Discussion: Is LFC being out of Europe next year a blessing in disguise?

It's not a blessing in Disguise, we're the victims of circumstance due to those two prats from across the pond, we deserve to be in Europe WE ARE L.F.C. FFS !
With the effects of dumb and dumber's tenure and then a blind old owl of a manager with 35yrs experience of wondering around in the wilderness to kick us in the nuts when we were down did we really think we could get 5th ?

The way KK's Performed wonders wiith what Woy left, he's surely in with a chance of Manager of the Year !

T.B.H. I've only just given up on finishing 1st because we can't beat united's pts haul now but thats just me been overly optimistic !

The reason for the lack of interest in the Europa League is down to the greed of EUFA simple as,If you go back to the days of the old European Cup when only the Champions from each country qualifed and the other teams Qualified for the EUFA Cup and ECWC These other two trophies we're considered as hard if not harder to win as the teams in them were on the way up in general. AND more big names we're in them as they hadn't won their Domestic Leagues.

If you compare our success in the European Cup being Champions everytime, to that of United's in the seasons they qualified as champions you'll see that United shouldn't have been in the tournament as often as they have been and the gap between us wouldn't be as big !

How many times would Chelsea, Arsenal and United have been competing in the EUFA Cup/Europa League due to finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th  !

Said this many times before mate, but the Champions League should be for Champions alone. Bring the UEFA Cup back to 2nd, 3rd and possibly even 4th and return to the days of the Cup Winners Cup. Adds a bit of prestige back to the FA Cup and League Cup as well.

How 4th can be in the Champions League is beyond me. What are they the champions of? F***ing nothing. But of course it's all money these days. Nothing else. Can't stand it. And yes I find it a disgrace that we finished 4th and still were able to become the champions of Europe in 05. We shouldn't of been in the competition.

And it's only a matter of time before Macedonia's champions end up getting shafted all together for the 5th place side in England. It's totally F***ing wrong. Years gone by any club could win it because it was straight knock out, none of this lose 3 group games and still qualify bollocks. If we got Real Madrid in round 1, so be it.

The quicker football returns to those rules the better. F**k the money side of it, get back to the entertaining side of the game. And it'll give more money to the UEFA Cup, if it is the revenue that UEFA/FIFA are worried about because there'll be bigger teams in that competition. There'll be the likes of Real Madrid/Barcelona (only one can qualify for the Champions League/European Cup), Inter/AC Milan/Juve/so on. Liverpool/United/Arsenal/Chelsea.

It's a disgrace the way things have gone. And I seem to rant on about it every couple of weeks. On how football should return to a straight knockout stage in Europe and how the Champions League should be Champions and Champions alone.

As a fan I'm massively optimistic, but I just don’t see this competition as decent.  For a start our squad either doesn’t care or just isnt good enough.

Fringe players never step up and we scrape through against teams not fit to be playing us.  Im not just on about Roys tactics, Kenny was lucky to of gotten to the Braga game.  A last minute Kuyt header against a poor team isnt good enough.

There are 2 sides to this and I understand both.

1, You could say the Europa is perfect for an inexperianced European manager.
2, We ditch one cup and focus on the 3 we could win.

For me its purely vanity, it gives zero bragging rights, its not the cup it was 20-30 years ago., when it did mean something.

Like I earlier, give me the FA Cup and a decent cup run over pointless injuries, Thursday night on Channel 5 and bloody Sunday football

As a fan I'm massively optimistic, but I just don’t see this competition as decent.  For a start our squad either doesn’t care or just isnt good enough.

Fringe players never step up and we scrape through against teams not fit to be playing us.  Im not just on about Roys tactics, Kenny was lucky to of gotten to the Braga game.  A last minute Kuyt header against a poor team isnt good enough.

There are 2 sides to this and I understand both.

1, You could say the Europa is perfect for an inexperianced European manager.
2, We ditch one cup and focus on the 3 we could win.

For me its purely vanity, it gives zero bragging rights, its not the cup it was 20-30 years ago., when it did mean something.

Like I earlier, give me the FA Cup and a decent cup run over pointless injuries, Thursday night on Channel 5 and bloody Sunday football

What a load of F***ing glory hunting bollocks that is.

