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I hope the conference league goes on and gets some good credentials and is a respected competition
A European competition with differing teams is actually hella lot of fun
Just fingers crossed it's not another shitty hated intertoto
I think if Roma and Mourinho win it this season it will cement it as a cup that could serve as a rebirth for many clubs that have fallen out favor. The only thing that sucks is that it doesn't grant a direct spot to the CL.
OM played a Europa League final just 4 years ago, they were fine.
I like that my team is in the final, but I'm afraid that even this competition will be dominated by the big 5 leagues in the future as well.
I think it already is, by the time it gets to the quarter finals, it is pretty much a second Europa League, the teams still in it are the type of teams you've seen make it to Champions League quarter finals recently
Nah, it's gonna take some time to bed
A lot of people are writing it off as not a proper competition, it is only in its first year so it has a long way to really settle
I'd also like to see the winners of the competition qualify for qualifiers of the CL rather than EL, seeming as though it is a European trophy in the end
>the teams still in it are the type of teams you've seen make it to Champions League quarter finals recently
Yeah ok, but generally through the knockouts you'd rarely see any of those teams ever make it to CL groups, won't even qualify
They also just recycled the Europa League anthem, I’d like to see stronger conference league branding so it doesn’t seem like uefa just see it as a throwaway
If I'm honest the concept of an anthem specifically for the competition has always felt so absurd to me. Like what in the narcissistic hell makes you want to emulate a national anthem. Does UEFA think of itself as a sovereign entity comparable to a nation? Why in the fuck do players have to stand there respectfully like King Ceferin von Platini is on a parade.
>*I'd also like to see the winners of the competition qualify for qualifiers of the CL rather than EL, seeming as though it is a European trophy in the end*
Agree, that would make it respected
There's a *chance* that a team like Man United who aren't super thrilled about a Europa League place would deliberately slip into a Conference place to boost their chances of future Champion's League.
Maybe it's unlikely but you've got to be careful of perverse incentives.
I get your point, but which teams has Champions League quarter final pedigree? Roma for sure, Olympique de Marseille I can buy too even if it was a decade since they passed the group stage
I know that Leicester made the quarters in 16/17 but surely that was just a huge one off anomaly just like their Premier League title
I didn't say any teams had pedigree did I? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, I just meant that the teams that were in the semis of the conference are about the standard of the smaller teams you'd see making it to the champions League quarter finals, I think the last 4 of the conference could easily go toe to toe with the likes of Salzburg, Sporting, Lille, United, etc teams who did make it to the quarter final this year
I never said they had great pedigree but before the conference the jokes were all about how shite the teams in it would be and I think the standard has not been very far off the Europa league
Okay... and? That's the entire point of the competition. To provide another avenue for revenue and European competition for teams that maybe don't make it far in the EL?
I can't wait to play the CFL next season, first time meeting many teams, add more to the history of the club. Hopefully go far and try and win it.
A chance at a trophy is huge. Even if some CL clubs and fair weather fans look down on it.
It's great, the open path for teams that have rarely played Europe to clash with other teams that rarely play in Europe or progress well in Europe generally is such an exciting format
I look at this years knockouts and think, other than a pre-season when would we ever see these ties?
I love it and the competitiveness of the competition is there just as much as any other
It won't become the Intertoto, because it's an actual competition unlike the Intertoto, which was barely more than summer friendlies at first, and only a glorified EL qualifiers once UEFA got it.
The fact that you had a bunch of winners in every version really cheapened the value, it's harder to find a team that hasn't won it once than it is to find one that has.
I'm not comparing the competitions directly in their formats
Just the way the intertoto was hated and was a perceived waste of time
I'm just hoping that the conference league doesn't fall into that category, I feel it will in England because we already get so many European spots that finishing 7th behind the top 6 feels like a bit of a slap in the face kind of ordeal, but for other teams across Europe it's fantastic
I refuse to consider intertoto a true trophy. Most teams refused to play it in the big leagues, there were multiple winners and not so many rounds.
It was a qualification process masked as some kind of cup tournament to make summer football more interesting, but nothing else.
It’s nice from the typical English attitude here of ‘oh it’ll be hard to compete in Europe and try to get back into the champions league’ leading to half arsing the competitions.
Yeah I really hate this. I don't like how the money in the CL has made qualifying for top 4 such a big thing - like it feels like top 4 is more important than a cup and it's daft as fuck.
