Should Liverpool go all out to win the Europa League?

flahavaj

Liverpool fans should Liverpool go all out for the Europa League? Does the prospect excite you as some have said? Or should Rafa play the kids and reserves and concentrate on the battle for fourth as others have said?

SlickRic

both.

no reason we can't play competitive teams in both.

el rabitos

flahavaj wrote: »

Liverpool fans should Liverpool go all out for the Europa League? Does the prospect excite you as some have said? Or should Rafa play the kids and reserves and concentrate on the battle for fourth as others have said?

should take every game as they come and try win them all, if we get to the end of the season and win the fa cup and europa league and finish 4th we can look back then and say "hey, probably should've played the reserves in that".

DSB

Somewhere in between, don't treat the competition as a joke, but don't sacrifice Gerrard and Torres either.

blackbetty69

they should definitely go for it.. its a question of can they do it. judgin by recent performances, its not lookin too good for us, but with everyone back and fit, i think we could well do it

Mr Alan

Uefa Cup aint back until mid Feb. hopefully we'll be more secure & in the top 4 by then, so both is my answer too.

redout

If Liverpool cant make the final of the Europa league then serious questions of Benitez must be asked come the end of the season. No excuse for a team of that calibre not challenging.

Holsten

Earlier I thought we should totally forget about it, but now...

Go out and try to win it!

If the team starts to play to their ablities no reason we can't win it and get at least 4th.

Royale with Cheese

Definitely. Winning the Europa League and coming 4th is a lot better than coming 2nd and winning nothing. There's no team out there that looks capable of putting together a solid season and breaking the top 4, they'll get 4th fairly easily imo.

mike65

Prefer to secure the bread and butter, rather than pursue a Ferrero Rocher of a cup.

SlickRic

redout wrote: »

If Liverpool cant make the final of the Europa league then serious questions of Benitez must be asked come the end of the season. No excuse for a team of that calibre not challenging.

it's a knockout cup competition.

should questions be asked of ferguson or ancelotti if they don't win the FA Cup, seen as they have the best squads in England?

if questions are asked of Benitez, it won't be due to the lack of a Europa League run.

Mr Alan

redout wrote: »

If Liverpool cant make the final of the Europa league then serious questions of Benitez must be asked come the end of the season. No excuse for a team of that calibre not challenging.

some pretty good sides likely to be in it tbh!

---

Ajax
Lille
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Sporting Lisbon
Basel
Galatasary
REd Bull Salzburg
Fenerbache
Benfica
Shakhtar
PSV
Werder Bremen

Europa Runners up

Anderlecht
Valencia
Hamburg
Hertha Berlin
Roma
Panathinaikos
Villareal
Twente
Everton
CLub Brugge
Sparta Praha
Athletic Bilbao

CL Dropouts

Bayern Munich
CSKA moscow
Marseille
Athletico Madrid
Liverpool
Rubin Kazan
Stuttgard
Standard Liege

redout

SlickRic wrote: »

it's a knockout cup competition.

Yes it is and your manager is a cup specialist. It is were he has a proven record of excelling. Say what you must be it wont change my thoughts that Liverpool really should make the final. Its Europes second tier cup competition for god sake and with players of your quality there shouldnt be any excuse. Just to add that if United or Chelsea were in it I would also expect both to reach the final.

Frisbee

They should give as much attention to it as they would the CL imo

redout

Mr Alan wrote: »

some pretty good sides likely to be in it tbh!

---

Ajax
Lille
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Sporting Lisbon
Basel
Galatasary
REd Bull Salzburg
Fenerbache
Benfica
Shakhtar
PSV
Werder Bremen

Europa Runners up

Anderlecht
Valencia
Hamburg
Hertha Berlin
Roma
Panathinaikos
Villareal
Twente
Everton
CLub Brugge
Sparta Praha
Athletic Bilbao

CL Dropouts

Bayern Munich
CSKA moscow
Marseille
Athletico Madrid
Liverpool
Rubin Kazan
Stuttgard
Standard Liege

I reckon Valencia are the biggest threat then possibly Bayern. Nobody else there is even worth a mention to be frank.