If the players don't care or aren't good enough, then they shouldn't be at the club period. And that goes for fans who don't care about the Europa League as well. Don't bother turning up when it's all going swimmingly well in the European Cup but then F***ing disappear when it comes to a "lesser" competition. That is glory hunting, and I can't F***ing stand people like that - it hurts me to even call people like that fans.

And those clubs are fit to play us, and in some cases play us off the park. Because we're in the same competition, so they are fit to play us. And we have to treat them and the competition with respect. Obviously we, well at least some of us, don't. If we didn't have such F***ing pampered spoilt pansy tw*ts (on and off the field) thinking they're too big for the Europa League, maybe we all would respect them. And maybe then we'd actually start performing in it.

Ditch one cup and focus on the three we could win? How about we ditch none and focus on the four we can win. We're Liverpool Football Club and we never ditch anything. Or at least we shouldn't and some of us were brought up to realise that. Some of us obviously wasn't.

Zero bragging rights? So F***ing what. We don't win to brag. We're humble in victory or didn't you know that? That's why so many clubs and other clubs' fans respect Liverpool because we are humble in victory and gracious in defeat. But if you wanna brag, F**k off to another club. Because no club has more to brag about than ours, including three UEFA Cups. But we don't brag. That's not the Liverpool way.

Can't believe the mentality of some "Liverpool fans" these days. The Liverpool Way has been well and truly lost on them.

What a load of f**king glory hunting bollocks that is.

If the players don't care or aren't good enough, then they shouldn't be at the club period. And that goes for fans who don't care about the Europa League as well. Don't bother turning up when it's all going swimmingly well in the European Cup but then f**king disappear when it comes to a "lesser" competition. That is glory hunting, and I can't f**king stand people like that - it hurts me to even call people like that fans.

And those clubs are fit to play us, and in some cases play us off the park. Because we're in the same competition, so they are fit to play us. And we have to treat them and the competition with respect. Obviously we, well at least some of us, don't. If we didn't have such f**king pampered spoilt pansy tw*ts (on and off the field) thinking they're too big for the Europa League, maybe we all would respect them. And maybe then we'd actually start performing in it.

Ditch one cup and focus on the three we could win? How about we ditch none and focus on the four we can win. We're Liverpool Football Club and we never ditch anything. Or at least we shouldn't and some of us were brought up to realise that. Some of us obviously wasn't.

Zero bragging rights? So f**king what. We don't win to brag. We're humble in victory or didn't you know that? That's why so many clubs and other clubs' fans respect Liverpool because we are humble in victory and gracious in defeat. But if you wanna brag, f**k off to another club. Because no club has more to brag about than ours, including three UEFA Cups. But we don't brag. That's not the Liverpool way.

Can't believe the mentality of some "Liverpool fans" these days. The Liverpool Way has been well and truly lost on them.

I've disagreed with you before mate but I agree with every word of that.

I think the word 'blessing' is being used as an excuse in some cases.

What if we went and sneaked fourth to get into The CL next season, unlikely I know but possible, would the same people be saying then that we would of been better off not qualifying?

Doubt it.

They'd be shouting from the F***ing rooftops!

This is a tricky one...

First of all - not being in Europe is never a blessing. Its where we belong as a club, and lets be honest where we have had happy hunting over the past, well 30 years.! Liverpool, and Anfield especially deserve to be hosting teams such as Real Madrid, AC Milan, Munic, Ajax etc - these Europian giants.! Not only is it a great occasion for the players, but more importantly for the fans. I cannot think of another place in Europe that is like Anfield on a Semi Final night in Europe - for that I cannot think of another place in the world where a qualifing game has the atmosphere. We should be in Europe every season!

I wont go into the financial aspect of Europe - every one on here should understand that..!

With regards to any percived benefit - only one springs to mind. The players that dont want to be here will make noise and leave in the summer. I can see a few going and saying that LFC dont have the ambition etc, personally I would like these players to come forward, make noise and leave. However i am not so stupid to think that some of these players may well be key players..! We will also have issues attracting the very top players across Europe - look at VDV at Spurs. That was Champs league motivated 100% - and I bet he will be off / kick off this summer if they fail to qualify again! I dont want players like this at LFC - yet I want their quality.

With this in mind, and taking it all in to account then No, Europian competition and LFC should always be mentioned in the same sentence.

Hard question to answer really until we see what Comolli brings out the bag in summer.