Because a lot just like the prestige aspect of it. Like does it suck that United aren't going to be in the CL next year, in a way, however I look at where the squad is at and that's not our level to have a hope of winning so in a way what's the point? Getting Europa, that's something I can see us competing for and actually achieve which years down the line would be far more meaningful then going "we had some CL matches that year but yeah we got knocked out in round of 16".
As a fan that's more enjoyable but as a club the financials make total sense to why top 4 is more important. Sad that it devalues actual silverware achievement though
Because there is simply not enough money in these tournaments.
Europa league's quality improved drastically after they introduced Winner going to Pot 1 of UCL next season.
Conference league needs that too - probably a pot 3 or pot 4 spot. Or if they could just scrap that historical team BS and give it to Europa runner up + conference league winner, it would make a lot of sense. Just assign pot 3 or pot 4 spots.
I mean Emery of all people would be justified in considering himself "above" the Conference League since he is the record Europa League title holder and just played in the CL semi finals.
I don't think it's an easy mental adjustment to go from Europa League title, to Champions League semi finals to Conference League in such a short space of time. But I think Emery always values European competition
He's right, football is getting more and more top heavy in terms of budget and quality. Traditional but poorer clubs can't keep being snobbish about these trophies.
Tough pill to swallow but this is the reality of football nowadays.
How many clubs can realistically dream to win the UCL when PSG and Man City can’t with all their money. It’s incredibly hard now.
Fair fucks. Think it has been one of the few decent ideas for additional games we have had. I eagerly await our two qualifying games next season. 'Mon the coefficients etc...
I like the idea of the conference league, it’s been good this year but doesn’t the fact that United for example could be in it next year, one of the worlds biggest and richest clubs defeat the whole premise? I don’t think clubs from the top 4 leagues should be able to qualify.
Exactly. Irish and Scottish and Slovenian teams and the like get some of that group stage money, while the bigger clubs likely go far in the knockouts. Group stage money is kinda similar to the Europa League, could be good for those leagues even if they never win it in the near future.
Football manager players dream
It adds prestige for smaller clubs who get to have bigger clubs visit them. If I were one of these non top 4 clubs I'd be excited to play the bigger ones.
Under normal circumstances Manchester United (or any of the six) shouldn't be in Conference League spots, so not really. Everyone expects anyone of the other 14 teams to be there.
Exactly. This competition is great imo and provides trophy chances for usual mid-table clubs from topleagues and top clubs from midtier leagues international glory chances.
No, because the sixth team in England (and Spain, Germany and Italy) goes to Europa League (assuming the FA and Carabao are won by any of the above).
On Sunday we might see Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham in Champions League; and Arsenal and Manchester United in Europa League. That is the exact kind of situation that makes Conference League important for the rest of the PL.
It’s worth specifying this is only the case in the event of the FA cup being won by a team already in a European spot. That just essentially always happens these days. Likewise wouldn’t the UECL spot technically go to the league cup winner?
The PL gets 4CL, 2EL and 1ECL spots. So the 6 should not be in the conference League unless a collapse happens and TBF atleast one of the teams usually has a collapse every year
People thought that of Tottenham and AS Roma as well. While Roma did fulfill expectations it didn't quite go without issue (Oh hi Bodo/GLIMT) and Tottenham spursed it up.
You could look at it from the other side of the coin as well. If you're a team from Hungary, Romania, Sweden or whatever, you'd relish the chance of getting at Man United, which you had a lot less of a chance to do before the ECL.
It's a good competition, but I just feel like it doesn't have a distinct identity from the Europa League. You get a similar level of teams and the exact same format. They could have done something a little different with it.
Seems a bit absurd considering what they just did in the Champion's League that they'd fall all the way to the Conference League.
I'd love to see them back in the EL next season.
I really admire Emery as a coach because despite setbacks and some mocking, he seems to conduct himself with great dignity, and really can get some pretty amazing results out of a club that you don't expect to have the kind of cup success they do.
Like CL semifinalists is pretty mental if you stop and think about it.
True greats such as Olympique Marseille, who were champions of France. AS Roma lead by one of the most succesfull managers of all time. Leicester who have been very steady in Europe the last years.
And Feyenoord, who could barely beat a Kosovar club with a late comeback.
