I always thought that scrapping the Cup Winner’s Cup was a mistake.
Getting rid of it didn’t make sense to me - it was more prestigious than the UEFA Cup.
It meant that there were now two European competitions, the one everybody cared about and the lesser competition that was devalued further by the increasing gulf between it and the Champions League.
Everything UEFA did to try to increase the prestige of the competition had the opposite effect:
- Allowing Champions League rejects to join the competition at a later stage
- Changing the name to the Europa League
- The winners qualifying for the Champions League
One of the most appealing things about the Europa League now is that if you win it then you don’t have to participate in it the following season!!
Yes, it would be nice if we won it but not as nice as winning it before it was devalued.
I’d like to see us qualify for it if I thought we had a genuine chance of winning it but I don’t think we do.
Also there are too many Thursday matches and it will have a detrimental effect on our performance in the league.
It’s not like the Champions League where there is excitement and a lot of revenue from a decent run in the competition.
With the Europa League, it’s not the taking part, it’s the winning that counts and we won’t win it.