Why does Thursday night football suck?

dd972

Does anyone have the same opinion that they just can't get into matches played on Thursday nights ?, is it maybe the comedown in quality after the Tue and Weds CL matches that make the EL look like the Championship compared to the Prem.

Or is it that 'faux friday' vibe of a Thursday, a day that just gets in the way of the weekend? I sometimes think that even if they played the EL on the Weds and the CL on the Thursday, there'd still be something amiss.

eagle eye

It doesn't suck for me anyways. I'm actually finding the Euro League as interesting at the Champion's League this season.

EdenHazard

Like 2 years ago the Europa League was far more entertaining than CL, its just your perception of the clubs and the English medias(and in turn Irish medias) view on the competition that makes you disinterested imo

The group stages of both competitions suck anyway

When United went into Europa League last season it suddenly became legitimate I noticed, as if Man U are in it so its worth taking seriously.

Neil3030

You have to also remember that the Europa League is of little interest to people who aren't actually football fans, but merely follow the sport to suit tribalist ends. Thus, the culture surrounding games on a Thursday night is largely one of disinterest, particularly in Ireland. This can seep through to how you enjoy a game. Conversely, the interest generated in the CL matches by the tribalists adds an extra sense of occasion.

MD1990

i think the Europa League is very good to watch

5starpool

Europa League > Champions League.

The_Kew_Tour

Hearts v Hibs tonight.

Cant beat derby game. Nothing sucks about it.

brianregan09

I think its because alot of the players or teams aren't exactly house hold names people tend to turn there noses up , as poster above said ya the minute United and City went into it last year people sat up and took notice, and even more so when Bilbao spanked United

Oat23

5starpool wrote: »

Europa League > Champions League.

You have teams from every corner of Europe which gives the competition a lot more variety.

I love watching the CL too of course, and I would prefer Sligo Rovers and HSV to be playing in it over the Europa League. But I prefer watching the EL as a neutral.

bucketybuck

EdenHazard wrote: »

When United went into Europa League last season it suddenly became legitimate I noticed, as if Man U are in it so its worth taking seriously.

You only noticed this in a dreamworld. United fans couldn't have cared less about the Europa league last season, whether before during or after they were actually in it.

The_Kew_Tour

EdenHazard wrote: »

When United went into Europa League last season it suddenly became legitimate I noticed, as if Man U are in it so its worth taking seriously.

You would be wrong.

Mr.Nice Guy

Shocked to read some of these comments. I think the Europa League is tripe. It is a total sham of a competition and ought to be reverted back to its former format. When teams are fielding weakened teams in it during the latter stages you know you've got a problem. It's the League Cup of Europe effectively.

quarryman

5starpool wrote: »

Europa League > Champions League.

A Liverpool would say that

The Europa League is total shìte.

Leiva

quarryman wrote: »

A Liverpool would say that

The Europa League is total shìte.

Winston Payne

The primary reason that clubs (mainly the English and in the past few years the Italians as well) don't fully commit to the Europa League is a financial one. The rewards for winning and progressing through the rounds just aren't enough for clubs to go full guns and try and win it. This leads to heavy rotation and usually lackluster performances from the bigger names that are picked to play. Villa got stick a few years ago for the way that they went out in 08/09 but it was worth it because they were in the chase for Champions League football where a single group stage is worth a run to the final in the Europa League. Personally I think this income imbalance is one of the primary things that needs addressing for the Europa League to become a valuable competition to all. I'd like to see the proportion of revenue split 60/40 between CL and EL, along with streamlining it to take out the group stage and have it as a straight knockout from the off. This would contrast with the CL (maybe to the CL's detriment but we've had some decent groups in it the last few seasons) and add a further element of attraction to the competition along with the prospect of seeing unusual teams or fallen giants. Prospect of that happening is non-existent sadly. The G-14 run thangs.


Because of the aforementioned lack of financial incentive United barely tried a leg in the Europa League last year. Bilbao played very well and we'd have had a game on our hands even if we had gone for it properly, but you could tell out on the pitch that we were there in body but not in mind. United barely tried against Ajax FFS but people don't remark on it because we won through.



Thought it was much more craic in 09/10 myself. Bilbao were the only real story in it last year and 10/11 was a snooze. Vaguely interested in seeing how Chelsea get on and how Ajax go with the final being held in their stadium but that's all that's jumping out at me.

eagle eye

Winston Payne wrote: »

Because of the aforementioned lack of financial incentive United barely tried a leg in the Europa League last year. Bilbao played very well and we'd have had a game on our hands even if we had gone for it properly, but you could tell out on the pitch that we were there in body but not in mind. United barely tried against Ajax FFS but people don't remark on it because we won through.