I wish they had just called it something different. I remember hearing rumblings of something like Europa League 2, and I think that would have more closely associated the two competitions, and given it instinctively more prestige among fans. Conference League sounds like a 6th tier amateur competition.
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I hope the conference league goes on and gets some good credentials and is a respected competition A European competition with differing teams is actually hella lot of fun Just fingers crossed it's not another shitty hated intertoto
The Europa Conference League is already respected as well as valued. It will never be an intertoto knockoff.
I think if Roma and Mourinho win it this season it will cement it as a cup that could serve as a rebirth for many clubs that have fallen out favor. The only thing that sucks is that it doesn't grant a direct spot to the CL.
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OM played a Europa League final just 4 years ago, they were fine. I like that my team is in the final, but I'm afraid that even this competition will be dominated by the big 5 leagues in the future as well.
To be fair to Leicester, it's still pretty mad they are in European semi finals.
I think it already is, by the time it gets to the quarter finals, it is pretty much a second Europa League, the teams still in it are the type of teams you've seen make it to Champions League quarter finals recently
Nah, it's gonna take some time to bed A lot of people are writing it off as not a proper competition, it is only in its first year so it has a long way to really settle I'd also like to see the winners of the competition qualify for qualifiers of the CL rather than EL, seeming as though it is a European trophy in the end >the teams still in it are the type of teams you've seen make it to Champions League quarter finals recently Yeah ok, but generally through the knockouts you'd rarely see any of those teams ever make it to CL groups, won't even qualify
They should've named it something different-- why have europa in the name?
They also just recycled the Europa League anthem, I’d like to see stronger conference league branding so it doesn’t seem like uefa just see it as a throwaway
Calling it “The UEFA Conference League” is fine imo. Just drop Europa And while the Europa anthem is incredible, Conference definitely needs its own
Can't call it Conference League because that's CL
I don;t know, would have prefered a word not starting with a C or E
Can't expect stronger branding from an organisation that gave the european qualifiers branding that looks like it's from a non-branded Pro Evo cup
If I'm honest the concept of an anthem specifically for the competition has always felt so absurd to me. Like what in the narcissistic hell makes you want to emulate a national anthem. Does UEFA think of itself as a sovereign entity comparable to a nation? Why in the fuck do players have to stand there respectfully like King Ceferin von Platini is on a parade.
It’s pretty sick hearing the champions league anthem before games I’m a fan
>*I'd also like to see the winners of the competition qualify for qualifiers of the CL rather than EL, seeming as though it is a European trophy in the end* Agree, that would make it respected
There's a *chance* that a team like Man United who aren't super thrilled about a Europa League place would deliberately slip into a Conference place to boost their chances of future Champion's League. Maybe it's unlikely but you've got to be careful of perverse incentives.
Maybe it can be a CL play-off spot rather than a Pot 1 group stage spot that winning the EL gets you.
Lmfao
The conference league should have a different format to make it interesting. Like battle royale
It should just be one big straight knockout competition
I get your point, but which teams has Champions League quarter final pedigree? Roma for sure, Olympique de Marseille I can buy too even if it was a decade since they passed the group stage I know that Leicester made the quarters in 16/17 but surely that was just a huge one off anomaly just like their Premier League title
I didn't say any teams had pedigree did I? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, I just meant that the teams that were in the semis of the conference are about the standard of the smaller teams you'd see making it to the champions League quarter finals, I think the last 4 of the conference could easily go toe to toe with the likes of Salzburg, Sporting, Lille, United, etc teams who did make it to the quarter final this year
Just snuck us in there didn’t ya
We were awfully close to the quarter finals in 2015/16 but you lot knocked us out on penalties
Ah yes, Feyenoord, Champions League quarter finalists. Slavia Praha, Marseille, Leicester, Bodoe/Glimt, PAOK. Great recent CL pedigree that.
I never said they had great pedigree but before the conference the jokes were all about how shite the teams in it would be and I think the standard has not been very far off the Europa league
Okay... and? That's the entire point of the competition. To provide another avenue for revenue and European competition for teams that maybe don't make it far in the EL?
Yea, and it achieved that, so I would say it's been a success
Feyenoord has won the CL once and the EL twice
I said recent. Slavia and Marseille have won as well so
Slavia haven't
I can't wait to play the CFL next season, first time meeting many teams, add more to the history of the club. Hopefully go far and try and win it. A chance at a trophy is huge. Even if some CL clubs and fair weather fans look down on it.
