EPL Talk » UEFA Cup

UEFA Europa League, A Second Rate Competition

Christopher Walker — Sat, 02 May 2009 13:41:51 +0000

UEFA Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup

With four games of the Premier League campaign left, Fulham are leading the ‘race’ for seventh place and for the Cottagers it will be a rare European adventure. This would of course be via the all singing, all dancing UEFA Europa League.

This ‘new’ competition was created by reformatting and re-branding the ailing UEFA Cup. Normally to fans of most teams, seeing their beloved club in participate would be something to look forward to. But it appears that until the latter stages of this competition hardly anyone actually seems interested. My memories of the UEFA Cup in recent years seem to have followed a similar pattern. watch the final but pay little/no attention to the barely watchable early rounds that in recent years have thrown up classic encounters between European giants like Bolton Wanderers and Aris Thessaloniki.

No direspect to the teams mentioned above but I do wonder how many neutrals actually tune in to ITV4 to watch these games? Granted in the latter stages of the competition when the bigger clubs like Manchester City and Hamburger SV rip into each other we are once again interested.

The major problem with the UEFA Cup/Europa League, is that it is without doubt a second class competition. This is likely to be down to the hype that surrounds it’s bigger sibling the Champions League. I am fully aware that UEFA are in business to make money but even the Champions league appears to be losing a bit of prestige. “How so?” I hear you ask. Simple, the name of the competition is the Champions League. How many champions actually participate? The last time I checked, teams that finish second, third and fourth not champions.

It seems a bit unfair on teams from the ‘lesser leagues’ that win their domestic title and then have to go through the qualifying rounds and invariaby don’t get the chance to play at Old Trafford and the Nou Camp etc while a team from England that finishes 12 points from top gets the likes of Real Madrid and Inter Milan in their group. This being said, it would be hypocritical of me to back that statement 100 percent. After all, I’d sooner watch Liverpool vs Real Madrid than watch Llanelli take on the likes of NSI Runavik.

One of UEFA’s strategy to make the UEFA cup more exciting was to drop third placed Champions League teams into the competition. What a lovely kick in the face that is for the teams who have been in the competition from outset. I can understand that the likes AC Milan at Fratton Park last year was genuinely exciting but most of the time you would expect teams from Greece and Norway to drop into the Europa League. Again this approach is what makes it such a second class competition in the first place. I don’t believe for one minute that Europa League will ever hold the prestige that it did in it’s previous guise as the UEFA Cup in years gone by. Quite simply the standard of many of the teams isn’t good enough as the better teams have already participated in the Champions league – even if they finished fourth domestically. And in any case, managers will rather turn their focus to the Premier League and the FA Cup.

Istanbul, Istanbul, We Aren’t Coming…Or Are We?

Matthew Semisch — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:15:39 +0000

Never mind the fact that I’ve been subjecting myself to the pain of following Manchester City for nigh on 12 years – Despite what I and every other City fan have been singing at the top of our lungs all season, I always knew deep down I wasn’t coming to Istanbul at the end of May.

(Not only do I live in the United States, but I’m also a college student and one who is studying to become a schoolteacher. In other words, I live far, far away from the club I love, I’m skint enough that I can’t afford flights to Turkey on a month and a half’s notice and will likely continue to be so for my entire professional career. So there you go, that’s my excuse.)

A lot of City fans probably began to feel that way after their team survived a penalty shootout against Aalborg in the UEFA Cup’s round of 16 – their second win on penalties in the competition this season, both coming against Danish opponents – and they were hardly rewarded for advancing further than any City team has in Europe in the last 30 years.

When Blues supporters braced themselves for whatever fate was about to dealt to them at the last-ever UEFA Cup draw last month in Switzerland, they received pretty much the worst news possible. A European cup final was still possible, but they would have to get through essentially two two-legged cup finals against Hamburg and Werder Bremen, perhaps the two most dangerous teams remaining in the competition, if they were going to the actual final on May 20.

Things were looking good early at the HSH Nordbank Arena on Thursday, though, when Stephen Ireland’s back-and-forth with Robinho resulted in the Irishman giving the Blues a 1-0 lead and a vital away goal in the first minute of the match. Unfortunately, Hamburg would then overturn the early deficit to take a 3-1 aggregate lead into the second leg in Manchester next week after having scored three unanswered, and anyone who watched the game would tell you it could have easily been closer to five or six.

The good news for City, however, is that one of the few things that the quarterfinal draw allowed them is still in play: Both in the league and (for the most part) in Europe, City have been miles better at the City of Manchester Stadium than they have been away from it, and they’ll have a chance to prove it once again next week.

