Europa League 18/19

[The Horse's Mouth]

2 minutes ago, Lionator said:

I'll probably get slated for this too, and while it's obviously a fantastic achievement, 6 of the top 10 richest teams in Europe are English. It's hardly a romantic tale is it? 

 

I would say that's taken the presence of Pep and Klopp especially to get the English teams to this level though.

Especially with the amount of money the premier league has been generating over the past couple of years, it was more of a when not if this was going to happen. This country buys its success in europe, but funnily enough the biggest financial dopers are nowhere to be seen  

[whoareyaaa]

The EU must really want us to stay in Europe by allowing this to happen.

 

Fair play to all the clubs involved, it can only be a good thing for English football and shows the quality of the players in the League.

 

 

[Voll Blau]

2 minutes ago, The Horse's Mouth said:

Especially with the amount of money the premier league has been generating over the past couple of years, it was more of a when not if this was going to happen. This country buys its success in europe, but funnily enough the biggest financial dopers are nowhere to be seen  

And the worst thing is it'll encourage other nations to adopt the 'English model' with clubs hell bent on buying success and taking no pride in developing their own players. Where's the fun in that?

[The Horse's Mouth]

Just now, Voll Blau said:

And the worst thing is it'll encourage other nations to adopt the 'English model' with clubs hell bent on buying success and taking no pride in developing their own players. Where's the fun in that?

Exactly, this great Ajax team dismantled by the elite and most likely the same thing will happen to Frankfurt, football is dead

[Vacamion]

9 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Henderson, Alexander-Arnold, Alli, Kane, Trippier, Maitland-Niles, Rose, Dier, Milner, Gomez.

 

That's a very unusual Norfolk hand...

 

I knew it was between 4 and 15, so yeah, like I say... 

[StanSP]

1 minute ago, Voll Blau said:

And the worst thing is it'll encourage other nations to adopt the 'English model' with clubs hell bent on buying success and taking no pride in developing their own players. Where's the fun in that?

Interesting to see where Chelsea go from here though considering they literally cannot do that for the next two transfer windows. They'll have to look to their own - something they probably should have done before but now they're forced to. 

[bovril]

I wonder if Tottenham and Arsenal both win it they'll have parades on the same day leading to a West Side Story esque stand off somewhere near the Seven Sisters road.

[fuchsntf]

52 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

And the worst thing is it'll encourage other nations to adopt the 'English model' with clubs hell bent on buying success and taking no pride in developing their own players. Where's the fun in that?

But it aint..!!!  The 'English model'....  

90% of our top and mediocre clubs, are ran by foreigners.   The only thing we are in charge of is Brexit....and we are doing a great job ...innit!!

 

Only prizes we win..is a fking Parker pen, for taking out fking   "Life Insurance"

No wonder everybody else..says we have a sense of humour....!!

[Jattdogg]

21 minutes ago, bovril said:

I wonder if Tottenham and Arsenal both win it they'll have parades on the same day leading to a West Side Story esque stand off somewhere near the Seven Sisters road.

Would be a cock-off

[Leicester_Loyal]

6k tickets each, in a 68k seater stadium? I've heard of some ridiculous allocations in all my years of watching football but this one takes the biscuit, it's an absolute disgrace.

[davieG]

If you fancy an away trip to a Europa League Final be careful what you wish for.

 

Europa League final: Arsenal & Chelsea fans face difficult trip to Baku
9 hours ago From the sectionEuropean Football  98

 Google Maps directions from London to Baku Olympic Stadium
In theory, it takes 58 hours to drive from London to the Baku Olympic Stadium where the Europa League final will be held, but this journey suggested by one route generator may not be possible as it involves a closed border crossing, meaning the trip by road is actually likely to be significantly longer
Their stadiums may only be separated by an eight-mile hop across London, but Chelsea and Arsenal fans now face a long journey to the eastern edge of Europe for the Europa League final.

Success for both sides on Thursday ensured the Londoners will meet in an all-English final in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday, 29 May.

That means supporters will have to travel 2,468 miles to watch the game in a city further east than Riyadh in Saudi Arabia or Baghdad in Iraq, and closer to Mumbai in India than it is to the English capital.

You might think modern transport would mean journeys would be straightforward.

You would be wrong.

There are currently no direct scheduled flights between London and Baku in the week of the final.