I don't believe that players won't come because we haven't got European football. To be out of European football for one year won't break us and can only make us stronger to push for the PL and European places.

Rafa's main problem was he won the CL too early and the more fair-weather amongst us expected that to continue and ignored the simple fact that to build on that we needed an influx of cash to the us up a level to compete on that forefront again. H&G put paid to that.

A year out of Europe will help Kenny build towards that and I feel that that can be a good thing long term.

A part of me will miss the European nights but another part of me thinks it's what we need after the last couple of years.

Im not here to create an argument but don’t call me a glory hunter.

I reckon I've probably been to more Europa League games than EPL and CL, purely because when I started going to matches in the late 90's we were in that cup and I could never get to a Saturday match.  For me, they were European nights.  I was too young to know us in the Champions League, and the atmosphere then was a lot better than what it is now.

I stand by my words when I say the Europa is nothing but a money spinner for UEFA now.  Its been watered down so much that even winning the thing doesn’t really mean that much.

And bragging rights I think are not vastly important in football, but they certainly play a part.  Football and Liverpool FC is routed on trophies yes but isnt it far greater knowing that who we trampled on to get to a final?  Take 2007 for example, the way we did Barca and the Chavs was beautiful, but compare that to last season…  We failed in the champions league and were handed a place in the Europa.  That’s another thing I don’t believe in.  We got knocked out, you shouldn’t be thrown into another competition because you messed up a campaign in the bigger brother

If we fail to get into Europe then so be it, you could look at it and say we'll have more time to prepare for games, we can take advantage of teams who have had to travel and play in mid-week games.

If we get into Europe then im not going to be unhappy, of course not.  I get to see my team play more.

But what I hate is the clubs attitude towards the cup.  I went to the Braga match and watched a poor LFC team who look liked they didn’t care, awful tactics, and a vile atmosphere from about 90% of Anfield.

I'll make my mind up when we've played 38 games.

If we qualify, fair enough, It's another chance to win a European Trophy. If not, we'll have the advantage of having all our games in England, so surely we'll drop fewer points after tough midweek European games.

Might I add, I think it's a stupid rule that Birmingham qualify for winning the league cup, and whoever gets beat in the FA cup final will also qualify. It sounds like someone from UEFA sat down one day and thought, "hmm, I know, let's add a completely random rule for qualification the europa league, which involves domestic cup competitions etc." Planks.

I will never understand how anyone ever thinks Liverpool not being in Europe is a good thing? It's ridiculous.

I don't believe that players won't come because we haven't got European football. /quote]

Can see it to be honest - there are a lot of players who will only go to Champs League clubs. Especailly when clubs like Man City and Chavski will pay silly money in transfers and wages. We wont have the cash / policy to do this or the Champs League.

I know to all of us the world stops on the outskirts of Liverpool - but to players in other countries they want money and instant glory. This is noticable when looking at Man City and Chavs.

What we need is a good crop to come through the ranks who know what LFC is all about - and a few shrewd buys where players who are just about good enough but will get better. And to be honest a few players who have been purchased by City in moments of madness and are now looking for first team football to prove them selfs again (Johnson, Milner, Klorov etc) would do me.

... are we out yet?

No?

Then lets talk about getting some positives out of being out .... when we are out.


Over and out.

... are we out yet?

No?

Then lets talk about getting some positives out of being out .... when we are out.


Over and out.

Well said.

It is still possible, so why give up?

... are we out yet?

No?

Then lets talk about getting some positives out of being out .... when we are out.


Over and out.

Like I said in my post earlier I've only given up on winning the League because we can only match manure's pts Total !
So whilst its possible it's I'll keep my fingers crossed !

When we were banned from europe the club did not benefit from the exclusion of european football.

How will we benefit now?

We need to be in european football period.

When we were banned from europe the club did not benefit from the exclusion of european football.

How will we benefit now?

We need to be in european football period.

Personally I was answering it from the hypothetical, yet looking more likely, viewpoint that we may not be in Europe next year.

The difference between this and last time is that we aren't guaranteed 5 years without the income. This time around we can return next year stronger than we are this year thanks primarily to having owners who appear to want to actually spend money.

I love nothing more than watching Liverpool play and would love to see them in Europe next year, hopefully the results go our way. Life's taking me through a negative patch at the moment but I'll try and stay optimistic.

