The Europa League - Good Competition?

[White Noise]

What do you think of it so far?
It was pretty much written off when launched as more Mickey Mouse than its predecessor. Too many games, too many teams, too little real competition etc.

What do you think of it so far?

[Lighthouse]

It has been great that a weak Fulham squad has met and done well against some good and well known European sides. But did we really need all the extra games? Have we learned anything by going into Europe? If it wasn't for Fulham I wouldn't care less about it. But then the Champions League doesn't do much for me either.

A simple knock out cup competition without the stupid leagues would do fine. No seedings just a straight cup knock out. So no not a good competion and frankly while fun I could have done without it. If we had been rested we may have been in the cup FA CUP semi final by now.

[mrska]

Its an OK Competition..  still don't agree with the Champions league drop outs coming in...  Far too many games...

[finnster01]

For once (and very rare I'd might add) I disagree with you Mr Lighthouse.

I think it is wonderful that a club like Fulham whose only claim to fame in Europe previously was the Inter-toto cup can end up playing Roma and Juventus instead of FK Faroe Islands. Who knew? Let's also not forget we have made about 2 million pounds plus already as well.

And if our own fans and Murphy/Etuhu don't shoot ourselves in the arse (not even the foot), we will be in Europe again next year from the fair-play standings

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I have really enjoyed the Europa League. It has been a nice break from the drudgery of the prem and we have got to play some top quality opposition in Roma, Shakthar and Juventus. Add to this the money earnt and the raising of the Fulham profile, and we have done rather well out of it.

[WhiteJC]

seeing teams like Roma and Juve play at the cottage has got to be good no mater(?) the result.

would we be higher in the league or at Wemberly if we weren't playing in the Europa? I don't know however I do know that the early rounds showed that we have more of a squad than I thought we had.

injuries and suspensions aside I think its been a good competition, if we'd have gone out when Villa did I'm not sure I'd pay much attention.

I still can't believe that Juve are playing at the Cottage

[bigalffc]

Agree with all of the above - and it's not over for us yet. Bring it on next year as well- fair play league or bribery (apparently its easy to do the old brown envelope thing in Europe).

[FatFreddysCat]

It's been superb, and i'd much rather go through against Juve than Tottenham given the choice.

[watfordwhite]

I for one have loved every minuet of it. Home and Away  :55: :011: :dft010: :62: :003:

[HatterDon]

There are really two questions here:

1. Is the Europa League better than the UEFA Cup?  AND

2. Has it been good for Fulham to have taken part this season?

I'm still not sure about #1. The thing that I dislike -- the Champions League failures dropping into the competion -- was also part of the UEFA Cup. The extra blind referees behind the goal thing made it a little bit of a joke, and there was more than a little incompetence in officiating [ALMOST enough to make me yearn for CONCACAF referees -- almost].

As for #2, I think it has been BRILLIANT for Fulham. It provided meaningful competitive matches for players in our expanded squad, and Baird, Smalling, and Riise especially benefitted. This came in handy with our injury list. Like it or not, we're a European contender now, and we've acquitted ourselves better than Everton and Aston Villa -- and name a previous season that we can claim that.

Regardless of how we do tomorrow, I think we'll be back in The Europa League next season via the FA Cup, and I'll look forward to it. Here's hoping that somehow we'll have GJ authorized to cover the matches. I didn't see a single match on TV until the knockout rounds, and with no Internet radio, it was a serious bitch for me.

[NorfolkJim]

I've really enjoyed it and it's been better than I thought it would be, even the group stage.
I've waited a long time to follow Fulham into Europe, having missed both our brief UEFA cup stint and the Intertoto previously.
It does strike me as son of Champions league, but it does give teams who would not otherwise get to experience European football a chance. The Champions league is so dominated by the big names that most fans can really only see friendlies against their like - and thats weak stuff.
Yeah, the Champions league teams dropping down seems a bit unfair - they have progressed too easily compared to teams like FFC - But on the other hand, it's a chance to go up against big names like Juventus.
That a team like Fulham would win this cup is to put it mildly, Unexpected, so to face a famous name and maybe beat them is perhaps the best prize most teams would hope for in this competition.
The one thing I really do not like is these extra officials. Why do they stray so far onto the pitch if they are meant to be monitoring the touchline and goalmouth area? They can get a quarter way up the pitch. How they havn't actually got in the way of a player is beyond me.

