Gerard Deulofeu

[Adversus]

Benitez was almost mocked for the Europa League victory. It made no Chelsea supporter change their mind on him and didnt keep him in a job.

It did NOTHING to improve Benitez reputation in the EPL.

Rubbish. On the last day of the season there where banners around Stamford Bridge thanking Benitez. My Dad supports Chelsea (has done since the 50s) so I'm very aware of them and their feelings towards Benitez. Remember Liverpool where one of their big rivals during Benitez's time there.

He also got the job at Napoli which lead to Real based on his performance at Chelsea after he had been out of work since being booted at Inter.

 

[Deco 20]

EPL teams usually take the Europa League seriously in the knock outs

 

[JamDav1982]

Rubbish. On the last day of the season there where banners around Stamford Bridge thanking Benitez. My Dad supports Chelsea (has done since the 50s) so I'm very aware of them and their feelings towards Benitez. Remember Liverpool where one of their big rivals during Benitez's time there.

He also got the job at Napoli which lead to Real based on his performance at Chelsea after he had been out of work since being booted at Inter.

The Chelsea fans were thanking him for his efforts but they were delighted he was leaving.

The Napoli job wasnt purely on the back of his stint at Chelsea. Avram Grant won the CL at Chelsea and never got jobs like that.

The Chelsea fans would be horrified if Benitez got anywhere close to the job there again. They love it when Mou mocks him.

 

[AnfieldEd]

Part of the reason the europa league lost most of its lustre is because is became a group phase and then the KO rounds. So it literally became CL lite.

If it were to return to a solely KO competition like it used to be then I feel it would bring back some of the gravitas it had until the mid 00's.

Playing on a Thursday is also a very good reason why clubs in England don't take it seriously until the KO rounds. Most european leagues have their fixtures mainly played on the Sunday not the Saturday. So the assimilation of playing Thursday-Sunday is easily overcome. For english clubs it isn't and therefore more often than not prefer to keep their best XI for the league game.

But I agree with JamDav in that most english clubs use it as an excuse if/when they lose. Certainly I am one that thinks that any european competition should be taken seriously. I seriously hope that we take the competition seriously and tbf we always do.

Anyway back to Deulofeu. I think he will never be good enough for Barca. But he's too good for Everton. I see him leaving them in 2 years time and going to a team trying to qualify for CL. I see him moving on to one of those clubs in Spain, Germany or Italy.

 

[Cule4life]

I'm not making excuses. We focused on the Europa League but it destroyed our league standing. Every game in the premiership is hard which isn't the same for other European leagues which is simply why some clubs, generally those with UCL ambitions don't focus on it especially early on.

Premface
An English Premier League fan who knows little about any football outside of EPL. A 'premface' will often repeat stereotypes such as "Every game in EPL is hard unlike other leagues", "5-6 teams can win EPL every year" and "EPL is so tough that it's teams cant do well in Europe"

 

[Aryagorn]

Premface
An English Premier League fan who knows little about any football outside of EPL. A 'premface' will often repeat stereotypes such as "Every game in EPL is hard unlike other leagues", "5-6 teams can win EPL every year" and "EPL is so tough that it's teams cant do well in Europe"

gold

 

[Bran the Greenseer]

Well every game is tough for the top teams as compared to Barca/Bayern/Real because EPL top teams are weak so its easier for their bottom teams to compete. People always get it mixed up when they see Barca roflstomping teams when those same teams can roflstomp teams in other leagues.

 

[Adversus]

Premface
An English Premier League fan who knows little about any football outside of EPL. A 'premface' will often repeat stereotypes such as "Every game in EPL is hard unlike other leagues", "5-6 teams can win EPL every year" and "EPL is so tough that it's teams cant do well in Europe"

If you actually look back at the thread and what I said was the league is competitive because the top teams aren't as good and the bottom teams are better than La Liga.

5-6 teams can't win the EPL because over the course of a season because the cream still rises to the top but the individual games are far more unpredictable.

And I didn't say that the EPL is so tough teams can't do well in Europe. I said that teams in the EPL prioritize the league unless they're in with a realistic shot of winning it i.e. the latter group stages or simply have no league ambitions. Us last year and teams like Fulham in the past.

I don't know who you are arguing with but it's certainly not me so I would appreciate it if you didn't quote me.

 

[Cule4life]

the top teams aren't as good

Ding ding ding....We have a winner lads. So git gud son and stop saying thee europas leagues isnt worth it

the bottom teams are better than La Liga..

You say you arent a premface and then you spout drivel like this.....

but the individual games are far more unpredictable.

Yeah cos the "top teams are shit" like you said...

EPL prioritize the league unless they're in with a realistic shot of winning it i.e. the latter group stages or simply have no league ambitions. Us last year and teams like Fulham in the past.

If they get knocked out early "Grapes are sour anyway(Europa isnt worth it). If they go further then its European glory. I can easily say it's a convenient way to hide mediocrity but i have no proof just like you. The truth is somewhere in the middle. That EPL teams know they arent that good so they dont go all in.

 

[barca1899]

[tw]616559622606979072[/tw]

 

[Adversus]

Ding ding ding....We have a winner lads. So git gud son and stop saying thee mighty thee europas leagues isnt worth it

You say you arent a premface and then you spout drivel like this.....



Yeah cos the "top teams are shit" like you said...



If they get knocked out early "Grapes are sour anyway(Europa isnt worth it). If they go further then its European glory. I can easily say it's a convenient way to hide mediocrity but i have no proof just like you. The truth is somewhere in the middle. That EPL teams know they arent that good so they dont go all in.

I've never said the mighty 3 European leagues are worth shit. Read back over what I said I think you will be suprised and probably agree with most of what I said. As for the bottom teams being better. They are. They have far more money and are able to give the top teams decent games. Look at any of the bottom half team's results and you will see loads of decent results against the top 4. That just doesn't happen in other leagues. Sure look at the amount of money going into the premier league and the players it is attracting. The only difference is that it's shared more equally among all the teams not just the top 2. Anyway you are right and it is just an opinion.

The top teams aren't shit. They're good enough to get into the knockout stages of the champions league and the very best the semis. They just aren't as good as Barca and Real who are on another planet but they would give Bayern and A Madrid a good game even though they aren't quite as good.

There's no sour grapes. Most EPL team supporters hope that the other EPL teams get knocked out of the UCL. We don't support a league. We support our team and only our team. Most English people don't even really give a damn about the national side. It's the club first and foremost.

Fulham got to the final because they tried. A team that's normally fighting for relegation. The fact that EPL teams don't take the Europa League seriously until the latter knockout stages has something to do with it.

 

[Adversus]

[tw]616559622606979072[/tw]

Hopefully we'll see him play with a bit of confidence next season. When he was playing with confidence at the start of the season first time around he was some player.

 

[Alik]

Wow, Everton really love him.

 

[Darko]

Can we just get a seperate Premier league vs La Liga thread where y'all argue for eternity about every single unimportant aspect of the two leagues, this stupid discussion is in every single thread and I'm really sick of it.

 

[draconifire]

Can we just get a seperate Premier league vs La Liga thread where y'all argue for eternity about every single unimportant aspect of the two leagues, this stupid discussion is in every single thread and I'm really sick of it.

+1. It will even be a good debate, not like these where everybody has there own agenda.