Wullie Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Lyon just aren't much cop tbh, they're 8th in France atm and are unlikely to make any European competition next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said: These phases happen all the time and like I say, Spain are still the dominant country even in recent years in both competitions, so you could maybe argue it's a counter-balance rather than an imbalance. West Ham have had a great season as well, beating Lyon was still a big deal because Lyon are no pushover and are stacked with good players: Paqueta, Dembele, and Denayer who we've been linked with and obviously Bruno before then too. I'm not saying don't worry like because I think the entire game's fucked and will try to infinitely grow to the point of bursting I just wouldn't worry about the specific thing you're worrying about, if that makes sense. Fair enough re the first paragraph but the second one I feel like you're emphasising my point (i.e. how is that great Lyon side getting beaten by a good but unspectacular West Ham team?) Maybe I'm overthinking it but let's pick this up again if that clean sweep does happen. Anyway, I need to accept the utopia I'm yearning for where Steaua Bucharest, Partizan Belgrade, Anderlecht and Gothenburg are meaningful contributors to European competition - let alone the likes of Lyon and PSV - is just a dim and distant memory. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Duper Branko Strupar Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 The fact Villareal are in the CL helps other teams have a chance of winning Europa, like. And Barca are shit. Atalanta weaker. Dortmund out early. Dont think West Ham have gotten there by an imbalance at all, personally. Just great form and a bit of luck. Their group wasnt exactly difficult, Sevilla game was close and they deserved the aggregate win over Lyon through just pure determination coupled with quality and being really well drilled. Which game were they down to 10 men in? First leg? Not at all a fan of Moyes or West Aaam in general, but it'll be amazing if they win it. That team has done really well. It's been really well put together as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Yorkie said: Fair enough re the first paragraph but the second one I feel like you're emphasising my point (i.e. how is that great Lyon side getting beaten by a good but unspectacular West Ham team?) Maybe I'm overthinking it but let's pick this up again if that clean sweep does happen. Anyway, I need to accept the utopia I'm yearning for where Steaua Bucharest, Partizan Belgrade, Anderlecht and Gothenburg are meaningful contributors to European competition - let alone the likes of Lyon and PSV - is just a dim and distant memory. Definitely overthinking it imo West Ham are having a great season, Lyon aren't great but they're not pushovers and have talented players and that's all there is to it I think, far bigger upsets happen all the time. You're maybe just seeing it as part of a pattern you've already noticed rather than just something that happens. There's definitely an increasing concentration of wealth though like, which along with these daft attempts at growth like the ESL, strike me as signs of a potential bubble burst. Can't say I know anything about the Dutch league but it does seem like it's in the mud at the moment, that recent Ajax side aside. Edited April 27, 2022 by Kid Icarus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaqen Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Lyon are a pretty poor side to be fair. With the money the premier League sides have they should have dominated Europe alot more in recent years really. I guess the worry is now that might actually happen. Teams like Villa and Everton have higher net spends over the last decade than even sides like Bayern. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgarve Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 I mean , Rangers are also in the Europa semis and Villareal in the UCL semis , so the depression about money isn’t always matched by reality Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 40 minutes ago, tgarve said: I mean , Rangers are also in the Europa semis and Villareal in the UCL semis , so the depression about money isn’t always matched by reality There are exceptions, but the pool of teams occupying semi-final positions every year is absolutely getting smaller and smaller, particularly in the Champions League. 18 different teams from only six countries throughout the teens. 20 from seven the decade before. 24 from 13 in the 90s. 28 from 19 in the 80s. This is a slightly different issue to what I was whinging about re English teams obviously. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 (edited) I'd hate West Ham to win it, like. Those porn brothers will be absolutely insufferable. Them winning it would also show that Europa League up for what it is. Shit, basically. Edited April 28, 2022 by toon25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 7 hours ago, toon25 said: Them winning it would also show that Europa League up for what it is. Shit, basically. That's rubbish that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBG Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Quite a few shocking goalkeeping errors in such a short spell. Possibly side effects from the vaccine now showing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HTT II Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 I hope West Ham and Leicester win their respective cups, it shows that European football is not a closed shop or reserved only for the elite which is what the whole ESL thing was about. Does it show the dominance of English clubs, aye, but in Leciester and WHU it shows what good recruitment, a good youth policy and good coaching can do which is why some of the Spanish sites outside of the big two over there have done so well. It’s called