With the competition far more demanding than in its previous incarnation (The UEFA Cup), the Europa League has received some rather bad PR in recent years. With the huge shadow cast by it’s bigger more popular older brother, the Champions League, coupled with over fatigued Premier League legs battling against an already bloated league season, it’s difficult to see the competition for what it truly is.
Here’s Dispensable Soccer’s Dave Bickley with some reasons why the Europa League certainly isn’t a waste of anyone’s time.
Why You Should Watch the Europa League.
In the English footballing calendar, the Europa League lowers in relevance with every passing season. Our teams don’t seem to care, the fans merely see it as an opportunity to jolly themselves in far flung destinations, and the advertising and hype surrounding the competition this season has zoned down to the bare minimum.
In all honesty though, I can the understand the mind-set of the teams competing from the English Premier League when taking into consideration the money involved and the negative effect it has on the squads, both physically and mentality. In recent seasons it has even come to the point where it is seen as a hindrance and a reason to predict failure for a team’s season. This may or may not be correct, and my point is not to argue this, but instead to encourage you to look at the competition as a whole and watch the competition in spite of the English teams.
I’ll make it no secret that the Europa League is my favourite competition, and of course I could go down the clichéd argument route of “at the end of the day, it’s a cup” and “it’s a great experience for the young players”, but there is so much more to it than that, and I’ll give you the real reason why you should tune in this season.
High Calibre of teams
With big money being ploughed into more and more clubs across Europe, it has given rise to a new generation of teams; the next level “household names” of European soccer. These teams have enough financial clout to elbow out the “big teams” of ten years ago and own those Champions League places that were once guaranteed to the likes of Lyon, Internazionale, PSV, Valencia, etc. Does this means these historic teams have nothing to bring to the table? Of course not, these teams are just as competitive and entertaining as they always have been. So the fact that they now frequent the Europa League surely raises the bar for those competing.
In the 2015-2016 Europa League you’ll see Napoli, Lazio, Schalke, Dortmund, Ajax, Marseille and Villarreal all start in the group stages of the competition. Not only should these teams appeal to the intrigued football fan, but they also spur on the lesser known teams of the Europa League. The amount of times a “big name” team gets shocked at the pace and play of a so called “lesser” team should give you an indication about the competitive nature that each game brings. There is also the fact that those finishing 3rd in the Champions League group stages join in at the knockout stages and,regardless of whether this is fair or not, the fact is that the quality of football remains prevalent right through to the final.
Money
Just because the money spent in the Premier League vastly overlooks the prize money of the Europa League (€5million), it does not make it a small amount by any means. It only shows how bloated and extreme the Premier League is in comparison. To put this into some sort of context: €5m is the 51st highest transfer fee paid by a club in the Portuguese LigaNos, the 38th in the Dutch Eredivise, the 3rd in the Scottish Premiership, the 2nd in Belgium’s Juplier Pro League…in England this amount of money will buy you Robert Huth.
With that thought in place, let’s use the FA Cup cliché that everyone loves – “imagine what that kind of money would do”- to a team in the Danish, Polish, Greek or Czech Leagues. I appreciate only one can win it, but each win in the group stage is €200,000, and considering that the largest transfer fee paid by a club in Azerbaijan is €490,000, that’s like a team in England receiving £26.25m for a win.
My point is, these teams have a massive incentive to win games, and with so much at stake, this leads to fantastic games of football and shocks aplenty. (If you don’t believe me, how about this for some body-on-the-line defending.
High Calibre of Players
It is not just the money that motivates teams to play well, it is also the individual players knowing they are on a shop window to the whole of Europe. I am not of course trying to say that they are all fantastic; for some of these players the Europa League is certainly their peak. But for others showcasing their abilities, it certainly makes for some entertaining football moments. The Europa League offers the viewer a chance to watch future stars perform, and I don’t understand why this doesn’t draw more in.
A selection of players that lit up the Europa League before making it to the Premier League include Hazard, Lukaku, Shaqiri, Mané, Marković, Mangala, Rondón, Bony, Suarez, Ozil, Mata, Silva…the list is endless. If I encouraged you to watch Lille vs Valencia in the 2009/2010 Europa League knowing that Hazard, Debuchy, Mata, Gervinho, Cabaye, Jordi Alba, Pablo Hernandez were all on display, would you? Who knows what players we’ll get to see this season that could be future big money signings for your team!
Why So Insular?
Many may still not be convinced about what I have said so far, and that’s fine, you obviously don’t like football…sorry, you do? You must be part of the legions of football fans in England that will only watch a game if an English team is involved. I appreciate with England being part of the British Isles we do hold a certain “island mentality”, but I urge you to break through this! For example, Super Sunday is broadcasted weekly, with a question mark sometimes left hanging over the word “super”.
Regardless, these matches continue to receive way more viewers than they probably should. If this is the mind-set of many a viewer, then why do they not chose to watch a Red Bull Salzburg vs Dinamo Zagreb tie? You may scoff at these “lesser” teams, but both sides have got some fantastic footballers, play a brilliant style of football, and would surely be a better watch than Hull vs West Ham?
I also wonder why so many love and enjoy the “magic”of the FA Cup: rooting for the underdog, betting on an upset, poor quality pitches and watching for future starlets, yet use these exact same reasons not to watch the Europa League. Perhaps it’s that many cannot relate to the minnows of Skënderbeu as they can with, say, Blyth Spartans. Or maybe it’s because everyone in England supports a team that is competing, whether it’s in the extra preliminary qualifying round or from the Premier League. There is an easy solution to this; go pick a team and watch them…I bet you won’t be disappointed.