I'd be perfectly happy playing in the Europa League every season, but in its current format it is shìte.

Our tradition is 3pm Saturday in this country. It's bad enough your games at this time are limited due to TV fixtures, but I find it demoralising for it to become the norm.

Our first Saturday 3pm at home was Palace last season. In December. I don't know what others think, but I find Sunday games flat. The crowd just arent up for it as much. Maybe more booze gets drunk on a Saturday as most have no work the next day.

I think I read players are less likely to get a day indoors too between a Europa away fixture and the next league game, because it is always three days between (its often four or five if in the CL), and often more travelling.

Too long, too bloated out, and mostly against fodder you've never heard of until the KO stages. If Liverpool were to win it next season they would play 19 games, us 17. Ridiculous

Spurs have been the biggest disappointments. They've had far more cracks at it than anyone else, but always flop to the first team whose name we've heard before in the knockouts. It's the 3rd biggest title you can win in the season, so it should mean far more to participants. Only the English teams moan like hell for being in it - mostly Spurs fans too.

"If Liverpool were to win it next season they would play 19 games, us 17."

To win the CL, you often need to play 13 high intensity games. The best teams can maybe do massive rotation for the last 1 or 2 group fixtures, so you may need to play 11 or 12 high-intensity fixtures to win. To win Europa you probably play just 7 or so matches where you need to put out your best team. I've never quite understood this excuse.

"Spurs have been the biggest disappointments. They've had far more cracks at it than anyone else, but always flop to the first team whose name we've heard before in the knockouts"

That ptetty much mirrors Arsenal in the CL .

Let's see how you approach it if and when you ever have a few seasons in it.

For me it's like this - it takes 17 games it takes to win the Europa. You could win both the League Cup and FA Cup with 12 games. That's where the priority should lie

HRH
That is just two extra games than Utd if they are to win it next season. I am not saying this as a wum but you have to face the facts. They are teams in the league that are way ahead in terms of resorces and have a much bigger chance of getting a CL place. Even if you get a CL place one season, chances of est yourselves there are minimal. In short CL is above you at the moment and Europa league is the competition you are most likely to compete. Sevilla have embraced it and their fans are loving every bit of it! Why not Spurs?

What if they moved EL games to Tuesdays, and CL took Weds/Thurs, would that be ok? When there's no CL footy, aren't the CL sides the ones more like to be moved to the Sunday anyway?

Bit beside the point though, the issue at the heart of the article is what gets you going more as a fan, competing for 4th or competing to lift a lesser trophy?

whats more exciting, watching us win the Europa?
Or us getting a CL spot and watching us go out in the group stages or first KO game?

Wumpatrol

The CL is different. The teams are better, the group stages are a better standard. We acquitted ourselves pretty well in it before.

The Europa is a slog, choc full of shíte teams. It needs to be pared down a bit, with a few more qualifying rounds for the dross, and moved from Thursday. Or a straight KO

I'd take any cup win over 4th place by the way, I just don't like the drawn out Europa format

You still haven't adressed the point being made by the OP and the the Sevilla manager. Are Spurs really a bigger club than Sevilla that they can manage to sneer at a competition that Sevilla clearly revel in? Regardless of the format, it is still a huge competition.

"That ptetty much mirrors Arsenal in the CL . Let's see how you approach it if and when you ever have a few seasons in it."

Last time we were in it, we lost the 2000 final on penalties. You're the richest team that regularly plays Europa, so I'm a bit amazed you don't do much better when teams like Sevilla, Athletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Benfica and several East European teams like Zenit have consistently done so well in the competition.

The Sevilla manager is correct that the PL wealth devalues the Europa quite a bit.

Spurs earned 20m for finishing 5th in the PL (38 games) .
To have a perfect record in the Europa would have earned only 7m (15+ games) .

Add the format (group games all over the place, KO stage reward for CL failures) , and no wonder PL clubs don't want what amounts to about an extra 50% of a PL season.

comment by Sheriff John Brown - bring back David Dein (U7482)




posted 29 minutes ago



Spurs have been the biggest disappointments. They've had far more cracks at it than anyone else, but always flop to the first team whose name we've heard before in the knockouts. It's the 3rd biggest title you can win in the season, so it should mean far more to participants. Only the English teams moan like hell for being in it - mostly Spurs fans too.

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not sure an arsenal fan is in a position to be so critical, considering that arsenal are a total joke in the CL, and still haven't won as many European trophies as spurs

Yeah, we're in a position to be critical. You have one semi appearance in ages of playing Europa. Our "joke" CL record isn't nearly that bad.

comment by Wumpatrol (U5046)
posted 14 minutes ago
You still haven't adressed the point being made by the OP and the the Sevilla manager. Are Spurs really a bigger club than Sevilla that they can manage to sneer at a competition that Sevilla clearly revel in? Regardless of the format, it is still a huge competition.

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I could not give a flying feck what Sevilla revel in, good luck to them.

Arsenal play weaker teams in the League Cup despite having much more chance of winning that than the CL. Can they afford to sneer at that with one trophy in 10yrs?

I don't sneer at the Europa trophy itself at all by the way, it's a great trophy to win, but unfortunately it's ruined for me by playing 8-10 games of pointless faffery before you even get to the last 32. Ridiculous.

comment by Sheriff John Brown - bring back David Dein (U7482)
posted 3 minutes ago
Yeah, we're in a position to be critical. You have one semi appearance in ages of playing Europa. Our "joke" CL record isn't nearly that bad.
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we have won the competition (or equivalent) twice.

arsenal and the CL (or equivalent) ?

Sheriff

We've had a CL quarter final more recently than you

5 seasons of being top seeds, and not progressed past one KO stage, despite trying your very hardest. Need a long look in the mirror

when the draw is made, all the big boys want to draw arsenal. how embarrassing for you that they see you as a sure thing

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Knew it would only take one prepubescent idiot in Chronic to take the article downhill. I'm off.

"we have won the competition (or equivalent) twice."

The competition won before you were born offsets your failure in the past 2 decades? Really?

comment by Wumpatrol (U5046)
posted 1 minute ago
Knew it would only take one prepubescent idiot in Chronic to take the article downhill. I'm off.
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just bringing the mighty arsenal down a peg or two, back to reality, that's all

It has to be said that North London has not represented the PL well in UEFA competitions in recent times.

The mediocrity of the G00ns in the CL has been mirrored by Spurs in the EL. Not a good state of affairs is it, with the threat of the PL losing a CL slot.

"5 seasons of being top seeds, and not progressed past one KO stage, despite trying your very hardest. Need a long look in the
mirror"

4 exits to Barca and Bayern and an admittedly disappointing one to Monaco is hardly that disgraceful. What's your excuse?