire is absent. No reason it can’t be done. None, except desire.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

You are looking at this from the wrong angle. The CL is a bloated cash cow driven by the needs of the hierarchy to reap as much cash as possible. For it to be a proper competition it should be for the WINNERS of the respective leagues only. This will reduce the amount of games, meaning the PL would not need to accommodate it, it will be just Europe's top clubs, which will then generate more interest from sponsors and fans alike and it will be a true reflection of the game as a whole.

Chuck them all in a hat, draw them out, 2 legs, winners moves on. Sorted.

It can then be marketed properly.

I've highlighted a small bit. This is nonsense. Utter nonsense. You are devaluing the PL which should remain untouched. It is the greatest league in the world at the moment. Any club can beat any other club. What happens next season if a resurgent Leicester or Everton are in 5th and 6th place? Not in Europe but a weekend off? Arsenal in 7th get to play? Even though they are in Europe?


If they want to do it properly they should go back to having 1 competition for the winners, 1 for the cup winners and 1 for the next few in each league.

Defined. No bleeding into other competitions. Once out you are out.

This will then give anyone finishing 2nd-4th an incentive for the following season. Go for first. Don't think top 4 is enough. Go for it.

You are never going to roll back the clock in the CL, no matter how City fans might hate it, so how best to make it work for British teams who ALSO have a big PL season?

And, I clearly meant that scheduling Top 6 teams against each other on CL weekends. No reason for it, and PL should tell Sky and BT that CL team’s PL games are Fri night or Sat lunch.

 

[BimboBob]

You are never going to roll back the clock in the CL, no matter how City fans might hate it, so how best to make it work for British teams who ALSO have a big PL season?

And, I clearly meant that scheduling Top 6 teams against each other on CL weekends. No reason for it, and PL should tell Sky and BT that CL team’s PL games are Fri night or Sat lunch.

Having 2 in the final, with a possible 2 in the Europa seems to negate your argument somewhat.

The CL is bigged up by the TV companies because they have wanked too much cash on it. It's just another competition. I'd rather we won the F.A.Cup because everyone is chucked in a hat. No ceeding. No keeping countries apart. It's a cup. End of.

It's aimed at making as much money as possible for the corrupt fucks.

And there's no chance of the PL doing anything like what you suggest. The TV lot pick and choose. Look at the Leicester game.

 

[Bentheblue]

We seem play with fear in some Champions League games and will never win it until we get rid of this mindset.
We need to believe we can beat anyone, players, management and fans.
The team picked to face Spurs away indicated fear and that’s how we played.