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January Transfer Thread 2020

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TheBigIguana said:
It's prestigious enough that just being in the CL is fine. The Europa League not so much.

I'd still be upset if we were rotating for every CL game just like we typically do in the Europa. My bigger problem is not that we don't win it, but that we don't treat it with any type of priority. Why is it so important to qualify for something if we just want to treat it as a burden?
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I agree with the latter point, I've never understood the disdain with which English clubs treat the Europa league (and before that, the UEFA cup). Clubs like Sevilla have used those competitions as a means to solidify themselves as proper European contenders. In my view we should always be aiming for Europe and when we get there we should use it as a means to demonstrate that that is where we belong. I hate to use the word "brand" in relation to football clubs but doing well in Europe is a way to demonstrate to prospective players and managers that we are a top level place and somewhere they would be pleased to work and also would start to rekindle the idea in opposition clubs and fanbases that we are a club that should be respected, if not feared, on the pitch. Much as it pains me to say it, we have become a club that too many of the top clubs view as fodder and too many clubs at the bottom of the league view as an opportunity to take points from. Performing, and performing well, in Europe may help us develop that aura that helps so many other clubs before the opposition even cross the white line.
 
TheBigIguana said:
It's prestigious enough that just being in the CL is fine. The Europa League not so much.

I'd still be upset if we were rotating for every CL game just like we typically do in the Europa. My bigger problem is not that we don't win it, but that we don't treat it with any type of priority. Why is it so important to qualify for something if we just want to treat it as a burden?
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Please don't take this as a dig at your location, i'm just trying to explain some of the reasoning. As a matchgoing fan, being in Europe is a big thing for me because I like going to European games, both home and away. The dull monotony of getting the same results against the same teams and hearing the same chants from opposition supporters season after season is broken up, and there's really nothing better than visiting some great European cities with your mates to watch Everton. Football isn't about spreadsheets and stats and financial models for me and thousands of others like me, it's about joy. God knows we've had little enough of that watching Everton over the years, why the hell would we not want more?
 
Lanolin said:
Please don't take this as a dig at your location, i'm just trying to explain some of the reasoning. As a matchgoing fan, being in Europe is a big thing for me because I like going to European games, both home and away. The dull monotony of getting the same results against the same teams and hearing the same chants from opposition supporters season after season is broken up, and there's really nothing better than visiting some great European cities with your mates to watch Everton. Football isn't about spreadsheets and stats and financial models for me and thousands of others like me, it's about joy. God knows we've had little enough of that watching Everton over the years, why the hell would we not want more?
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i'd agree with you if you supported City. But same results vs the same teams? I don't think Everton have ever treated us to such tedious regularity of wins!
 
TheBigIguana said:
I'd still be upset if we were rotating for every CL game just like we typically do in the Europa. My bigger problem is not that we don't win it, but that we don't treat it with any type of priority. Why is it so important to qualify for something if we just want to treat it as a burden?
Click to expand...

The problem is that Europa is like the FA Cup - it's great if you win it but otherwise it's just wasted effort.

So you see teams handling the competition the same way - prioritize the league, since that's the sure route to CL qualification and the millions, unless they get far enough that lifting the thing starts to be a real possibility. Since winning comes with a CL ticket attached now, Europa can become the priority for a team in sixth in the league in the spring.

It's important to qualify for it because it is a fallback lottery ticket. The important thing is (regular) CL qualification not just because of the TV money, but because it makes the best players available. You really don't want the "top players" that will come to a Europa side for a bigger payday than they could get elsewhere. You could ask Ed Woodward how well that works out.
 

Lanolin said:
Please don't take this as a dig at your location, i'm just trying to explain some of the reasoning. As a matchgoing fan, being in Europe is a big thing for me because I like going to European games, both home and away. The dull monotony of getting the same results against the same teams and hearing the same chants from opposition supporters season after season is broken up, and there's really nothing better than visiting some great European cities with your mates to watch Everton. Football isn't about spreadsheets and stats and financial models for me and thousands of others like me, it's about joy. God knows we've had little enough of that watching Everton over the years, why the hell would we not want more?
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I completely understand that. As someone who isn't going to matches all over Europe and getting those days out, I'd like to see us not just win games but win trophies. I just don't see Europa as being beneficial to that end unless we actually try to win it and it feels to me like that we don't take the right attitude into the tournament for that to ever happen.

Maybe that changes under this management. But it needs to be viewed as an opportunity, otherwise I'd just as soon skip the fixture congestion and settle for 8th.
 
Lanolin said:
Please don't take this as a dig at your location, i'm just trying to explain some of the reasoning. As a matchgoing fan, being in Europe is a big thing for me because I like going to European games, both home and away. The dull monotony of getting the same results against the same teams and hearing the same chants from opposition supporters season after season is broken up, and there's really nothing better than visiting some great European cities with your mates to watch Everton. Football isn't about spreadsheets and stats and financial models for me and thousands of others like me, it's about joy. God knows we've had little enough of that watching Everton over the years, why the hell would we not want more?
Click to expand...

For fans its watching the team play against different european sides and going there (like you say) which breaks up the season and theres a holiday feel to it all...and fun to see if we can progress...

For players they will want to travel around europe as well seeing how good they are compared to others. Also they see Europa as a stepping stone to the champions league.

Before getting top 4 consistently we really would need a big enough squad to compete in both league and domestic cups as well as to adapt to the different speed in which games come with europe.

I think its brilliant to have european competition. If we just finished 4th next season with no europe then fine...but it would most likely be a one off...
 
Mikey_Fitzgerald said:
Diving doesn't work for us because we're not a big enough club

Ditto for talking to the ref

It's wasted energy

Even if we bought a penalty with a dive they'd just VAR the crap out of it and end up booking our player
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We still should try. It's an art. We won't perfect it overnight.

Also it isn't just for penalties. It needs to be a constant part of the game.
 


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