Aston Villa News 24/7Judging by the early responses to the Season Expectation Survey, I may be preaching to the choir here, but I’m going to state my case for hoping Aston Villa have a good craic at the Europa League this season regardless. (I apologise unreservedly for the atrocious pun. Read on if it’s not obvious.)
Not everyone holds the second tier European competition in such high regard though, I may have seen it referred to as the “Europa LDV Vans Cup” or suchlike more than once, so why do I care about it?
Here’s my top five reasons why the Europa League matters:-
1. Prize Money/Prestige
UEFA did a good job of not only revamping the competition format last season, but also recognised how badly it had fallen behind the Champions League in terms of prestige, never mind money.
Increasing the prize money probably helped, but I’ve a feeling that it’s seen by an expanded global TV audience now with improved marketing and interest has naturally followed suit. Fulham’s run to last May’s final in Germany definitely helped restore a little magic from the English perspective, but that vibe seems to have spread further afield too.
It would require a decent performance, or at least a deep run into the competition, naturally, but Villa are a side that could really benefit from being seen as a strong player in this tournament. The prize money on offer can be akin to the FA Cup, so, with the logistical burden considered, it could be argued that it’s not as valuable, but the global exposure that the Europa League is beginning to offer must surely trump the odd solitary “picked for TV” FA Cup tie beamed around the world should Villa be fortunate enough to be drawn against a side so small and obscure that it makes the broadcasting criteria for its curiosity value.
2. Format
I know a lot of fans wistfully recall the days of a pure and simple knock out competition, but that’s highly unlikely to happen again and I’m fine with that. The last time we were in a group stage, two seasons ago, it was under the old system involving groups of five teams, each team playing the other teams once, two opponents at home and the other two away.
Now we have a traditional four team group, just like the Champions League, just like the European Championships, just like the World Cup, just like almost all tournaments. Each team plays the others in the group twice, once at home and a reverse leg away, making six games in total each.
That gives us a guaranteed three European nights under the floodlights at Villa Park and at least one, more likely two, of the opponents will probably be pretty tough. A tasty prospect of some classic European nights.
And, of course, that also means three European trips away too. While I understand some of the complaints from the fans who travelled to Moscow and don’t want to dwell on that, they were given the opportunity to watch the Villa in Russia, not Scunthorpe. No offense to Scunthorpe, natch.
3. Experience
We already know that MON intends to use the Europa League to give some of the youngsters and periphery players some playing time, the factor of valuable experience should go without mentioning.
I don’t believe that MON intends to field teams entirely composed of youngsters, hopefully just blend some of the reserve lads into the first team. That also means that he’ll have to consider giving some of the first team regulars who do play in the UEL some extra rest in the domestic competitions, forcing some of that rotation so many fans crave. That’s my theory anyway.
The experience stretches beyond the pitch too. Although last season’s European adventures ended prematurely, this will be our third straight season competing against foreign teams and that doesn’t happen without organisation and planning from the staff behind the scenes. Don’t discount the usefulness of that experience if and when it needs to be translated to Champions League competition.
Obviously, as a club, Aston Villa is not without experience and pedigree in Europe, but we haven’t had European competition to contend with after February since the quarter final defeat by Atletico in 1998. The world changes, football included, at an amazing pace. A deep run in the Europa League could only be beneficial experience for everyone involved.
4. Silverware
It almost speaks for itself, doesn’t it? As great as it would have been to see Petrov lift the Carling Cup last season, for me at least, it couldn’t be quite as special as seeing an Aston Villa side conquer Europe, albeit on the second tier.
It ties in with the first point about prestige, but it’s also clearly a tougher competition both logistically and in terms of the opponents, some of which have played Champions League in the past, will again in the future and, in some cases, will have been playing in it this season until dropping through the trapdoor into the Europa League.
Since I mentioned that trapdoor, it isn’t something that I’m huge fan of, at least not after the group stage, but I think we have to understand why it’s there and accept it. Perhaps with teeth gritted in any case.
5. The 2011 Final will be held in Dublin
Do I really need to elaborate? (Hence the terrible pun in the opening paragraph)
Didn’t think so!
That’s why it matters to me, I hope it does for you too. If you’ve already taken the time to let me know what you think in the Season Expectation Survey, thank you very much, if not, your opinion and time would be very much appreciated.