progress IMO and although I don’t want neither City or LFC to win the CL, I’ll be rooting for Leicester and West Ham and more so Rangers, what a story that would be, plus my son’s team-mate’s grandad supports them (and us and Dunston) and he’s a top top bloke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HTT II Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 They need to stop CL/Europa League drops outs entering the Europa League and Conference League thing too, give more teams an even chance… Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Perez started the ESL because he saw the PL was becoming the ESL and he wanted a piece of it. Of all th EPL sides did decent business, all 4 CL sides would be better than Real Madrid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leffe186 Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 20 minutes ago, HTT II said: I hope West Ham and Leicester win their respective cups, it shows that European football is not a closed shop or reserved only for the elite which is what the whole ESL thing was about. Does it show the dominance of English clubs, aye, but in Leciester and WHU it shows what good recruitment, a good youth policy and good coaching can do which is why some of the Spanish sites outside of the big two over there have done so well. It’s called progress IMO and although I don’t want neither City or LFC to win the CL, I’ll be rooting for Leicester and West Ham and more so Rangers, what a story that would be, plus my son’s team-mate’s grandad supports them (and us and Dunston) and he’s a top top bloke. It shows what money can and will do in the end if you have enough. West Ham misused it for a while but eventually got it right. Money bought them enough bites of the cherry. You can always point to one or two failures such as Everton, or West Ham themselves for a while, but sooner or later the law of averages will win out. It took Man City a while too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 25 minutes ago, The College Dropout said: Perez started the ESL because he saw the PL was becoming the ESL and he wanted a piece of it. Of all th EPL sides did decent business, all 4 CL sides would be better than Real Madrid On this... if Real were in the PL. I don't think they sell all of Reguillon, Odegaard & Hakimi etc. 10 minutes ago, leffe186 said: It shows what money can and will do in the end if you have enough. West Ham misused it for a while but eventually got it right. Money bought them enough bites of the cherry. You can always point to one or two failures such as Everton, or West Ham themselves for a while, but sooner or later the law of averages will win out. It took Man City a while too. Exactly. It's pure financial might. West Ham likely have the biggest net spend and wage bill of the 4 remaining UEL teams. The most impressive thing they've done is finish 6th in the PL. Obviously European experience does count and they've done well. BUt it's not a triumph of excellent coaching and player development the way Villareal or Ajax have done in previous years. West Ham likely have a bigger wage bill than Villareal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillingtonMag Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Should scrap the European Conferance and stop the drop outs from entering the Eufa league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Agree that the CL and european competition is shit these days. The bare minimum should be a guaranteed place in the CL group stage for every team that won their domestic league. Couldn't care less that fans of 5-6 teams and neutrals might find a few matches not interesting or assume them to be less competitive than if they played a 3rd-4th placed team from a bigger league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 14 minutes ago, WillingtonMag said: Should scrap the European Conferance and stop the drop outs from entering the Eufa league. Nah it's good fun. Gives more teams a chance to win something. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 21 minutes ago, WillingtonMag said: Should scrap the European Conferance Why? I think that's a rare positive move they've made as it enables the likes of Bodo to tear it up in Europe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillingtonMag Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Just now, Yorkie said: Why? I think that's a rare positive move they've made as it enables the likes of Bodo to tear it up in Europe. Just think it's unnecessary and I'd be embarrassed if we won it, would hate to end our trophy drought with that. Two European trophies is enough just feels like an opportunity to make more money to me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Spaceman Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 I think the issue is that we have 3 Euro comps each with their own group stage. We should have at least one of them being a straight knockout imo. Bring back the Cup Winners Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 The Fairs Cup was basically the Conference League you know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 More supporters getting to experience European football is an overwhelmingly positive thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenBartonCentrePartin Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 20 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said: I think the issue is that we have 3 Euro comps each with their own group stage. We should have at least one of them being a straight knockout imo. Bring back the Cup Winners Cup. This, this and this again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbandit Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Can’t fucking wait to be back in Europe, going to be an amazing feeling when we get there and get a tie against a big European club Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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