Thought it was much more craic in 09/10 myself. Bilbao were the only real story in it last year and 10/11 was a snooze. Vaguely interested in seeing how Chelsea get on and how Ajax go with the final being held in their stadium but that's all that's jumping out at me.

Alex Ferguson picked his best team for both legs and let them just take it easy. Yeah right.:rolleyes:

I'd be delighted if Liverpool won the Europa Cup tbh. It's not the champions league but it's a trophy isn't it.

If Fifa/Uefa used their brains they could easily make it more interesting but with Blatter and Platini heading up those organisations I wouldn't hold any hopes.

Winston Payne

eagle eye wrote: »

Alex Ferguson picked his best team for both legs and let them just take it easy. Yeah right.:rolleyes:

He made a big show of saying that he'd respect the competition. Could hardly play the kiddies after that. Fair enough if you think we gave it our all though.

Winston Payne

Winston Payne wrote: »

He made a big show of saying that he'd respect the competition. Could hardly play the kiddies after that. Fair enough if you think we gave it our all though.

Fergie tell you he was taking it easy yeah?

Winston Payne

rarnes1 wrote: »

Fergie tell you he was taking it easy yeah?

It's very easy to tell when players who you normally see give all they can take it down a gear. It was mental as much as anything else. "It's only the Europa League."

niallo27

rarnes1 wrote: »

I'd be delighted if Liverpool won the Europa Cup tbh. It's not the champions league but it's a trophy isn't it.

If Fifa/Uefa used their brains they could easily make it more interesting but with Blatter and Platini heading up those organisations I wouldn't hold any hopes.

Plus it's finally a valid reason to give to the Missus to let me go to Amsterdam.

AdamD

Teams rest their best players
Having to watch on tv3/3e which always seems to be tripe

dd972

Ashley Cole at Man City fans
''Thursday night, Channel 5 !''

Winston Payne

Winston Payne wrote: »

It's very easy to tell when players who you normally see give all they can take it down a gear. It was mental as much as anything else. "It's only the Europa League."

Sure you could say that about a bad performance in the league.

ben.schlomo

dd972 wrote: »

Ashley Cole at Man City fans
''Thursday night, Channel 5 !''

Scraping the barrel really using that **** to validate your argument.

dd972

I'm no Cole or Chelsea fan either, but I think he captured the spirit of things with that comment.

djfitzerjnr

Not many had a problem with the UEFA Cup, so why the Europa Leaugue? It's a European competition with some strong teams in it.

Falcao didn't either, winning it and being top scorer 2 years in a row en route to becoming the best striker in the world.

Winston Payne

rarnes1 wrote: »

Sure you could say that about a bad performance in the league.

Not when there was such a large and obvious contrast between, err, the league and the Europa League. Sunday took priority and pretty obviously to Thursday. Four times in a row.

ArmaniJeanss

rarnes1 wrote: »

If Fifa/Uefa used their brains they could easily make it more interesting but with Blatter and Platini heading up those organisations I wouldn't hold any hopes.

Its only England and Italy that seem to have a problem with the competition.
For the rest it seems to work fine in its current format.

I'm not sure why Platini and UEFA should feel any overwhelming need to change it just because 2 countries don't like it.

Winston Payne

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Its only England and Italy that seem to have a problem with the competition.
For the rest it seems to work fine in its current format.

I'm not sure why Platini and UEFA should feel any overwhelming need to change it just because 2 countries don't like it.

A more equitable income distribution wouldn't be any harm though. Or a streamlining of it.

dfx-

I enjoy watching the Europa League as much as the Champions League.

It does need some diversity from the recent Iberian dominance though.

Optimalprimerib

Oh blah if Liverpool were relegated to the conference it would be the best league in the world. Neither the champions league or Europa league are worth a ****e. They are saturating the game.

Xavi6

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

Oh blah if Liverpool were relegated to the conference it would be the best league in the world. Neither the champions league or Europa league are worth a ****e. They are saturating the game.

Welcome to boards Mr Mancini :pac:

dsmythy

Just because the football isn't the best 4 or so leagues in the world doesn't make it "suck". I enjoy the Europa League every season as much as any other football.

RoryMac

There are some great games in the Europa League, when Celtic were in it last year we had some really good games against Atletico, Rennes & Udinese which I enjoyed every bit as much as Champions League games this season.

