UEFA Cup: Should We Care?
Watching the UEFA Cup matches this afternoon with a non-football fan it was asked of me why these matches matter. After all, the importance of the Tuesday and Wednesday Champions League matches far outweighed any significance today's matches carried. This is a common question my non-football fans ask. And while I am not only an extraordinary blogger of football, an immense recreational league talent (were I actually on a recrational side) I am also viewed as a footballing fountain of knowledge. So, it is understood why I would be looked to for an explanation of why the UEFA Cup matters.
I told my friend that this is another competition that the clubs must qualify for. It serves as a goal for mid-table sides to strive for on their way to never becoming financially stable enough to compete for a Champions League spot. The UEFA Cup provides an extra means of generating revenue, fan enthusiasm and exposure for clubs from smaller footballing countries (Belgium, Russia, Scotland, etc.).
My friend - who happens to love American football - said, "So it is a second rate competition".
Well sort of. I told him that football has so many layers to it and that going into great detail about each layer so he would no longer ask me questions about such silly things like the UEFA Cup would exert more frustration on my end than would be worth the trouble.
I suggested he imagine the NFL set up another post-season competition where the 6-8 teams that were not good enough to make the playoffs were allowed in. And that in the actual playoff competition, the teams that lose in the "Wild Card Round" were allowed to play back into this second competition. The NFL could give the championship game a title such as the American Bowl or the Almost-Super Bowl.
We both agreed that this would be terribly lame and that no one would give a shit. So, why do people care about the UEFA Cup? I don't know that there is any overhaul this competition could be given that would raise its profile or make anyone outside of the fans of the competing clubs care.
By the looks of the lineup Aston Villa paraded out in their loss to CSKA Moscow not even a team fighting for a top 4 spot in the English Premier league cares.
Would Sevilla trade their back-to-back UEFA Cup trophies for a single Champions League trophy? Of course.
Do the players on St. Entienne and Olympiakos realize this blogger is struggling to continue watching their match because it has no contexual relevance in my life? A life that revolves around following The Beautiful Game? Of course they do.
I ask you dear reader, please tell me why the UEFA Cup - soon to be Europa Cup - matters?
I told my friend that this is another competition that the clubs must qualify for. It serves as a goal for mid-table sides to strive for on their way to never becoming financially stable enough to compete for a Champions League spot. The UEFA Cup provides an extra means of generating revenue, fan enthusiasm and exposure for clubs from smaller footballing countries (Belgium, Russia, Scotland, etc.).
My friend - who happens to love American football - said, "So it is a second rate competition".
Well sort of. I told him that football has so many layers to it and that going into great detail about each layer so he would no longer ask me questions about such silly things like the UEFA Cup would exert more frustration on my end than would be worth the trouble.
I suggested he imagine the NFL set up another post-season competition where the 6-8 teams that were not good enough to make the playoffs were allowed in. And that in the actual playoff competition, the teams that lose in the "Wild Card Round" were allowed to play back into this second competition. The NFL could give the championship game a title such as the American Bowl or the Almost-Super Bowl.
We both agreed that this would be terribly lame and that no one would give a shit. So, why do people care about the UEFA Cup? I don't know that there is any overhaul this competition could be given that would raise its profile or make anyone outside of the fans of the competing clubs care.
By the looks of the lineup Aston Villa paraded out in their loss to CSKA Moscow not even a team fighting for a top 4 spot in the English Premier league cares.
Would Sevilla trade their back-to-back UEFA Cup trophies for a single Champions League trophy? Of course.
Do the players on St. Entienne and Olympiakos realize this blogger is struggling to continue watching their match because it has no contexual relevance in my life? A life that revolves around following The Beautiful Game? Of course they do.
I ask you dear reader, please tell me why the UEFA Cup - soon to be Europa Cup - matters?
Labels: Aston Villa, European Football, NFL, UEFA Cup
posted by Anonymous at 3:35 PM
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