They were completely outworked for 89 minutes in Hamburg, but Ireland’s goal in the first 35 seconds of the first leg means that a 2-0 win in the second would send the Blues through on away goals. It’s much easier said than done, obviously, but if City can take their undoubted player of the year’s advice in his post-game interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, show their team’s quality and “be braver,” then a spot in the semifinals isn’t completely out of the question just yet.

Thursday night should have shown any myopic viewers that are solely in the tank for Premier League sides that the German Bundesliga is not to be ignored, with Hamburg and Werder Bremen taking English and Italian teams to task. Werder Bremen has most likely already booked its passage into the semis with their own 3-1 win on Thursday, but the gap in talent between Bremen and Udinese is greater than that between Hamburg and Manchester City, and Hamburg manager Martin Jol’s men would do well to keep that in mind when they come to Eastlands next week.

Man City Tells Credit Crunch To Get Stuffed (Again) – Will It Work This Time?

Matthew Semisch — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:42:33 +0000

If at first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh you don’t succeed, try and try again.

This seems to be Manchester City’s mantra ahead of next month’s UEFA Cup quarterfinal tie with Hamburg, made apparent by the fact that the club has slashed ticket prices through this Sunday for Apr. 16’s home leg to just £5 for adults and £1 for kids.

The temporary markdown makes for a 75% cheaper adult ticket than City’s season ticket holders purchased for the Blues’ home round-of-16 encounter with Danish side Aalborg this month. On a personal level, as a City fan living overseas, I’m wishing right about now that transatlantic flights were that cheap, but never mind.

With the cheaper ticket prices – Which, as we’ve all discovered, you can do when you’re also able to bid £100 million for one player; Hi, Garry! – the Eastlands outfit are banking on getting a much-improved atmosphere for Hamburg than there was for the Danes’ visit, when only 24,596 bothered to turn up at a stadium that seats almost twice that.

Up to now, City have yet to even reach the 30,000 plateau in this season’s UEFA Cup, but it would appear that they won’t have much trouble there this time around, with the Manchester Evening News reporting massive queues both at the City of Manchester Stadium box office as well as City’s shop in the Arndale Centre, combining with online customers for 15,000 tickets sold before the club had to temporarily suspend sales.

It’s certainly a good sign that that so many tickets have already gone with another four days and change left before the ‘sale’ expires, but getting tickets in supporters’ hands is at best only half the battle. The club is (so far) holding up its end of the bargain – The rest is going to be up to the fans, and they will need to make their voices well and truly heard.

Though I find it a bit disgraceful in a way – Of course there’s a hierarchy there, but a major trophy is a major trophy is a major trophy – the UEFA Cup is commonly seen as a sort of ‘best of the rest’ competition, as indicated a lot of the time by attendance figures, and City fans have been just as guilty as anyone this season in that regard, but City’s win over Aalborg on penalties has given Blues supporters a golden opportunity to redeem themselves.

While City are sure to pass the attendance numbers of their first seven UEFA Cup home matches this season with ease for the Hamburg game, the fans know that it will be up to them to create the kind of atmosphere that the circumstances demand. As Manchester United supporters enjoy reminding their City counterparts, the Blues have not won a major trophy since around the time that John Simm experienced Life on Mars, and rarely has the first team been this close to grabbing any silverware worth grabbing.

City have a tough road to hoe if they’re going to make it to the final in Istanbul, with Hamburg standing in their way and then presumably Werder Bremen after that should their compatriots go down, but if the fans finally prove themselves able to answer the call for the first time in this competition, what sometimes seems like the impossible dream might become that little bit less thus.

The UEFA Cup: What Is The Point?

Michael Timbury — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:39:44 +0000

The question I am posing is looking purely at what the UEFA Cup means to clubs from the English Premier League. Judging by recent participants and how they have fared, it appears to feature very low on most Premiership clubs’ list of priorities. Before the profile of the European Cup was sufficiently raised and rebranded as the Champions League, the UEFA Cup was almost equally as prestigious and would appeal to a number of top quality clubs from across the continent. However, with the money that has been ploughed into the Champions League and the Premiership, the UEFA Cup now seems to be nothing more than an inconvenience.

Take for example the teams fielded by both Aston Villa and Tottenham in the last 32 knockout phase of the tournament. Both clubs put out far from full strength sides in order to be defeated, thus avoiding a fixture pile up come the latter parts of the season as well as the added bonus of giving fringe and youth players some valuable European experience. Should for one reason or another, the under strength sides happen to get the better of their opposition, those players are then rewarded by featuring in the next round. However, what I fail to understand is why teams wait until they have got far in the tournament before writing it off as an unnecessary distraction and burden on their resources.

Last season Bolton Wanderers waited until the quarter final stage of the competition before submitting to Sporting Lisbon over two legs, despite some memorable and historic results against the likes of Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. Sam Allardyce must be wondering why on Earth he worked so hard to drag Bolton into Europe, only for Gary Megson to forfeit a quarter final tie having drawn the first leg. If anything it is an insult to the fans of these clubs who pay to watch their side compete in European competition, some of the more hardcore even travelling to some obscure places for the privilege.

