Europa Conference League 2021-22: the Road to Tirana, Albania

[bubble07]

Does it matter even if it were? We finished 7th by beating Leicester on the final day that left Chelsea in 4th regardless. We're in the Europa conference league. Let's just do what we can control and that's win our own football matches.

Was thinking if we Leicester beat us than arsenal would have been in 7th and they would have got Europa

Turns out beating Leicester bigger than we thought

 

[Marty]

Is it true that if Chelsea finished 5th having won CL, then 7th would have been europa league rather than conference?

No. West Ham would've been the only team in the EL had this happened, the allocations to CL-EL-ECL would've been 5-1-1 instead of 4-2-1.

The only way England can get more than 7 places in Europe is if a team wins one of the tournaments but finishes 8th or lower in the PL.

 

[EmperorKabir]

No. West Ham would've been the only team in the EL had this happened, the allocations to CL-EL-ECL would've been 5-1-1 instead of 4-2-1.

The only way England can get more than 7 places in Europe is if a team wins one of the tournaments but finishes 8th or lower in the PL.

Not doubting you but what's your source for this? Looking at the uefa/pl site, the 7 team cap is a hard rule and if a trophy winner came 8th or lower, then the lowest rank league spot would just not have Europe?

In truth I've been trying to find out this strange permutation implication myself and struggled to find it written clearly.

 

[Marty]

Not doubting you but what's your source for this? Looking at the uefa/pl site, the 7 team cap is a hard rule and if a trophy winner came 8th or lower, then the lowest rank league spot would just not have Europe?

In truth I've been trying to find out this strange permutation implication myself and struggled to find it written clearly.

This is from the PL's website.

Premier League Clubs in Europe & Qualification Explained for UEFA competitions

For an explanation of how Premier League clubs qualify for UEFA competitions in season 2022/23 and which clubs will feature, visit the official website of the Premier League.

www.premierleague.com

If a Premier League club win the UEFA Champions League and another win the UEFA Europa League and neither have qualified for UEFA competitions through their league positions or by winning the FA Cup or EFL Cup, they will qualify for the UEFA Champions League and the club finishing fourth in the table will drop into the UEFA Europa League group stage.

This UEFA Europa League group stage place will be in addition to the one for the club finishing fifth and to the places in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League for the FA Cup and EFL Cup winners (or for the highest-ranked clubs not qualified for UEFA competitions in the Premier League if the FA Cup and EFL Cup winners have already qualified for UEFA competitions through their league position).

 

[Cochraam]

That’s mine too. We saw the fringe players, against Antwerp away, for example, not turn up. A team with Aurier, Sanchez, winks and Dele in it but also lloris, regi and bale. These were Mourinho’s words after:

“Blame me because I am the boss and it is my responsibility who plays and I am the one to blame. "But I have to admit that the game confirmed to me a few things, opened other question marks and will help me in the future with my decisions."I'm also learning every day. The performance was poor and the result is poor."

He identified what we all have. The attitude from some is poor and has been for a while. The only way to get round that is sell them or play more youngsters.

There's definitely, IMO, a mentality issue within our club somewhere (players, coaches, staff, leadership... all of them?). I don't buy into the "some people are natural winners and some people are natural losers" idea, but I do think something is missing in motivation, professionalism, preparation, commitment, or desire. And for me as a fan, the team just feels stale... it's clear within a few minutes of some games that the team isn't up for it and are moving at half-speed.

The coaches and players we have next season need to be able to be motivated for these Europa Conference League games because talent alone won't do. We played a pretty strong team against Zagreb away - Kane, Lucas, Dele, Lamela, Winks, Sissoko, Davies, Dier, Sanchez, Aurier, Lloris, while bringing on Bale, Regi, Lo Celso, and NDombele as subs. I think we all see a number of mediocre players and/or underperformers in that list, but it's also a team of seasoned internationals. But they looked lost, low on confidence, timid, and uninterested. I hope 6 or 7 of those players aren't here next season, but regardless, the next coach has a job to do to raise our intensity levels and put out a team that's gonna be committed even though we're not playing a "big name" team.

 

[cider spurs]

When are we starting this thing ??

Is our first fixture 8th July, bit comical considering the Euro's don't even finish until mid July a week later.

Sure, I doubt we'd be using that calibre of player who was representing their respective nations in the Euro's, but how the heck can you have a European competition fixture at the same time as a European tournament.

EDIT: So it appears we enter in August. Still think it's wrong to have European conference qualifying at the same time as the Euro's.

Goes to show just how shite this competition is likely to be, doubt the qualifying first round will see any of the teams involved hampered because players are away at the Euros.

