Well done Sevilla and a' that but winning the Europa League four times (so I gather?) doesn't

[redgunamo]

actually seem to be getting them anywhere, does it. I mean to say, those who think it ought to be a gateway-trophy for Champions League success seem to be rather wide of the mark.

[IUFG]

[Berni]

never winning it imo

[Classic Jorge]

Who said Arsene was wrong when he described fourth place as a trophy itself, eh?

Pleased for Ever Banega too, now that lad had all the makings of a proper midfielder. Nice to see he didnt entirely squander his talents.

[Hendon Gooner (Only Easy Day Was Yesterday))]

[Classic Jorge]

[Hendon Gooner (Only Easy Day Was Yesterday))]

In some gawdaawful sky blue shirt....

[Classic Jorge]

He has a genuine love of the game, talks about it well and is very, very funny given half the chance.

"Gordon, can we have a quick word?"

"Aye, velocity"

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

[redgunamo]

f**king their four Europa League wins out of the window and building themselves a new ground instead.

We are now, at least, established as a CL club, whereas they are not.

[redgunamo]

rather than 50 million pound strikers. Growing the club, rather than just improving the team.

We will now win one within the next few years; that's the expectation.

[Ben.]

with the distribution of television money both here and in Spain this is pretty much their ceiling.
It's a remarkable achievement really, I'd happily take four UEFA (old school) Cups, the thought of that Galatasaray game still f*cks me off.

[Monty91]

[Monty91]

The Carragher one was best, imo.

[redgunamo]

playing good football, rather than money, B.

[Ben.]

not sure what I was thinking.

4m Euros if Vermaelen wins the Champions League is probably as good as winning the Europa League really.

[Monty91]

by virtue of making us richer and giving us more chance of domestic success (by virtue of being able to buy better players).

:shrug:

[Classic Jorge]

Dont quote me on this, ever, but GNeville came off really well.

[redgunamo]

matter how much money we have to spend.

[Monty91]

It's not quite sycophancy - he's not shy about challenging his subjects and bringing up sore points or contradictions.

It's almost a trite earnestness.

But yes, good stuff.

[redgunamo]

[Monty91]

The three best teams in Europe are on a different planet to England's Champions League contingent.

It would take a freakish set of circumstances for us to win the CL, whereas I could see us winning the league on merit at some point soon.

[redgunamo]

nobody thought we'd win it. This season, Chelsea were basically handed the trophy as soon as they signed Cesc Fabregas. This Summer, half the PL will probably spend serious money; I don't see how that's going to make things any easier for us.

Arguably though, the extra PL cash will help us catch up with Europe. On the other hand, money isn't really an issue for us because we already actually have a squad decent enough to win either trophy, if not both.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Once in the thing I fail to understand why any club would not go out of their way to win it. Given the PL status as best league in the world ever I find the general success of English clubs in this tournament to be laughable.

I have never seen it referred to as a "gateway-trophy for Champions League success" unless success is simply defined as qualification. Real CL success is still, and probably always will be, the preserve of a small elite group of really huge European clubs.

We're not even in this group.

[Monty91]

regardless of how much they spend.

There are too many culturally ingrained impediments to reaching the heights that Barca, Real and Bayern have achieved in recent years.

[redgunamo]

long term, and it did not involve winning the Europa League.

[redgunamo]

Chelsea or even Liverpool to win it themselves. England's record in the European Cup/Champions League is actually rather good. Basically, we don't give ourselves enough credit.

Our/Wenger's turn next, is all I'm saying.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Yes and No.

There is of course more to it than simply the above.

All the big players in Europe have players of that ilk and class, and always will have. While we will hopefully continue to grow and strengthen so will the others.

Our performances in Europe would still suggest we are as far away from winning it as we have ever been, save for the bizarre year that was 2006 of course.

[redgunamo]

It's just a cup competition anyway; it's bound to be our turn soon.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Welbz. Bless him.

[redgunamo]

:-|