Europa League participation - yes or no?

I have a question for you all because I'm torn on this. 5th or 7th? Since we don't look like getting 4th (hell, it was 3rd a two weeks ago!) do we want Europa League football? Will having some form of European football help our Summer recruitment? We need the experience of European football but do we want the distraction of so many matches next year, traveling to all these exotic locations, getting back at 6 a.m. and playing a match at midday on Sunday? Or would it be best if we finished outside of Europe completely like we did two years ago and hope last season's history repeats itself?

The point of the thread is that the last time we finished 5th we finished 7th the following season. The season after finishing 7th we almost won the title. In fact historically, every English club to compete in the Europa League has had a poor season domestically whilst doing it. Yes we're Liverpool Football Club and yes, I want us to finish as high as we can and yes, there's still a mathematical chance we could finish 4th and let's hope we do but there's no getting away from the facts. Europa League does not seem to agree with English clubs and if it increases our chances of putting in a title challenge next year, would it be so bad?

Let me be clear though, I am not suggesting we should engineer a 7th place finish, I'm asking for personal opinions on the matter.

Edit: Changed the title since some people are taking the hump at the mere suggestion of not finishing 5th. Personally I don't give a sh*t. You're 1st or you're no where.

Europa League is a big miss only if we don't bother to bed in some of the youth players. If we're not going to do that, I'd rather we miss out on the competition.

It would be bad enough finishing 5th never mind 7th.

I always want to finish as high as possibly and play European football.

Brendan can worry about juggling the games nest season.

Unless we win the F.A.Cup this season will have to go down as a failure and it will matter little if we finish 5th or 7th.

What a totally relevant but depressing thread, I think we need to get in Europe, I love Europe who cares if it's a Thursday night

What a totally relevant but depressing thread, I think we need to get in Europe, I love Europe who cares if it's a Thursday night

Our top 4 aspirations next season cares.

5th and some European footy
Honestly don't get this negativity to the Europa cup.
We have to get back in the pattern of going after any and all trophies. Don't care what it is. I want success and winning any competition instills confidence and a winning mentality into the club and players.
Get back into the groove of success and it will lead to further improvements.

Always hated these types of questions.

I want this club to finish as high in the standings as they can finish THIS YEAR.

Next year and it's challenges can be taken care of next year.

do we want Europa League football?

Please tell me you didn't just ask this!

Liverpool Football Club should be playing in Europe, if it's not Champions League and has to be the Europa instead then so be it, I want us to win as much as we possibly can.

With regards to 5th or 7th, personally I think 7th. IMO I can see us going into meltdown like we did at the end of last season and the last 5 or so games has done little to make me think otherwise. Our form has been a concern since the Blackburn game and our discipline hasn't been acceptable either.

Got to be 5th.

If Brendan's going to be our manager for the foreseeable future then he needs all the European games he can get to gain some experience and improve on the absolute horror show we produced in the Champions League this year.

5th. The manager and a lot of the players need European experience.

He has proved three times now that when it comes to playing in Europe he is desperately lacking.

All that other bollocks? What's the difference between CL games on a Wednesday and Saturday and EL games on a Thursday and Sunday?

Always hated these types of questions.

No one's forcing you to answer, mate, I'm just posing a question of whether it's in our best interests or not to be in the Europa League next season. If it makes people feel better, think of the question as a referendum on Europa League participation next year. Think of it as 'if we finish 5th should we take the competition seriously?". That's all I'm trying to ask.

It's a fair question 5timesacharm and one that will continue to be asked for as long as the Europa League's value is debated. But for me it's an easy answer.

We will never be able to be the top team we want to be without being able to juggle numerous European games in a season alongside our domestic fixtures, whether it's the Europa League or the Champions League.

So of course I want Liverpool to compete in Europe next season. Contrary to the manic knee jerking rubbish we read on this forum towards our team, manager and individual players I think we've got a lot of potential and hope in this team and with more experience and game time we will grow brilliantly. Our progress has been stumped this season because of injury and a struggle to adapt to a post Suarez formation but, despite the last two results, we have shown progress and solidity from Christmas onwards. That's reason for me to be hopeful going into next season, and with a much needed quality signing in the summer (just one or two) we could do a great job next season.

And I call for the Europa League as a testing ground for our young players because the Premier League is quite simply not the environment for a young player to flourish compared to other leagues on the continent.

As ever in England, results mean everything while performance means nothing. Results are all very well, but development in England is going to be stifled due to the predominance of regressive tactics like lumping high balls up the field which is no environment for any young player to thrive in.

Absolutely yes to Europa League. Rodgers needs the experience, and in the summer, we'll spend 100m+ on more squad players, so we should have enough for 2 teams.

Are Liverpool fans actually hoping that we compete in one less competition next season? Who is to say that just because we could be in the Europa League that we won't be able to compete for top four? Every club exists to win trophies, the Europa League is a possible trophy is it not? Especially when the winner gets a Champions League spot, that should be plenty motivation!

Rodgers is sorely lacking in European experience so definitely a good idea to finish in a Europa league position.

Our top 4 aspirations next season cares.

the Thursday -Sunday thing is a myth that seems to be an obsession in England, 5th is a must, European football has been the lifeblood of this club for years but this modern trend for rubbishing any other competitions is garbage.

I love the Europa, if we aren't in the hollywood league then any trophy is important, these days people don't even rate the FA cup as a priority because it might affect getting into the tampons league positions.
Football has been devalued to this level and it's a travesty.

Always hated these types of questions.

I want this club to finish as high in the standings as they can finish THIS YEAR.

Next year and it's challenges can be taken care of next year.

I agree, mate. It would be fundamentally anti-football to hope your team didn't finish as high as possible in the standings.

The only thing I would say is, whilst we should never shy away from wanting to fight on all fronts, including the Europa League if that's the competition we qualify for, I wouldn't be completely and utterly devastated if we were to miss out on it. For starters it's not the Champions League, and the extra games could well hinder our domestic form.

It's very likely, I think, that we wouldn't have gone so close to winning the league last season if instead of resting up and gaining more preparation in between games, we'd have been off playing the likes of Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the arse end of nowhere. If we missed out on Europa League football again perhaps the main benefit this time would be to our quest to regain a Champions League spot, although of course we ought to be able to manage both.

Our top 4 aspirations next season cares.

What is the point of getting into CL if we are to drop out of group stages?

What we need is to get maximum Europe experience to this young players and young manager.

We do need to give the lads European experience and learning what its like to go a full season challenging domestically and then flying to Russia to play a QF game 3 days later.

Our season rebuilt itself on playing against different styles and tactics (Basel 3-4-3) so it is something we can participate in and try to win and learn from it at the same time.

We do need to give the lads European experience and learning what its like to go a full season challenging domestically and then flying to Russia to play a QF game 3 days later.

Our season rebuilt itself on playing against different styles and tactics (Basel 3-4-3) so it is something we can participate in and try to win and learn from it at the same time.

 

Right, second that. We must get used to playing in Europe, no matter what nad take it from there.