Said this many times before mate, but the Champions League should be for Champions alone. Bring the UEFA Cup back to 2nd, 3rd and possibly even 4th and return to the days of the Cup Winners Cup. Adds a bit of prestige back to the FA Cup and League Cup as well.

How 4th can be in the Champions League is beyond me. What are they the champions of? F***ing nothing. But of course it's all money these days. Nothing else. Can't stand it. And yes I find it a disgrace that we finished 4th and still were able to become the champions of Europe in 05. We shouldn't of been in the competition.

And it's only a matter of time before Macedonia's champions end up getting shafted all together for the 5th place side in England. It's totally f**king wrong. Years gone by any club could win it because it was straight knock out, none of this lose 3 group games and still qualify bollocks. If we got Real Madrid in round 1, so be it.

The quicker football returns to those rules the better. F**k the money side of it, get back to the entertaining side of the game. And it'll give more money to the UEFA Cup, if it is the revenue that UEFA/FIFA are worried about because there'll be bigger teams in that competition. There'll be the likes of Real Madrid/Barcelona (only one can qualify for the Champions League/European Cup), Inter/AC Milan/Juve/so on. Liverpool/United/Arsenal/Chelsea.

It's a disgrace the way things have gone. And I seem to rant on about it every couple of weeks. On how football should return to a straight knockout stage in Europe and how the Champions League should be Champions and Champions alone.

Bang on the money is that. Since the formation of the Champions League in 1992 it has been won by the actual domestic champions ten times which is just over 50%. That is scandalous in all reality. How can a League be called a Champions League when it consists of runners up and third and fourth placed teams also?. It is a contradiction of terms.

As you have said, it is all about the money these days, nothing to do with prestige. The greatest European competition has suffered great indignity due to the money men at the helm of UEFA. Not only that, it has reduced the prestige from other European competitions as well. The Europa League is a classic example of this.

As for the opening post. Being out of Europe is completely unacceptable for Liverpool Football Club, it is a part of our history, our pedigree and our ambition. It will never be a blessing, ever.

Still possible to qualify for Europe so not lost hope yet.

But if we were not to be in  Europe next year I only see it as a negative. I'm sure we will still attract players but we have a proud history in Europe and I believe we should be looking to enter and win as many competitions as possible.

This club should be able to sustain a domestic and European campaign and I would not expect us being in Europe next season as a distraction to Kenny's development of the squad. I don't buy all the 'concentrate on one trophy' bullsh*t.

Also for those rubbishing the Europa League/UEFA Cup we are the joint record holders for number of wins in this and one more win would see us the outright record holders so again a competition we have a proud history in.

I want us to be in as many competitions as possible and looking to win them as you play football to win and ultimately win trophies and if you start to thin one is less important than the other you may as well not bother entering.

... are we out yet?
No?
Then lets talk about getting some positives out of being out .... when we are out.
Over and out.

See.
Old 'arry and his team got seriously spanked at the Bernabau. That ll shake em up.
Welcome to the real world of the Champions League you Spurs.
Great pretenders.
One season wonders methinks.
Another day in the sun team.



Move over cock.

 If Liverpool fail to qualify for Europe it will be a terrible thing
 I know and understand fans putting a brave face on and looking for a positive angle, saying we will have less games to play and can concentrate on the league but compared to what we are losing out on this is nothing.
You have to be in Europe to attract the best player, the money we are losing from sponsors, the gate takings and prise money
Yet in many ways the most important for me is the experience young player will miss out on.
 

Its not good! We should always be in europe.

the last time we were out, did it help us win the league?

NO !

It is for me.

We are at a rebuilding process now, its time for a new era. Remove the dead wood and introduce some fresh faces.

The last thing we want is to be playing midweek matches all over the place in Europe distrupting our mentality regarding our league position, which at the end of the day is the most important thing.

Id rather skip playing in the Europa league for next season and have a real good challenge at making the champions league for the following season. That's where the club belongs.

I understand people saying we belong in Europe and the Europa League is still a European competition, but after watching it this season, for me it has become a waste of time in all honesty. Very little money in it, the opposition is poor until the semi finals and the conditions at times are hurrendous. It offers us very little.

It makes no difference in attracting players to me either. We want europes best and europes best play in the champions league, so if a player is happy settling for the europa league then maybe it is questionable whether they are good enough for Liverpool in the first place?