SlickRic

redout wrote: »

Yes it is and your manager is a cup specialist. It is were he a proven record of excelling. Say what you must be it wont change my thoughts that Liverpool really should make the final. Its Europes second tier cup competition for god sake and with players of your quality there shouldnt be any excuse. Just to add that if United or Chelsea were in it I would also expect both to reach the final.

we should do well, yes.

just like the top 4 should do well every year in the FA Cup.

i won't be calling on his sacking purely because we get knocked out of the Europa League.

and i'd suggest that if utd or chelsea were in the competition, you wouldn't call for their respective managers' sacking if they didn't succeed in fulfilling that goal. sh*t happens in cup football.

SlickRic

redout wrote: »

I reckon Valencia are the biggest threat then possibly Bayern. Nobody else there is even worth a mention to be frank.

well for one, Benfica look f*cking handy to say the least.

a bigger all-round threat than Valencia anyway.

Frisbee

redout wrote: »

I reckon Valencia are the biggest threat then possibly Bayern. Nobody else there is even worth a mention to be frank.

All the sides below are either very decent sides or sides that have been in the CL regularly over the past few years.

Mr Alan wrote: »

Ajax
Sporting Lisbon
Basel
Galatasary
Fenerbache
Benfica
Werder Bremen
Anderlecht
Valencia
Roma
Panathinaikos
Villareal
Bayern Munich
CSKA moscow
Marseille
Athletico Madrid
Liverpool
Rubin Kazan
Stuttgard

Redzer7

Both. Don't see why they shouldn't.

flahavaj

SlickRic wrote: »

well for one, Benfica look f*cking handy to say the least.

a bigger all-round threat than Valencia anyway.

Valencia have the likes of Villa and Silva as well as other top players. Definite big threat.

Looking at the list of teams, theres no one there Liverpool should fear given their European record. You'd expect a semi-final minimum and quite rightfully they'll be bookies favourites to win it.

redout

SlickRic wrote: »

we should do well, yes.

just like the top 4 should do well every year in the FA Cup.

i won't be calling on his sacking purely because we get knocked out of the Europa League.

and i'd suggest that if utd or chelsea were in the competition, you wouldn't call for their respective managers' sacking if they didn't succeed in fulfilling that goal. sh*t happens in cup football.

Probably not based solely on that but with Benitez there are other factors to consider like current league performance which would be the main one. After last season alot of people expected Liverpool to perhaps even better last seasons placing but looks like they have taken a step backward in all likeliness. If Liverpool dont win something this season it will have been 4 seasons without any silverware. If nobody then asks questions of the management then their is something wrong to behonest.

DSB

redout wrote: »

I reckon Valencia are the biggest threat then possibly Bayern. Nobody else there is even worth a mention to be frank.

You take the risk against Atletico on their day, and you may well get burnt, you may also find them on their current form however.

redout

SlickRic wrote: »

well for one, Benfica look f*cking handy to say the least.

a bigger all-round threat than Valencia anyway.

I can honestly tell you I dont believe that to be true. Benfica thrashed Everton twice but Valencia are a quality side filled with members of the Spanish national side. Villa, Mata, Marchena, Silva, Jaoquin, Albelda..... The only problem with Valencia is their tendency to not take the Europa/Uefa seriously by regularly resting the likes of Villa and Silva to concentrate on la liga.

redout

DSB wrote: »

You take the risk against Atletico on their day, and you may well get burnt, you may also find them on their current form however.

Thats true as on their day they are a tough cookie but as you said about current form. They are in the relegation zone at the moment which is insane. There are serious rumours about Kun Aguero departure come January as Maradona has warned him about the world cup. Maybe Rafa could enquire ?

citytillidie

Go for it just to make some history and been the 1st team to win it as the europa league and also been the only team to lift the trophy 4 times

MementoMori

There's the same amount of games to be played in the league before the first game Liverpool will play in the Europa League as have already have been played so far this season in the league.

It all depends on how Liverpool do in these games. Ask the question again in the middle of February.