I get that clubs with a small squad have to prioritise and with all the financial implications that dictate the modern game, the more lucrative option of Premiership survival takes precedence over a run in Europe but if this is the case then what are the majority of Premiership sides striving for? What is the point of a side finishing high enough in the league to qualify for Europe, to then deem it pointless and not worth the hassle? Have they ever thought that perhaps their loyal fans would like to see them compete in Europe and give it their best shot considering most of them are never going to qualify for the Champions League or win a major trophy.

It would be nice to see a team show the gusto that Middlesbrough did in 2006 when they selected a strong side and went on an exciting and unforgettable journey all the way to the final before eventually being outclassed by a strong Sevilla side. With a little bit of effort, it would be amazing to see what they could achieve (take Glasgow Rangers last season as a further example). If Premier League clubs aren’t interested in competing in Europe, then why not give up their place to a side that might actually give it a go and embrace the chance to succeed.

Of course the neglect that the tournament has been shown in recent years hasn’t gone un-noticed amongst the UEFA decision makers who first tried to shake things up by introducing a group phase to the mix. This idea backfired though and another restructuring process was brought into effect. So as from next season the UEFA Cup will be known as the Europa League, a tournament that has a similar format to the Champions’ League with the idea of boosting both the competition’s status and profitability. Whether this works or not remains to be seen.

Fulham Continue To Progress Under Hodgson

Paul Bestall — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:45:46 +0000

Why doesn’t Roy Hodgson get the credit he deserves in the United Kingdom? As I’ve mentioned before, In Scandinavia and Italy, he’s held in high regard, in Britain people point to his sacking at Blackburn Rovers back in1997. With 33 points gained so far this season, Fulham are one win away from emulating their points total for last season already.Hodgson is a class act, he knows his football, his list of contacts stretches world wide.

Fulham, under Hodgson, have begun to repair the damage that Lawrie Sanchez’s reign presided over, as Hodgson has looked to ship out some of the deadwood that arrived during the former Northern Ireland managers spell. Sanchez’s problem seemed to be his obsession with signing players he’d worked with at Northern Ireland, tallied with a depressing addiction to long ball football and a high defensive line, whilst using defenders not blessed with pace.

This season, after keeping them up by the skin or their teeth last year, has seen Hodgson add to the canny signings he made in the transfer window of 2008. Capturing the new strike force of Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora in the summer has been key to allowing Hodgson to implement his footballing philosophy on the Cottagers. Johnson with his pace and eye for key combined with Zamora’s strength and ability to hold the ball up has given them a new dimension, it allows Fulham to break and bring more players in to attacking positions. With Danny Murphy and Simon Davies resurgent this year, their seems to be no worrying about a relegation scrap, simply looking to finish as high as possible in the Premiership. They could even possible match or surpass their best Premiership finish of 9th, which was earned under Chris Coleman in 2004.

With the tightness of the Premierships bottom 14 sides, 7th is not beyond Hodgson and his Fulham side, they showed just how much better they are than the bottom side West Bromich on Sunday with an impressive footballing display. 2-0 frankly flattered West Brom, they were never in the game, Danny Murphy imperious in a midfield display that harked back to his days for Liverpool and England. An F.A. Cup Quarter Final against Manchester United awaits in March. The transfer of Jimmy Bullard now looks a masterstroke.

Yet there is still room for improvement. Whilst their home record is currently the 2nd best in the Premiership, they share an unenviable record with Stoke City in not achieving an away win this season with only 6 draws and 3 goals scored in 13 matches away from Craven Cottage. A decent away record could have seen them challenging Everton and Arsenal for a UEFA cup spot. That said though, they’ve earned impressive draws at Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa, if Hodgson can nick a couple of away wins towards the back end of the season at say Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City and Newcastle who knows where they could end up.

Hodgson knows his team need strengthening in the summer, a striker to compliment Zamora and Johnson is paramount, when fit and available, they’ve started every single game and more midfield depth to cover his first choice combination of Murphy, Davies, Dempsey and Gera. The return to form of Ethuhu and the loan signing of Olivier Dacourt shows where Hodgson needs to add options. The back four could also do with more depth, as the back four seems to pick itself currently.

Allied with another expansion of the stadium, it seems 4000 seats are to be added, a top ten finish can give them something to build on. The board of Fulham keep increasing the capacity where they can as they try to push it up to 30,000. The Hammersmith End is ripe for increased capacity and will add vital revenue to the clubs coffers.

Fulham can be pleased with their progression this season, but Hodgson and the fans know they need to start winning games away from Craven Cottage for real progress to be made.