Official 2012/13 Premier League thread

[Jimmy]

Their European ranking won't have anything to do with their ability to finish in the top 4?

[Khain]

I agree with the decision, Liverpool found their better football when they were eliminated from the UEL, I don't the squad has the depth to play twice a week nor the team can perform double duty to the top level week in and week out.

[Jimmy]

My attitude's been changed by AVB in relation to the Europa League. How can you expect a club to compete to a high standard in both The Premier League and The Champions League if they can't do the same with The Premier League and The Europa League?

[Khain]

I think if you're competing in the Champions League you get a substantial amount of money compared to the Europa League, so you can reinforce even more the depth of the squad, but we are talking about Levy here so you never know :/.

[Gazz]

Their European ranking won't have anything to do with their ability to finish in the top 4?

Their co-efficient goes down, meaning they are less likely to be seeded in the qualifying rounds and would be in a lower pool for the group stage draw if they got through.

[Summers]

Mad decision. It isn't the inertoto, for christ sake. I see why managers avoided that, but you're rejecting the Europa League, stupid.

[Baddar]

Rightly or wrongly, United were in the Europa last season - and I really wanted us to win it.

[DavidMarrio]

I'm in two minds about it:

A) It'll mean less games for us to play which could work in our benefit andut it will mean our season won't start like the 1st/2nd week of July.

but

B) It's still Europe. I want us to be in Europe and compete on a domestic and European front. We hardly played a full strength team in most games anyway bring some people in during the summer and give fringe players a chance to play at Anfield and abroad instead of just doing nothing. Plus it'll bring money into the club being in Europe and it should entice some players who are thinking of joining because we are in Europe. (Also the tickets are cheaper and I can actually get to the Europa League games instead of having to pay like 45 quid to watch us play Stoke when I can watch us play Udiense, Zenit etc for about 20/25)

[brenchill]

Smart decision from Liverpool, although I can understand why it's not a popular one.

Let's face it, the Europa League sucks. Since they dropped the straight knock out format it has been a dreadful competition.

[Summers]

I'd love to be challenging in the Europa League, personally.

[MDK]

You should be happy with plain ol' Premier League football next season, my old china

[Colly]

From a financial point of view its clever, but I can't for the life of me work out how a fan of the club can justify it like that. Vague potential of an extra player, or a load of European nights. No contest whatsoever.

[Jimmy]

Smart decision from Liverpool, although I can understand why it's not a popular one.

Let's face it, the Europa League sucks. Since they dropped the straight knock out format it has been a dreadful competition.

I genuinely think its been really good this year. We have three English teams in the quarter finals, and as a Spurs fan, I got to see to have fantastic games against both Inter Milan and Lyon. I don't particularly agree with CL teams getting absorbed into the competition, and I would probably prefer it as a straight knock out, but there's been some great games this year - and it means I get to watch more football.

[Nerf]

From a financial point of view its clever, but I can't for the life of me work out how a fan of the club can justify it like that. Vague potential of an extra player, or a load of European nights. No contest whatsoever.

I think you're underestimating how much money the pre-season tour (that we'd have to cancel if we qualified for the Europa League) will bring in.

Brenchill pretty much got it spot on (bar the "Europa League sucks" bit). I have no doubt that us being in Europe this season has cost us a couple of points in the PL (same way it has Newcastle, Chelsea and Spurs). I'd much rather skip the competition for a year if it increases our chances of qualifying for the Champions League.

Plus, money.

Edit: Also, as Rodgers pointed out, it's a "pride" thing. We haven't actually qualified, we're just being offered a spare spot for being well-behaved.

[Jimmy]

But I think there's merit in the idea that the competition prepares you for Champions League. If you miraculously managed a Champions League finish, there's nothing to suggest your league standing wouldn't suffer horribly at the hands of it. And I'm sure you wanna be a club who consistently finished top 4, not just the odd season.

[therockbox]

Let's not sit here and pretend this has anything to do with pride or wanting to qualify 'properly'. If this was some backdoor way into the Champions League we'd be all over it.

[Nerf]

That's because the Champions League gives massive rewards and attracts world class players.

[therockbox]

yeah, so it has nothing to do with pride or wanting to qualify properly.

[Nerf]

There's a difference between the two competitions is what I'm saying. The Europa League is nice if you qualify, but we'd literally kill for Champions League football.

Random fact I found interesting: Luis Suarez has missed 25 matches through suspension since November 2010, despite never being sent off at club level.

[Baddar]

That's because he's a dirty cunt.