SlickRic

redout wrote: »

If nobody then asks questions of the management then their is something wrong to behonest.

would you ask the same of Wenger?

i'm willing to ask questions of the management, and if the team has gone backwards, and the blame rests with Rafa, then those questions will and should be asked.

but there's a lot more going on at the club that needs to also be taken into account, stuff that we don't need to go into in this thread.

redout

SlickRic wrote: »

would you ask the same of Wenger?

Yes I would and his board have done and shown patience.

i'm willing to ask questions of the management, and if the team has gone backwards, and the blame rests with Rafa, then those questions will and should be asked.

but there's a lot more going on at the club that needs to also be taken into account, stuff that we don't need to go into in this thread.

Point taken

.

evad_lhorg

The whole problem with Liverpool has been that they focus too much on Europe. why should they make the same mistake on a lesser tournament?

Bubs101

TBH, based on what I saw of the two demolitions of Everton, if Liverpool were to try and make an obvious effort and come up against a dangerous team like Benfica without the name value of Bayern and Valencia and get embarrassed again it's much worse for Rafa then if he makes it clear that it's not a priority. Failing in 2 A level competitions is bad but if they were to do it with a first team in a B competition it would only get worse

DSB

redout wrote: »

Thats true as on their day they are a tough cookie but as you said about current form. They are in the relegation zone at the moment which is insane. There are serious rumours about Kun Aguero departure come January as Maradona has warned him about the world cup. Maybe Rafa could enquire ?

Won't get him for any sort of price that Liverpool could afford.

x in the city

redout wrote: »

I reckon Valencia are the biggest threat then possibly Bayern. Nobody else there is even worth a mention to be frank.

jaysus your knowledge of the game astounds me :rolleyes:

there's about a dozen teams on Alan's listing who could challenge it.

Do pool fans think this is the johnsons paint trophy and that fielding a b team will suffice... I think you are in for a rude awakening.

redout

x in the city wrote: »

jaysus your knowledge of the game astounds me :rolleyes:

there's about a dozen teams on Alan's listing who could challenge it.

Do pool fans think this is the johnsons paint trophy and that fielding a b team will suffice... I think you are in for a rude awakening.

The two I mentioned are the ones I believe could pose the biggest challenge to Liverpool. None of them other teams should beat Liverpool if playing to there normal level.

starbelgrade

They should go for it - it's probably their only chance of silverware this season.

x in the city

Ajax
Lille
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Sporting Lisbon
Basel
Galatasary
REd Bull Salzburg
Fenerbache
Benfica
Shakhtar
PSV
Werder Bremen

Europa Runners up

Anderlecht
Valencia
Hamburg
Hertha Berlin
Roma
Panathinaikos
Villareal
Twente
Everton
CLub Brugge
Sparta Praha
Athletic Bilbao

CL Dropouts

Bayern Munich
CSKA moscow
Marseille
Athletico Madrid
Liverpool
Rubin Kazan
Stuttgard
Standard Liege


all of the above team could beat Liverpool. (probably some others also)

rossie1977

redout wrote: »

I reckon Valencia are the biggest threat then possibly Bayern. Nobody else there is even worth a mention to be frank.

benfica hammered everton home and away

mayordenis

x in the city wrote: »

jaysus your knowledge of the game astounds me :rolleyes:

there's about a dozen teams on Alan's listing who could challenge it.

Do pool fans think this is the johnsons paint trophy and that fielding a b team will suffice... I think you are in for a rude awakening.

redout wrote: »

The two I mentioned are the ones I believe could pose the biggest challenge to Liverpool. None of them other teams should beat Liverpool if playing to there normal level.

I think your both somewhat right,

Orginally redout saying the other teams don't matter or shouldn't be mentioned is more than a bit dismissive,
but as a Valencia fan they have some outstanding players with a softish underbelly but on there day can match most anyone.
Bayern too Robben, Ribery, Shweinsteiger are all players who I would kill to have at Liverpool - a few others too.

In saying that I reckon Liverpool will more or less be favourites and probably rightfully so - while I don't think anyone in there right mind would consider it a cake walk or a reserve run out we have the quality to go and win it, IF we have Torres, Gerrard. Aquilani, Johnson and Agger fit for the most part of the rest of the season then are a quality side who nobody will want to play against.