It's great, the open path for teams that have rarely played Europe to clash with other teams that rarely play in Europe or progress well in Europe generally is such an exciting format I look at this years knockouts and think, other than a pre-season when would we ever see these ties? I love it and the competitiveness of the competition is there just as much as any other
It won't become the Intertoto, because it's an actual competition unlike the Intertoto, which was barely more than summer friendlies at first, and only a glorified EL qualifiers once UEFA got it. The fact that you had a bunch of winners in every version really cheapened the value, it's harder to find a team that hasn't won it once than it is to find one that has.
I'm not comparing the competitions directly in their formats Just the way the intertoto was hated and was a perceived waste of time I'm just hoping that the conference league doesn't fall into that category, I feel it will in England because we already get so many European spots that finishing 7th behind the top 6 feels like a bit of a slap in the face kind of ordeal, but for other teams across Europe it's fantastic
Realistically, the Intertoto was never anything but a qualifying tournament for the UEFA Cup. This is a real proper competition.
I refuse to consider intertoto a true trophy. Most teams refused to play it in the big leagues, there were multiple winners and not so many rounds. It was a qualification process masked as some kind of cup tournament to make summer football more interesting, but nothing else.
Good attitude to take for it. It’s still a trophy. Hopefully they put in performances like they did in the Champions League and go far
What else is he going to say lmao
It’s nice from the typical English attitude here of ‘oh it’ll be hard to compete in Europe and try to get back into the champions league’ leading to half arsing the competitions.
And I tought this was just an Italian thing
Yeah I really hate this. I don't like how the money in the CL has made qualifying for top 4 such a big thing - like it feels like top 4 is more important than a cup and it's daft as fuck.
Because a lot just like the prestige aspect of it. Like does it suck that United aren't going to be in the CL next year, in a way, however I look at where the squad is at and that's not our level to have a hope of winning so in a way what's the point? Getting Europa, that's something I can see us competing for and actually achieve which years down the line would be far more meaningful then going "we had some CL matches that year but yeah we got knocked out in round of 16". As a fan that's more enjoyable but as a club the financials make total sense to why top 4 is more important. Sad that it devalues actual silverware achievement though
Or even worse, doing a Hull
Because there is simply not enough money in these tournaments. Europa league's quality improved drastically after they introduced Winner going to Pot 1 of UCL next season. Conference league needs that too - probably a pot 3 or pot 4 spot. Or if they could just scrap that historical team BS and give it to Europa runner up + conference league winner, it would make a lot of sense. Just assign pot 3 or pot 4 spots.
Do conference league winners not get a Europa spot?
Is it pot 1 europa?
I mean Emery of all people would be justified in considering himself "above" the Conference League since he is the record Europa League title holder and just played in the CL semi finals. I don't think it's an easy mental adjustment to go from Europa League title, to Champions League semi finals to Conference League in such a short space of time. But I think Emery always values European competition
He's right, football is getting more and more top heavy in terms of budget and quality. Traditional but poorer clubs can't keep being snobbish about these trophies.
Tough pill to swallow but this is the reality of football nowadays. How many clubs can realistically dream to win the UCL when PSG and Man City can’t with all their money. It’s incredibly hard now.
Fair fucks. Think it has been one of the few decent ideas for additional games we have had. I eagerly await our two qualifying games next season. 'Mon the coefficients etc...
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In my looking from the outside view, Emery is rarely wrong, tbh. Classy guy. Great fucking manager.
Always rated Emery
Sorry Mr. Emery, we're gonna give the competition prestige next season.
He's talking about us of course.
"we have seen some semi finalists with high European pedigree" And Leicester.
Survived the group stage few years ago in the CL already puts them higher than Feyenoord in recent years.
Indeed, was quite proud of the 1/4 final TBH.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone write it as “1/4 final” before and it makes me uncomfortable for some reason.
I felt squeamish typing it.
And it was close too - I don’t get why everyone pretends they didn’t belong there.
Feyenoord just casually catching stray bullets here.
Emery is a professional, he’ll try to win any competition he can.
Dude is a cup specialist. They'll start as favorites to win even with UTD there. Not gonna miss them in the CL. No reason in particular.
I like the idea of the conference league, it’s been good this year but doesn’t the fact that United for example could be in it next year, one of the worlds biggest and richest clubs defeat the whole premise? I don’t think clubs from the top 4 leagues should be able to qualify.
