KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Europa League - Win it or say goodbye

With the FA Cup semi-final draw destroying our chances of qualifying for the EL next season via a league place, we are now left with being forced to win this season's competition. If we do we deny a place to whoever finishes 5th in the EPL.

That is my understanding of the rules for qualification for the event next season anyway. 3 places to England. League Cup winner (Birmingham). FA Cup winner/runner-up (one finalist will not be qualified for European competition, since Bolton play Stoke in the second semi-final). 5th in the EPL - currently Spurs. England can gain an additional EL slot via the fair play table, but Liverpool are far off the pace there (9th) and currently it will go to Fulham.

Were I Kenny I would now consider winning the EL as the most important thing this season if I wanted to lure players from the continent to Liverpool during the transfer window, though obviously he should be wary of finishing below 6th in the EPL in order to attract local stars and ensure the offer of a full time contract. If he thought there was no pressure on him, I think this will change his mind, so I hope he can get it through to the players that they need a big performance on Thursday. Yes, in the long term view it's not that important as it is a minor cup, but not only is it our only remaining chance of silverware this season, I feel it's something we need to win in order to retain our momentum through the summer into next season.

im not bothered about this cup, you dont even make any real money from it useless in every sense if we win we win it but i wont lose any sleep about losing to braga on thursday

If we do end up winning it than that would be great however,I think if we stay away from this competition next season and concentrate on domestic matters I feel would do us a lot of wonders. We always seem tired and exhausted after european ties which disrupts our domestic form. 5th is a likely possability so I think we will make this competition one way or another. Does it affect us making great signings? I don't think so, Its not such an illustrious trophy like it used to be and while winning it will freshen the club up and bring us back some trophy hunger, I feel we can attract many players without it.

Exactly. It would give the manager two competitions (EL + League Cup) in the first half of the season to develop the reserve/youth players and to toughen them up a bit for the second half of the season when injuries have a greater toll on the squad. That and the "we're not so shiite that we don't even compete in the EL" label is also worth bearing in mind - remember that we're trying to get players like Coentrao to sign for us (hopefully), and that's a guy who can easily "trade up" to a CL-qualified team in our place. Missing out on the EL would make the choice for such a player remarkably easy; any team but Liverpool.

While I accept that no European competition would allow us to focus on the EPL and the lottery that is the FA Cup, I think missing out on the EL would be a blow to the prestige of LFC.

Rafa, you might think it won't affect us but it will. Lets say we reach the semi final or final of this competition. The manager is not going to stick with youngsters now is he considering he has a big chance of lifting a trophy. It will affect us down the line somewhere. Again Love to win it but hate to be in it next year.

if manchester united or city win the F.A.Cup the F.A.Cup place goes to the league not the runners-up if city or united finish in the top 4 so 6th place would come into play remember people liverpool by rights shouldnt have been in this seasons europa league only getting the place due to portsmouth being in admin .

Your argument defeats your argument. If we're only in the EL this season because Portsmouth were in administration (in fact I think it was more due to a late application for their European licence), then that would imply that the FA Cup winner's EL spot was passed down to Portsmouth in the first place (Chelsea were already CL qualified, having won the league). Therefore the same will happen to Bolton or Stoke should they lose the final, and therefore the spot will not go back to the league. I guess if City wins the FA Cup and finishes 5th we could get in if we finish 6th (the cup winner's place is higher in the pecking order as I read things) - haven't thought about that permutation.

The Europa would be worth it if it offered a CL place (still have to go through the qualifiers) for whoever won it, but as it is, it runs too long, offers little in prize money and for a team like Liverpool doesn't hold much interest. Having said that, while we are at this late stage of the competition, we should try our level best to win it. Next season though should all be about the prem.

To be quite honest a trophy is a trophy. Liverpool are not a champions league team, so players are gonna think twice about coming here, the world knows we've been on a downward spiral, will top players want to hop on that without a real reason to think we've steadied the ship? Winning the european cup that we're in would go some way to proving just that in my opinion. Also think of the moral boost a trophy like that would bring, plus a bit of extra money; and I don't think it should be ignored how the team feels, and how the world views us not being in any european competition next year, that would be us falling down yet another tier on our downward spiral.

Players don't look at Liverpool's history and think "this is the best club in the world" anymore. Players think "what can I get out of joining Liverpool", and if they look at the sorry state we're in (temporary manager, eliminated from both local cup competitions in our first round of matches, no hope of qualifying for the CL next season or the one after without serious investment) then they will think "I will get nothing out of joining this club". However, if we win the EL, and Kenny gets a full time contract with open promises of backing in the transfer market from the owners, the player view changes; this club has a good manager, they are clearly capable of winning silverware even during a disrupted season, I might be able to get something by joining this club.