Dedicated Europa League Section
I felt the same way last season and went to the trouble of creating a dedicated Europa League page, only for to see us fall at the first hurdle and took it down, quick, before anyone noticed. I’m confident that they won’t make the same mistake twice so I’ve updated it, jazzed it up a little and brought it back. It contains fixtures and key dates right through to the final and will be updated with scores, standings and links to match reports. There’s a link in the tabbed menu bar and in the sidebar too.
Just in case you are not aware, both the Champions and Europa Leagues are already underway – currently half way through the second round of qualifying – and as you’ll see on the Europa League page, it won’t be long until we’re involved, so I’ll be following this post up with a brief overview of the format and key points of the calendar soon.
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18 Comments to “Five Reasons Why The Europa League Should Matter To Aston Villa”
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my only gripe with Europa is the same thing that has plagued Fulham, fighting to win Europa can lead to failure to perform in Premier League.
Now while Europe is grand, I don’t want it to come at a cost to the domestic competition like Fulham did. To me EPL is the number 1 priority, however doing well in Europe IS A GOOD THING! What Villa really needs is to be successful on both stages at once. I don’t really think Villa is ready for Champions League unless they can perform on both fronts. It will be interesting for example to see how Tottenham deal with the added campaign, and if they will be able to hold onto 4th this season or slide to match fatigue.
Ideally we need to have a squad that can rotate, and a squad that is capable to succeed in both comps, otherwise why are we pushing for 4th? So in this aspect Europe is vital experience and doing well there is important, however if we get to the semis in Europa, but cant make 7th in the EPL, where does that leave the club? Not in a very good position.
So I guess what I am trying to say is, both Europa and the EPL are EQUALLY important, with perhaps slightly more emphasis on the EPL, however to give focus to Europe to the detriment of our EPL performance is something I think should not be done, but I dearly hope we have the depth in the Squad to fight in both campaigns this coming season.
absolutely. i probably should have said that a prerequisite is it not having a detrimental affect on the league. that has to come first and i want to see us qualify for europe 4 straight seasons, otherwise we lose momentum.
but you’re absolutely correct, if we can’t maintain a respectable position in the league *and* deal with the rigours of the europa league, what hope is there of managing with the champions league, should we ever qualify?
i think a lot of people think you just throw everything at getting in the top four and then run out to buy the players you need for the next season. simples, right?
all eyes on tottenham in 2010/11 then.
I think Man City will be interesting to see this season too, they are looking to win silverware and are buying a massive squad to do it, to be honest i hope the fail, probably out of spite, but they have the right idea at least, lots of players capable of playing a very hectic schedule
that’s a good point. it will be interesting enough just to see who city register in their 25 man squad!
Would love a good run in Europa but i don’t think our squad is quite strong enough for any real success in the cups and Mon can’t make his first team play that many games .. but he may try . Would be great to see the spuds get knocked out of Europe early and Villa go on to win Europa , the excitement of the Fulham games last season was incredible .. I’d like some of that .
it was probably a big assumption on my part that playing these extra games will force MON to rotate a little more. if he sticks to his usual policy, well it’s just more games then and i think it’s pretty safe to assume where that will lead!
I’m afraid I disagree about the format of the Europa League. Making it the same as the Champions League removes any individuality it once had (surely the fact that almost all other cup competitions use the group stage is a great reason to have one with the a different format?) and it’s now so bloated and with so many games it’s almost impossible for any mid-top table teams to make any impact without it affecting other aspects of their season. An even bigger problem is allowing Champions League rejects to enter in to the competition, which further devalues it.
I have a huge amount of respect for the competition, but UEFA have almost entirely removed it away form its original purpose and it’s now a bloated, devalued mess that threatens to suffocate any teams wanting to have a decent run.
I almost certainly value the League Cup more. That’s another competition that’s seen as a bit of a joke, but unlike the EL it’s remained pure to its format and still holds a huge amount of magic and significance to me (as it should any Villa fan.)
Of course I still love European Football and seeing Villa competing at that level, but the endemic problems of the EL threaten to completely ruin the competition and I just can’t bring myself to rate it higher in priority than any domestic competition.
i see your point, but i’m quite happy with it being champions league “lite”. i see no value in anything being different for sake of being different, but that’s just a matter of opinion.
the league cup? i’ve said before many times, i’d get rid of it in a heartbeat. it’s anachronistic rubbish. it was created to add extra fixtures to the schedule facilitated by the new technology at the time; floodlights.
the reality is that it’s so unlikely that a non-league team will win the FA cup that we could regard it as impossible. with that in mind, what exactly is the difference between the two domestic cups? we expect the winners of both to come from the upper echelons to the point that we assume the top 7 will qualify for europe and the situation a couple of years ago where villa only scraped in via the gift of the intertoto was highly unusual.