So there we are, I've gone full circle and basically informed myself that the qualifying will pose no problem alongside the Euro's, because ultimately, this conference league is gonna be a crock of shit.

 

[TheTanguy]

When are we starting this thing ??

19th of August (play-off round), return one week later. Group stage starts September 16.

 

[chrissivad]

I think we go into the play offs

Play-offs: 19 & 26 August

 

[Saoirse]

When are we starting this thing ??

Is our first fixture 8th July, bit comical considering the Euro's don't even finish until mid July a week later.

Sure, I doubt we'd be using that calibre of player who was representing their respective nations in the Euro's, but how the heck can you have a European competition fixture at the same time as a European tournament.

EDIT: So it appears we enter in August. Still think it's wrong to have European conference qualifying at the same time as the Euro's.

Goes to show just how shite this competition is likely to be, doubt the qualifying first round will see any of the teams involved hampered because players are away at the Euros.

So there we are, I've gone full circle and basically informed myself that the qualifying will pose no problem alongside the Euro's, because ultimately, this conference league is gonna be a crock of shit.

It's nothing new and really not a problem. None of the teams entering that early will have international players at the Euros, and nor will the matches get any significant TV audience anyway. The biggest problem used to be the teams from top countries entering the 2nd Qualifying Round of the Europa in July (as we did last season) in tournament years while players were still on holiday after playing for their countries, but that's gone under the new format.

 

[$hoguN]

Play the under 7s. Waste of time tournament just likely to get people tired and injured

 

[JeremyPaxton]

Play the under 7s. Waste of time tournament just likely to get people tired and injured

The problem with not taking this seriously is the UEFA coefficient. Which sounds like a pointless thing until you realise that from 2023 the two teams (from ANY league) the have the highest coefficient over the last 5 years (ie including this coming season) but didn’t qualify for the CL, get CL football. For England that has 5-6 strong teams and only 4 CL slots, that’s huge.

Had that rule been in place this year - Spurs and Roma would have got those two slots (the goon have a better coefficient but didn’t qualify for Europe at all so wouldn’t be eligible).
The goon didn’t qualify for Europe this year - so racking up the wins against minnows in this poxy cup is a way for us to leapfrog the goon in the coefficient table and put ourselves in pole position to get CL football in 2024 even if we only qualify for EL or UEFA Conference in 2023-24.

 

[DiVaio]

no matter where we finish in the PL.

The clubs need to be in Europe or Conference League spot to qualify for CL from coefficient ranking .

 

[JeremyPaxton]

The clubs need to be in Europe or Conference League spot to qualify for CL from coefficient ranking .

Oups you’re right. Corrected.

 

[kmk]

 

[EQP]

If we do hire Conte, we should try and re-create the conditions that led to him winning the league with Chelsea. For me that means essentially bowing out of the ECL, so he can focus on implementing his philosophy and spend more time on the training pitch with the players. Doesn't help that we have the Copa's, Euros etc this summer, which will impact pre-season preparations and affect his ability to hit the ground running for next season.

 

[Erm33]

If we do hire Conte, we should try and re-create the conditions that led to him winning the league with Chelsea. For me that means essentially bowing out of the ECL, so he can focus on implementing his philosophy and spend more time on the training pitch with the players. Doesn't help that we have the Copa's, Euros etc this summer, which will impact pre-season preparations and affect his ability to hit the ground running for next season.

No let's not throw away a competition we actually have an excellent chance of winning.

 

[EQP]

No let's not throw away a competition we actually have an excellent chance of winning.

If we give Conte the time he needs and the players he wants, we could honestly challenge for the FA Cup, LC and possibly the league. Any of which would mean more than the ECL IMO.

 

[Erm33]

If we give Conte the time he needs and the players he wants, we could honestly challenge for the FA Cup, LC and possibly the league. Any of which would mean more than the ECL IMO.

But to win the fa cup or league cup you'll likely have to beat one of man city, man united, Chelsea or Liverpool. All of which would be much more difficult to beat than Roma.

 

[coyspurs18]

If we give Conte the time he needs and the players he wants, we could honestly challenge for the FA Cup, LC and possibly the league. Any of which would mean more than the ECL IMO.

As has been stated in the past, the coefficient could prove extremely important in the future. For that reason alone it’s worth pushing for IMO…plus a trophy would be nice.

 

[E17yid]

The best thing about this competition is that we don’t have to take it seriously to get far. I imagine we’ll win most of our games by 2 or 3 goals without getting out of second gear. I expect players to be professional, just as I would if they played a non league team in the FA cup, but I’m not expecting them to be all super serial about it.

Alternatively you can play the kids who will take it seriously and they will probably do alright as well. Though playing the kids still falls into the “not taking it seriously” box.