I think it gets bad press from the Sky Sports Prem league generation of fans but for me it's still a great competition.

I'd like to see the Cup Winners Cup return too.

Dempsey

Have to LOL at the remarks by United supporters towards the Europa League after the spanking that Bilbao gave ye! If ye didnt care about the competition ye would have lost to Ajax. Ye rather turn your nose up at a trophy than admit ye were soundly beaten by a better team over the 2 legs!:rolleyes:

Winston Payne

Dempsey wrote: »

Have to LOL at the remarks by United supporters towards the Europa League after the spanking that Bilbao gave ye! If ye didnt care about the competition ye would have lost to Ajax. Ye rather turn your nose up at a trophy than admit ye were soundly beaten by a better team over the 2 legs!:rolleyes:

We nearly did lose to Ajax. Our performance at Old Trafford against them was as bad as it was against Bilbao. Players completely slumming it.

inmyday

dfx- wrote: »

I enjoy watching the Europa League as much as the Champions League.

It does need some diversity from the recent Iberian dominance though.

But over the last decade or so. The english nearly dominated the champions league. In 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09, 3 english teams got to the semis.

MANUTD99

I think if you win the Europa League then you should get an entry into the next season of the Champions League as a prize.

Great incentive for teams to put out stronger sides.

Will I Amnt

Dempsey wrote: »

Have to LOL at the remarks by United supporters towards the Europa League after the spanking that Bilbao gave ye! If ye didnt care about the competition ye would have lost to Ajax. Ye rather turn your nose up at a trophy than admit ye were soundly beaten by a better team over the 2 legs!:rolleyes:

I'd have to agree here. We were muck in both European competitions last season but it really didn't bother me going out of the Europa at all. I'm pretty sure I, and many others said we would rather we weren't in it at all, even before playing Ajax.

5starpool

It's easy for utd to not care about the EL given their certainty of being in the CL every year. For Liverpool to do the same though makes no sense imo. I would love to see us try and win the EL this season. I don't think we will, even if we try, but I want to see an effort to given that there will be no CL qualification anyhow.

Blatter

eagle eye wrote: »

Alex Ferguson picked his best team for both legs and let them just take it easy. Yeah right.:rolleyes:

He didn't. We went into the first leg with Giggs and Park in central midfield (no Carrick) and Rafael on the right wing ahead of Nani. Ferdinand rested on the bench too.

Not taking anything away from how Bilbao performed, they were awesome. But Ferguson or the United players did not take the competition very seriously.

Donnielighto

Cos its the spl

Turtyturd

5starpool wrote: »

For Liverpool to do the same though makes no sense imo. I would love to see us try and win the EL this season. I don't think we will, even if we try, but I want to see an effort to given that there will be no CL qualification anyhow.

But league winners qualify for the CL.


5...4...3...2...1...

Dempsey

MANUTD99 wrote: »

I think if you win the Europa League then you should get an entry into the next season of the Champions League as a prize.

Great incentive for teams to put out stronger sides.

You'd be laughed out the door at UEFA with a common sense idea like that. Laughed!

The problem with the Europa League is there is too many games and not enough financial reward/profile raising. The carrot of a UCL place changes that completely.

MANUTD99

Dempsey wrote: »

You'd be laughed out the door at UEFA with a common sense idea like that. Laughed!

The problem with the Europa League is there is too many games and not enough financial reward/profile raising. The carrot of a UCL place changes that completely.

I read somewhere before you get like 50k for a game in Europa League in comparison to 300k for group game in CL. That's before any draw or win bonus.

Open to correction on this though as not sure if true

Dempsey

MANUTD99 wrote: »

I read somewhere before you get like 50k for a game in Europa League in comparison to 300k for group game in CL. That's before any draw or win bonus.

Open to correction on this though as not sure if true

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/management/finance/news/newsid=1840941.html

UEFA distributed a total of €150.36m to teams playing in the UEFA Europa League last season.

The revenue generated by the centralised marketing of the UEFA Europa League was redistributed among the 48 clubs taking part from the group stage onwards, as well as the eight clubs that joined in the round of 32 after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League groups.

Club Atlético de Madrid, winners of the competition, earned themselves just over €10.5m after coming through the group and knockout stages to clinch the trophy with a fine 3-0 win over fellow Spanish outfit Athletic Club in Bucharest in May. Athletic Club received around €9.5m for their own splendid run.

