Four teams from England in the QFs

[revol68]

if we had the best league in the world or teams that finished 5th-8th in the prem would have more success at this comp (uefa cup) regardless of how teams qualified

What wank, a) it's still a massively drawn out knock out competition which always requires a large degree of luck b) it means the 1st or 2nd team in a league could go up against a team who finished 6th in the premier league, even if the 1st or 2nd team is from a bollox league it will mean they will have much more european experiance, more bottle for bigger games, are used to winning things etc. And like I said there is a still a lag effect from the European ban.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

True to an extent but then why do the teams do so badly in the UEFA cup? It suggests that the PL is massively imbalanced between the same top 4 clubs far more than other leagues.

One thing that does strike me though is how consistently good the Dutch sides are in Eurpe - esp when you consider that PSV and Ajax tend to have to re-build their sides every single season when players leave. They punch well above their weigh when their domestic league is really pretty crap...you know it's between two teams, with occassionalyl Feynoord or an AZ challenging every so often.

Precisely！

 

[internetstalker]

the main question seems to be: what does best league mean?

is it the most entertaining, with different teams challenging each year?

is it the league that would beat the corresponding ranking teams in other leagues?

is it the league with the most atractive football and interesting scorelines?

is it the league who performs the best in europe?

or other options....

IMHO it's a mixture of all but i don't think any league fulfills that criteria

good points!

I like to think the Prem is the best league in europe/the world. but its one of those things that you could argue about forever.

you could even point out the fact that South American teams mostly win the World club cup.

as far as the prem being the best league in the world: maybe just maybe.

it's definately my favourite

 

[internetstalker]

What wank, a) it's still a massively drawn out knock out competition which always requires a large degree of luck b) it means the 1st or 2nd team in a league could go up against a team who finished 6th in the premier league, even if the 1st or 2nd team is from a bollox league it will mean they will have much more european experiance, more bottle for bigger games, are used to winning things etc. And like I said there is a still a lag effect from the European ban.

you talk shite!

 

[internetstalker]

What wank, a) it's still a massively drawn out knock out competition which always requires a large degree of luck b) it means the 1st or 2nd team in a league could go up against a team who finished 6th in the premier league, even if the 1st or 2nd team is from a bollox league it will mean they will have much more european experiance, more bottle for bigger games, are used to winning things etc. And like I said there is a still a lag effect from the European ban.

if 1st or 2nd team is from a bollox league is in this comp its beacause they are deemed not good enough for the CL
just like a prem team finishing 5th

 

[revol68]

you talk shite!

cracking response.

I do actually think they should go back to the CL, UEFA Cup (with no CL rejects allowed in) and Cup Winners Cup format.

 

[revol68]

if 1st or 2nd team is from a bollox league is in this comp its beacause they are deemed not good enough for the CL
just like a prem team finishing 5th

well a) they do play in the CL but get dumped out in the group stages and hence qualify for the UEFA a few rounds in (which is grossly unfair), b) I already pointed out that a 1st or 2nd placed team from even a bollox league will have much more European experiance, tend to have more bottle for the bigger games and more experiance at actually winnning medals, all things that make a massive difference in a knock out competition.

 

[internetstalker]

cracking response.

I do actually think they should go back to the CL, UEFA Cup (with no CL rejects allowed in) and Cup Winners Cup format.

now that i could agree with

 

[jugularvein]

it's definitely my favourite

AFAIK it's also the world's favourite in terms of viewers

 

[steveo87]

Is it? Since the lifting of the Heysel ban and the descent of the European Cup into a pointless exhibition tournament, there have been 2 winners of it from both the English league and the Bundesliga, and in the German's case they were also the reigning champions in their domestic leagues. On the other hand, neither Manchester United or Liverpool should've been in the competition in 1999 and 2005 respectively.

Why shouldn't have Liverpool been in the 2005 Champion's League?
Or Man Who? for that matter?

 

[revol68]

because Man United didn't win the league in 97/98, they came second.

Of course the fact that they won it the same year as they won the league and FA Cup makes it even better!

 

[jugularvein]

Why shouldn't have Liverpool been in the 2005 Champion's League?
Or Man Who? for that matter?

because of revol's opinion

 

[stavros]

The old format was a shower of shit too.

And don't bother playing the 'Reigning champions' card either. The majority of teams were fucking awful.

Under the European cup format you'd get plenty of comedy mismatches that ended up with the bigger clubs regularly scoring 9, 10, 11 and more in a single game.

Would you? A primary reason why top players make an immediate beeline to England, Spain, Italy, etc is due to the money garnered by a larger number of teams in what used to be the European Cup in those countries. An interesting hypothesis to make would be to wonder whether Benfica and Celtic in the 60s, Ajax in the 70s and Red Star Belgrade in the 90s would've built their successful teams in today's climate where their talent may well have been hoovered up by the PL, La Liga and Serie A before the teams had been crafted. Thus a much more even spread of talent was created throughout the continent, because every country had one entrant from league positions, and there wasn't the financial insurance of a league structure.

As to why Manchester United and Liverpool shouldn't have been in the 1999 and 2005 competitions, that's because Arsenal won both the 1998 and 2004 domestic leagues and neither side were the reigning European champions. The last true English winners of the competition were Liverpool in 1984.

 

[internetstalker]

Four teams from England in the QFs of the CL


none in the Uefa!!

 

[internetstalker]

well a) they do play in the CL but get dumped out in the group stages and hence qualify for the UEFA a few rounds in (which is grossly unfair), b) I already pointed out that a 1st or 2nd placed team from even a bollox league will have much more European experiance, tend to have more bottle for the bigger games and more experiance at actually winnning medals, all things that make a massive difference in a knock out competition.

thus making them better teams!!

which is my whole point about why the prem may not be the best league in the world (like the point in the OP) because outside the top 4 the rest of the prem aint that strong in comparisson to the rest of europe

 

[jugularvein]

none in the Uefa!!

there were two penalty shoot outs. we could easlily have two teams in there