If you want to fly to the game on the day then a lengthy wait in somewhere like Istanbul or Kiev would be needed.

The quickest journey by air on the day of the final takes six hours 55 minutes, with the majority lasting more than 10 hours.

The only way to fly direct to Baku for the game would be to leave London on the Saturday beforehand and return a week later, three days after the trophy has been lifted.

That's an eight-day trip for 90 minutes of football - and for a game which kicks of at 11pm local time (20:00 BST), so will not finish until around 1am!

So what about the train?

It takes more than four days to travel from London to Baku on public transport, passing through seven countries. Anyone who watched BBC Two's Race Across the World will know it might also involve some less-than-first-class rail conditions.

The whole journey would likely include 11 changes and a two-day train journey from Kharkiv in Ukraine to Baku.

Of course, you could drive, but that is hardly an enticing prospect and the minimum journey time is listed online as 58 hours.

When you take in the time needed to eat and sleep, it would probably be best to set off on the Saturday to make the Wednesday night kick-off.

For the victors, another game thousands of miles away against English opponents will only be a matter of months away - the Champions League winners will face the Europa League winners (either Arsenal or Chelsea) in the Uefa Super Cup in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday, 14 August.

But if you think those trips are remarkable for two teams from the same city, they are nothing compared to the 2018 Copa Libertadores final.

In December, the second leg of south America's showpiece event - originally due to be staged in Buenos Aires in Argentina - was moved more than 6,000 miles to Madrid after the Boca bus was attacked on its way to the stadium.

[KrefelderFox666]

It's been mentioned here a lot, but the PL is full of money being thrown at the Top clubs. It's been more of a surprise that the PL dominance has not happened since the late 2000's (Chelsea vs Man U). It's a shame to see money dominate as the likes of Ajax and Frankfurt in a final would have resonated with fans like us at Leicester, something we can associate with.

 

Especially the fans. Frankfurt fans have been the best of the lot throughout the season and now we have two sets of librarians in the final. Chelsea fans last night were embarrassing.

 

Southgate will be expecting 2 players at the first training session...

 

In regards to Chelsea's transfer ban, I think it will be good for the club (if they have the right manager). They have so much quality in youth depth that never get a chance. The "English model" is pretty sh1t. Leicester are doing it the right way and Spurs to be fair have done well also. Let's see what the next decade brings because the PL is strong with all the money and the national team is due a trophy or two (this is a neutral's perspective).

[CosbehFox]

2 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

6k tickets each, in a 68k seater stadium? I've heard of some ridiculous allocations in all my years of watching football but this one takes the biscuit, it's an absolute disgrace.

I wouldn't worry. You can get tickets quite easy as a neutral for the Europa League Final. The only recent final which was played in a stadium far too small; Basel for Liverpool v Sevilla 

[davieG]

7 minutes ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

It's been mentioned here a lot, but the PL is full of money being thrown at the Top clubs. It's been more of a surprise that the PL dominance has not happened since the late 2000's (Chelsea vs Man U). It's a shame to see money dominate as the likes of Ajax and Frankfurt in a final would have resonated with fans like us at Leicester, something we can associate with.

 

Especially the fans. Frankfurt fans have been the best of the lot throughout the season and now we have two sets of librarians in the final. Chelsea fans last night were embarrassing.

 

Southgate will be expecting 2 players at the first training session...

 

In regards to Chelsea's transfer ban, I think it will be good for the club (if they have the right manager). They have so much quality in youth depth that never get a chance. The "English model" is pretty sh1t. Leicester are doing it the right way and Spurs to be fair have done well also. Let's see what the next decade brings because the PL is strong with all the money and the national team is due a trophy or two (this is a neutral's perspective).

Looking at the journey to get there I can't imagine it being over subscribed.

[foxy boxing]

Totally incredible to have four English teams in the finals of the two major European cups, the first time ever it has been done by a nation. incredible. will it see a sustained period of domination by English clubs in Europe! whoever you support you have to feel proud of English football.

[Voll Blau]

1 hour ago, foxy boxing said:

Totally incredible to have four English teams in the finals of the two major European cups, the first time ever it has been done by a nation. incredible. will it see a sustained period of domination by English clubs in Europe! whoever you support you have to feel proud of English football.

Why do I have to feel proud of the fact clubs in my country can financially outgun everyone else and throw money around to the extent that the best talent from everywhere else comes here, meaning vastly increased chances of success?