No, its been 99% great, though I'm now greatly in debt through it!

[os5889]

The Liverpool fans are also huddled round TV's to get a glimpse, its got much more to it than the UEFA cup ever did, and as for level of competition the last 32 shows this is a massive improvement in team quality from the UEFA cup

Everton, Sporting Lisbon, Hertha Berlin, Benfica Lisbon, Athlético Madrid, Galatasaray, Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Club Brugge, Valencia,      Rubin Kazan, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Villareal, Wolfsburg, Standard de Liège, Salzburg, FC Twente, Werder Bremen, Lille,   Fenerbahce, Athletic Bilbao, Anderlecht, FC Copenhagen, Marseille, Panathinaikos, AS Roma, Fulham, Shakhtar Donetzk, Liverpool,   Urziceni, Hamburger SV, PSV Eindhoven   

WoW!

[finnster01]

The Liverpool fans are also huddled round TV's to get a glimpse, its got much more to it than the UEFA cup ever did, and as for level of competition the last 32 shows this is a massive improvement in team quality from the UEFA cup

Everton, Sporting Lisbon, Hertha Berlin, Benfica Lisbon, Athlético Madrid, Galatasaray, Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Club Brugge, Valencia,      Rubin Kazan, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Villareal, Wolfsburg, Standard de Liège, Salzburg, FC Twente, Werder Bremen, Lille,   Fenerbahce, Athletic Bilbao, Anderlecht, FC Copenhagen, Marseille, Panathinaikos, AS Roma, Fulham, Shakhtar Donetzk, Liverpool,   Urziceni, Hamburger SV, PSV Eindhoven   

WoW!

I agree with every word you said Mr Owen, but I hope nobody ever ask me to find Urziceni on the map...

[Rupert]

I believe that the competition has been excellent for us. We have had nights to savour, the likes of which we could only dream about ever since I can remember. Roma scraping a hugely undeserved draw against us, Basel despached with a degree of insolence, CSKA Sofia given all due respect before being clinically silenced, and to top it all the glory of Shakhtar Donensk.
Whatever happens in less than 24 hours from now, I hope our heroes get all the credit and applause they have earned over the last few months and we all enjoy every moment of the match against Juventus at out beloved Cottage.

It has been a boon to Fulham FC in general. All Europe has now heard of us. A lot of Europe has seen us play. And win. The club has gained a degree of respect we never enjoyed before. Our fans have, generally, been excelent ambassadors for both Fulham and English/British football in general. Who else would have a picture of a young fan in the arms of a slightly bemused riot cop with a large group of supporters standing by smiling? That one photo said more about us and our almost unique place in the scheme of things than a thousand words ever could.

As a competition, though, I am not convinced that the powers that be regard it as a success so far. We have not followed the expected script, we were not expected to get anywhere near this stage, and neither have a few others. I believe that UEFA would give their eye teeth for a Liverpool v Juve final. They would see that as high enough in profile. A Lille v Fulham final would be met with a lot less enthusiasm. Make no mistake, the reason the Champion League failures get another go in the Europa Cup is this insane desire to see the BIG clubs flourish and who gives a stuff about the lesser lights? Right now we are one of the last four English clubs still in European competition. Sorry, Liverpool, but we really should be one of the last three (mind you, in 24 hours we might be :033:).

[NorfolkJim]

Fully agree with you Rupert

[The Equalizer]

Well said Rupert! Out of interest, has anyone got the photo of the policeman with the kid?