Each of the 48 clubs in the group stage earned a participation bonus of €640,000, plus a bonus of €60,000 per group game played, which meant that every club received €1m, irrespective of their results. Performance bonuses amounted to €140,000 per win and €70,000 per draw for each club in the group stage. RSC Anderlecht were the only club to receive the full amount of €840,000 for a 100% record in their group programme.

Each participant in the round of 32 received an extra €200,000, with further progress being rewarded by payments of €300,000 for advancing to the round of 16, €400,000 for the quarter-finals and €700,000 for the semi-finals.

Atlético earned €3m for winning the final in Bucharest, and Athletic Club €2m. In addition, €60m in prize money came from the television market pool and was shared out according to a variety of factors, including the proportional value of an individual club's national TV market. Atlético received nearly €4.3m from the market pool and around €5.2m from participation, performance and match bonuses.

The remaining €30 million was divided into six pots, one for each round in the competition. These pots, increasing in size from the final (€1.2 million) to the group stage (€12 million), were then divided, depending on the value of the domestic markets, between the national associations represented in each round. For associations with more than one representative, the share of each pot was divided equally between the clubs concerned.

All the clubs that played in one or more of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds received €90,000 per round, ie a maximum of €270,000, whether they played in the group stage or not.

In addition, each club knocked out in the play-offs received €90,000.

Compare that to

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/management/finance/news/newsid=1840934.html

A total of €754.1m was distributed to clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League last season. The two teams which competed in the final in Munich, Chelsea FC and FC Bayern München, received the highest amounts.

The financial distribution from the 2011/12 group stage onwards

Solidarity payments to national associations for the clubs involved in the qualifying rounds of the 2011/12 UEFA club competitions

Chelsea FC, who won the title after a penalty shoot-out at the Fußball Arena München in May, received €59.935m in payments from UEFA. This sum consisted of €29.9m in participation, match and performance bonuses in the group and knockout stages, including the final, as well as €30.035m from the television market pool. Bayern earned a total of €41.730m: €26.9m in participation, match and performance payments, and €14.830m from the TV market pool.

In addition, €9m went to Chelsea for their success in the final, while Bayern earned €5.6m as runners-up. Other clubs to earn substantial amounts from the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League were FC Barcelona (€40.550m), AC Milan (€39.864m), Real Madrid CF (€38.434m), Manchester United FC (€35.182m) and FC Internazionale Milano (€31.569m).

The €754.1m prize money allotted to the 32 teams who figured from the group stage onwards consisted of €413m in fixed amounts plus €341.1m from the market pool. All of the 32 participating clubs received a minimum €7.2m in accordance with the distribution system, comprising a participation bonus of €3.9m and €3.3m from the six €550,000 match bonuses given per group game.

Additionally, performance bonuses were paid in the group stage: sides received €800,000 for every win and €400,000 for every draw, with Madrid the only club to net the maximum €4.8m. The 16 clubs that reached the round of 16 were each assigned an additional €3m, the eight quarter-finalists an extra €3.3m, and the four semi-finalists a bonus of €4.2m.

Monies from the market pool were distributed according to the proportional value of the national TV market each individual team represented, among other factors, so the amounts given varied from country (or national association) to country.

Clubs which took part in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds also received solidarity payments – each domestic champion which did not qualify for the group stage received €200,000, while clubs who were eliminated in the three qualifying rounds received €130,000 for each round played, up to a maximum of €390,000. Each of the 20 teams involved in the play-off matches received a fixed amount of €2.1m, irrespective of the result of their ties.

UEFA have projected a payout of in excess of €1.34billion to clubs this season for the UCL & Super Cup whilst the Europa League is projected at €225m

Equium

I really like the Europa League. It provides an opportunity to watch teams that you might not necessarily see play on a regular basis, and the quality is usually of a high standard (higher than most people would have you believe). Matches also tend to be less cagey affairs than in the CL. In fact the best match that I ever saw live was a EL/UC tie between Espanyol and Benfica. Fantastic atmosphere.

Still, the format and prize money allocation could definitely do with adjustment.

gustavo

Yea I'm sure Shams were disgusted with the money they got for getting in the Europa League group stages.

GLaDOS

Dumping 3rd place teams from the CL Group stages in it doesn't help imo, they usually end up not taking it seriously.

MANUTD99

MANUTD99 wrote: »

I think if you win the Europa League then you should get an entry into the next season of the Champions League as a prize.

Great incentive for teams to put out stronger sides.

Would definitely improve it.