IMO, the league cup devalues the FA cup. scrap it and i can almost guarantee that the FA cup will seem a little more “magical” again.
completely agree, the league cup is rubbish, the sooner it is gone, the better for English football
> i see your point, but i’m quite happy with it being champions league “lite”. i see no value in anything being different for sake of being different, but that’s just a matter of opinion.
Of course, but I think at the moment it’s the same for the sake of being the same… if you see what I mean. I like cups to have their own identity. The EL is like the CL’s younger brother; destined to inherit cast offs and desperately trying to copy the older brother in every way, despite the fact the older brother is a bit of a prick. If you catch my meaning.
Surprised at the hate for the League Cup, though. I don’t think it matters why it came into existence as it’s a legitimate and exciting cup (and one, let’s not forget, that Villa have a proud history in.) More to the point, it’s relatively short and I don’t think it devalues the FA cup. The only thing that does that is the apathy of the bigger clubs, which is a separate issue entirely.
Like you say, though, it’s all a matter of opinion, but I’ll definitely be hanging my hat on the three domestic competitions this year
to me, it matters why it came into existence as it establishes its relevance. these days, with the league games no longer mostly all kicking off at 3pm saturdays, we’re not kicking our heels midweek in the same way.
as much as the trip to wembley was a thrill this year and even man utd are happy to be lifting the silverware, the competition is becoming irrelevant and i’d shed no tears if it disappeared tomorrow.
I like the Europa, so yes, you’re preaching to the converted here
But I disagree that it should be a league thing.
There’s nowt better than a knockout to me, it gives the littler clubs a bigger chance.
Hence Palace getting a much needed cash injection last time, for example.
I guess that’s how I see the cups, it’s a way of moving some of the obscene amounts of money away from the Prem to a small extent.
For the same reason, I wouldn’t get rid of the LC either.
What really annoys me is that the CL losers get dropped into the latter rounds of the EC
absolutely agree about the CL teams getting a second chance in the EL, especially after the group stage.
in my younger days, when rugby was my first love, i played in a few one day tournaments which were straight knockout, but the losers in the first round went into a “plate competition” which was a second, parallel knock out competition.
it always struck me as weird that one of the losers from the 1st round would end up lifting a trophy while the team that beat them could end up with their competition over in the 2nd round.
it’s probably that experience that helps shape my view that the group stage gives us enough games that everyone gets a fair crack of establishing their credentials to compete in the knock out phase.
which in turn should mean that we, the audience, get the best competition for out entertainment purposes. in theory.
I forgot to say;
The thing that has devalued the LC is certain clubs being allowed to field the second string.
For that I blame the FA or the Pem or whoever is in charge.
If they took it seriously and started fining clubs as they’re supposed to, things would change imo.
It’s also why I’m not a proponent of only using the kids in these “lesser” games.
very slippery road that. i was horrified by the censure wolves received for the utd game. very dangerous precedent set.
to me, it’s a 38 game season and mccarthy did what he needed to do to get the maximum number of points that he could from those 38 games.
the travelling wolves fans that were whining about it would presumably take that over relegation!
as for the other competitions, i take the big picture view. when you’ve got 50 to 60 games in a season and some of those games are in places like moscow on plastic pitches in sub-zero conditions, it’s a squad game IMO.
i know that’s not specifically what you’re getting at, but that’s the principle. the league is number one to everyone.
I think it’s problematic when the FA start fining clubs for fielding ‘second string’ teams. Where does that logic end? Sometimes a club will want to out out younger, inexperienced players in relation to the toughness of the opposing team, and it’s impossible to see where they’d draw the line. By your logic, Villa would’ve been fined for playing Guzan in goal for almost all of our cup games, because he’s the second string keeper.
I just think managers should be allowed to field whatever team they like, and I don’t necessarily think that devalues the competitions they do it in — all the player are pros playing at the highest level, after all.
Blimey, I’ve done lots of whining today, haven’t I?
not at all. considered opinions are always welcome.