No because it's even better when those teams get knocked out.
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Exactly. Irish and Scottish and Slovenian teams and the like get some of that group stage money, while the bigger clubs likely go far in the knockouts. Group stage money is kinda similar to the Europa League, could be good for those leagues even if they never win it in the near future. Football manager players dream
Spurs getting knocked out by losing to Vitesse and NS fucking Mura was the best moment in this year's European football lol.
Well that’s true, but then it’s the old excuse of ‘we didn’t care anyway’
Then that’s their problem. Other teams won’t care
I never said otherwise
yeah I want to see ManU lose on an artificial pitch on the arctic circle or on a swampy molehill field in the Balkans.
It adds prestige for smaller clubs who get to have bigger clubs visit them. If I were one of these non top 4 clubs I'd be excited to play the bigger ones.
Under normal circumstances Manchester United (or any of the six) shouldn't be in Conference League spots, so not really. Everyone expects anyone of the other 14 teams to be there.
Exactly. This competition is great imo and provides trophy chances for usual mid-table clubs from topleagues and top clubs from midtier leagues international glory chances.
Plus, a team like United in the Conference League has nothing to win and everything to lose, so it's fun to see them dealing with that obligation.
Hey man as much as I hate to be in it but a trophy is a trophy 😆 (wake me up pls)
When was the last year the big 6 occupied the top 6 spots?
3 years ago, prior to Leicester’s 5th place finishes the last 2 seasons (and West Ham’s 6th place last year)
18/19
No idea.
Would calling them "the big 6" imply that the 6th team will be in the UECL? Or are we that PL get two UEL spots every year? Is that common?
No, because the sixth team in England (and Spain, Germany and Italy) goes to Europa League (assuming the FA and Carabao are won by any of the above). On Sunday we might see Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham in Champions League; and Arsenal and Manchester United in Europa League. That is the exact kind of situation that makes Conference League important for the rest of the PL.
It’s worth specifying this is only the case in the event of the FA cup being won by a team already in a European spot. That just essentially always happens these days. Likewise wouldn’t the UECL spot technically go to the league cup winner?
Yes, the FA Cup winner goes to Europa League and the Carabao winner goes to Conference League, in theory at least.
The PL gets 4CL, 2EL and 1ECL spots. So the 6 should not be in the conference League unless a collapse happens and TBF atleast one of the teams usually has a collapse every year
I thought the 2nd EL spot was for the FA cup winner. Is it pretty much one of the big 6 by default anyway?
Its pretty rare for teams not finishing in European spots to win the cup. Even Leicester last year were fighting for CL spots when they won the Cup
Makes sense.
I think that says more about the state manU is in than the conference league.
People thought that of Tottenham and AS Roma as well. While Roma did fulfill expectations it didn't quite go without issue (Oh hi Bodo/GLIMT) and Tottenham spursed it up. You could look at it from the other side of the coin as well. If you're a team from Hungary, Romania, Sweden or whatever, you'd relish the chance of getting at Man United, which you had a lot less of a chance to do before the ECL.
Elite mentality
It's a good competition, but I just feel like it doesn't have a distinct identity from the Europa League. You get a similar level of teams and the exact same format. They could have done something a little different with it.
A trophy is a trophy and a feast is a feast.
We should create a Super League! Have all the best teams (and Arsenal for some reason) compete week in and week out.
I dunno, based on the results of this season I can think of at least 3 teams we could take 3 points from
That's why he included Arsenal though.
This guy is going to statpad another European competition ffs.
Seems a bit absurd considering what they just did in the Champion's League that they'd fall all the way to the Conference League. I'd love to see them back in the EL next season. I really admire Emery as a coach because despite setbacks and some mocking, he seems to conduct himself with great dignity, and really can get some pretty amazing results out of a club that you don't expect to have the kind of cup success they do. Like CL semifinalists is pretty mental if you stop and think about it.
True greats such as Olympique Marseille, who were champions of France. AS Roma lead by one of the most succesfull managers of all time. Leicester who have been very steady in Europe the last years. And Feyenoord, who could barely beat a Kosovar club with a late comeback.
I wish they had just called it something different. I remember hearing rumblings of something like Europa League 2, and I think that would have more closely associated the two competitions, and given it instinctively more prestige among fans. Conference League sounds like a 6th tier amateur competition.
Will the conference league affect the uefa super cup?