Oh and it was my listing that alan copied :pac:

x in the city

rossie1977 wrote: »

benfica hammered everton home and away

and, your point is.....

An Everton B team effectively, like the B team that Livepool couldn't beat in the cup last season more or less but lets not go down that road now.

x in the city

mayordenis wrote: »

I think your both somewhat right,

Orginally redout saying the other teams don't matter or shouldn't be mentioned is more than a bit dismissive,
but as a Valencia fan they have some outstanding players with a softish underbelly but on there day can match most anyone.
Bayern too Robben, Ribery, Shweinsteiger are all players who I would kill to have at Liverpool - a few others too.

In saying that I reckon Liverpool will more or less be favourites and probably rightfully so - while I don't think anyone in there right mind would consider it a cake walk or a reserve run out we have the quality to go and win it, IF we have Torres, Gerrard. Aquilani, Johnson and Agger fit for the most part of the rest of the season then are a quality side who nobody will want to play against.

Oh and it was my listing that alan copied :pac:

my bad....:)

orourkeda

They may as well look interested in winning one competition this yeart

CHD

If they made the CL KO stages they would try win it, why the hell shouldn't they try win this? Brings in money if they do and its a big trophy, what Liverpool crave. They have the class to go on a cup run and secure a top 4 finish.

Helix

redout wrote: »

If Liverpool cant make the final of the Europa league then serious questions of Benitez must be asked come the end of the season. No excuse for a team of that calibre not challenging.

dunno about that, there are some better teams than liverpool in it

Helix

CHD wrote: »

If they made the CL KO stages they would try win it, why the hell shouldn't they try win this? Brings in money if they do and its a big trophy, what Liverpool crave. They have the class to go on a cup run and secure a top 4 finish.

an absolute pittance though, iirc its just a couple of million for winning it

ROCKMAN

On current form , Any talk of Liverpool winning it , is a bit arrogant IMO. There are many good teams still in that competition . Who on current form would /should be well able to cope with Liverpool.IMO

Yes on paper they should and probably will be made favours .But so far this season they have failed to kick on and put any sort of run together ,for me if they cannot sort their league form out very quickly they will not have a prayer of achieving anything in Europe.

Will they go all out to win the Europa league ?? Don't think they (Rafa ) have a choice , they have too , It could save his job come the end of the season

Stupid poll really considering we play about 12/13 league games before the knockout stages start. OP, have another poll then? I'd love if we were to go and win it tbh but not at the expense of top 4 which is our man aim now this season.

Bandit12

They need to forget about this joke europa league and concentrate on winning the league.

Bandit12

rossie1977 wrote: »

benfica hammered everton home and away

Hardly a scalp is it.

evil_seed

i hate this bollox of "going for fourth". we should be aiming higher than that, even tho its unlikely we'll get higher than 3rd. the phrasing of it is all wrong. my 2 cents

Handsome Bob

We have a squad for a reason, and that reason is that we can challenge on multiple fronts. I fully expect Rafa to play a near strength team for the most part. I could live with N'Gog starting a head of Torres and perhaps Babel a head of Gerrard, but other than that I expect to see our best team.

evil_seed

evil_seed wrote: »

i hate this bollox of "going for fourth". we should be aiming higher than that, even tho its unlikely we'll get higher than 3rd. the phrasing of it is all wrong. my 2 cents

It's called being realistic.

ROCKMAN

LZ5by5 wrote: »

We have a squad for a reason, and that reason is that we can challenge on multiple fronts. I fully expect Rafa to play a near strength team for the most part. I could live with N'Gog starting a head of Torres and perhaps Babel a head of Gerrard, but other than that I expect to see our best team.

agree
YE should wrap him it the finest wool and only bring him out in the league (where it really matters) and the final stages of Europe if ye get there ,
Hell.... Rafa should be calling to his house everyday with eleven blessed virgins in tow offering personal massages and hand-feeding service

because IMO without a fit Torres ye will struggle on all fronts.