 

Besides, variety is the spice of life. I love seeing clubs from different countries competing in European finals. That's what it used to be all about.

[CosbehFox]

27 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

Why do I have to feel proud of the fact clubs in my country can financially outgun everyone else and throw money around to the extent that the best talent from everywhere else comes here, meaning vastly increased chances of success?

 

Besides, variety is the spice of life. I love seeing clubs from different countries competing in European finals. That's what it used to be all about.

Brilliantly described by Elis James on twitter as going to a restaurant and ordering a meal that you'd regularly cook for yourself at home. 

[RowlattsFox]

English football can't really win. If clubs go out early everyone enjoys to say how shit the English league is and how far its behind La Liga and co but then as soon as they have some success everyone complains about the money spent. Despite the fact top European clubs all spend massive amounts of money. Tottenham have spent bugger all for 2 years and if they were playing elsewhere it would be seen as a great story that they can reach the final.

 

 

[KrefelderFox666]

1 hour ago, RowlattsFox said:

English football can't really win. If clubs go out early everyone enjoys to say how shit the English league is and how far its behind La Liga and co but then as soon as they have some success everyone complains about the money spent. Despite the fact top European clubs all spend massive amounts of money. Tottenham have spent bugger all for 2 years and if they were playing elsewhere it would be seen as a great story that they can reach the final.

 

 

Tottenham are one of the few examples in the PL who I can respect. They have built their club up doing the right things, similar to what Leicester are doing but on a different level. However, the comments of people saying the PL is amazing etc etc. When was the last time it wasn't the usual suspects qualifying for Europe? Obviously 15/16 but apart from that it's been the odd rare team once in a while (Burnley, Wolves/Watford, Wigan, Birmingham, Portsmouth, West Ham, Southampton). Other than that it's always Man City, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal.

 

Now I personally have no affiliation with the English national team (being German), however, the PL has killed any development of the national team for a long time, it is only now that young players are getting chances and a lot of that is thanks to Spurs. The PL teams now need to continue this if the national team want to be successful for a long period. Due to money being thrown about, the majority of top teams are looking at foreign players. It is then down to those outside of the top 6 to develop local talents which are then likely snapped up by the top 6 only when they are ready.

 

The system with the PL and the money flying about is not ideal and that reflects in the stands. The atmosphere in general is diabolical in the PL. 15/20 years ago this was the flagship. "Real" fans are priced out at a lot of clubs. 4 finalists is incredible but the PL should have at least 1/2 finalists every year based on the superiority of the PL.

[UniFox21]

If true, a big if, this is absolute bullshit 

[Wymsey]

Are UEFA actually a less-corrupt organisation than FIFA under Blatter?

It appears they're trying to not aiming to be, certainly in this instance..

 

Of course the loyal fans are suffering here at the expense of $$$, but also UEFA aren't exactly doing their reputation any favour with the amount of carbon footprint people will have to travel in order to get to this destination where 99.8% of fans probably have never even heard of.

 

It's sad.

One of the greatest games in recent times have occurred in this competition, which are already affected by the daftness of choosing an quite unknown area to host the final of it.

Why not have the organisers chosen somewhere much more accessible and have been successdful in the past in hosting such as in Paris or Germany?

 

Edited 10 May 2019 by Wymeswold fox

[UniFox21]

 

[MC Prussian]

Baku as the location for the final was known way in advance. This is but UEFA using a pretense to distract from the main issue - whom they've allocated the remaining 56'000+ tickets to.

I bet it's for UEFA family and friends, but even then, that won't amount to that total.

 

So... We shall see on the day how full the stadium really is.

[BlueSi13]

7 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

English football can't really win. If clubs go out early everyone enjoys to say how shit the English league is and how far its behind La Liga and co but then as soon as they have some success everyone complains about the money spent. Despite the fact top European clubs all spend massive amounts of money. Tottenham have spent bugger all for 2 years and if they were playing elsewhere it would be seen as a great story that they can reach the final.

 

 

It's a hipsters nightmare 

[StanSP]

So Chelsea went and played a friendly in America with a full-strength squad and now Loftus-Cheek is injured having left the stadium on crutches. 

 

How fvcking stupid do you have to be to play a friendly all the way over there before a huge final and even more stupid to take such a strong squad?! Hazard played as well! Surely you keep him wrapped up in cotton wool as with most players.