Ok I'll admit it. I am actually looking forward to watching these Europa league games

[Burney]

Good man, Pat.

There's no point in us all moaning about the repetitive familiarity of the CL if we can't get a little tingle of interest in something different. Tomorrow night we are playing a side in their first European competition for 25 years. Apparently 20,000 heavily armed* Germans will be invading North London just to add to the fun.

We might even see Per Mertesacker play football again. Possibly a glimpse of the less-spotted Debuchy or the new Sammy Nelson.


*I may have made that bit up.

But surely we're just replacing one grindingly tedious and bloated European competition with another, lower-quality one? Hardly cause for celebration imo.

[Pat Vegas]

But surely we're just replacing one grindingly tedious and bloated European competition with another, lower-quality one? Hardly cause for celebration imo.

Maybe it's a curse that we need to win the Europa league before we can ever win the Champions league.
also Wenger needs a League cup win to get his magic ways back.

[Ash]

But surely we're just replacing one grindingly tedious and bloated European competition with another, lower-quality one? Hardly cause for celebration imo.

Not so much celebration as looking on the bright side of life.

So when you're chewing no life's gristle
Daaaahhhn't gwumble, give a whistle!
And this'll help things turn out for the best ....

[redgunamo]

Not so much celebration as looking on the bright side of life.

So when you're chewing no life's gristle
Daaaahhhn't gwumble, give a whistle!
And this'll help things turn out for the best ....

Dancing on the streets of Lyon in May? All that sausage and wine and Cervelle de canut? Formidable!

[Pat Vegas]

Dancing on the streets of Lyon in May? All that sausage and wine and Cervelle de canut? Formidable!

I'll have my hands full with McMuffins

[redgunamo]

But surely we're just replacing one grindingly tedious and bloated European competition with another, lower-quality one? Hardly cause for celebration imo.

Of course, but that's just modern football, innit. There's so much money about that almost anyone you can think of wants to get their cut of it; hence more and more tedium and bloat, as you call it.

The good thing about the Europa League though, is that we can simply focus on being one of the real favourites and concentrate on actually winning it, without having to bang on about financial doping and FFP and the Tiredness and whatnot.

If Wenger has anything at all left, this competition really ought to bring out the very best in us.

[Sir C]

But surely we're just replacing one grindingly tedious and bloated European competition with another, lower-quality one? Hardly cause for celebration imo.

Here's the thing though, a football team exists to play football. If you find the playing of this football so very tedious you may, to paraphrase our big-nosed chum, be engaged with the wrong hobby.

[SWv2]

But surely we're just replacing one grindingly tedious and bloated European competition with another, lower-quality one? Hardly cause for celebration imo.

Well the ideal scenario was to be so shít as to not even qualify for the EL, but then again I am unsure if that is ideal.

We're in it now so may as well just win the fúcking thing.

[redgunamo]

Well the ideal scenario was to be so shít as to not even qualify for the EL, but then again I am unsure if that is ideal.

We're in it now so may as well just win the fúcking thing.

Yes, the idea has to be that if it's good enough for Manchester United, it's good enough for us.