Brighton...

I can't say I'm that bothered either way, whether we get Europa or not. The remit for this season should have been a trophy and/or a very good league season. Fighting it out for 6th has little interest.

If we qualified for either, could we..

A. Win the Champions League.......No Chance
B.win Europa League....Maybe (Depends on many things in the coming months)

I admit it is a bit defeatist, but wouldn't you rather be in a competition you could win, rather than just participate in, and badly at that.

Reality goggles on!

comment by Bored As Fudge (U21998)
posted 22 minutes ago
If we qualified for either, could we..

A. Win the Champions League.......No Chance
B.win Europa League....Maybe (Depends on many things in the coming months)

I admit it is a bit defeatist, but wouldn't you rather be in a competition you could win, rather than just participate in, and badly at that.

Reality goggles on!
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The thing is we've come closer to winning the CL than we have the Europa in recent times and we've had more seasons in the Europa/UEFA Cup. When did we last even get to a QF in that competition?

Does part of this come down to the club's/Levy's obsession with top 4 in the league, leaving the manager to prioritise it less? Possibly. The current quality in the squad isn't there to bag one of the big trophies and that might include Europa right now, but enough to win a domestic trophy is more likely.

Ultimately, we just need to start improving the whole squad so that any trophy is more likely. It's like the Bill Nicholson quote about failure having an echo of glory. We should aim to build the squad up to challenge for the major trophies and if that fails we'll still probably have enough to win something.

Yes

Two wins for Spurs gets Europa I reckon, cannot see Brighton getting three wins from their remaining fixtures.

comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 8 hours, 38 minutes ago
I can't say I'm that bothered either way, whether we get Europa or not. The remit for this season should have been a trophy and/or a very good league season. Fighting it out for 6th has little interest.
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So you consider Europa League to be above Spurs then. No wonder opposition fans laugh at us.

I’d bite your arm off for Europa football right now.

Just wish we would try to win it rather than rest players so we can get fourth. All about culture again. We should want to win things instead of just line Joe Lewis pockets with fourth every year. It’s so dull.

I like the Europa. The early rounds allow some fringe players game time and gets the whole squad involved.

The latter rounds can be quite big ties and once you get to the QFs you defo want to win it and it becomes exciting at that point

comment by Devonshirespur (U6316)
posted 1 hour, 55 minutes ago
I like the Europa. The early rounds allow some fringe players game time and gets the whole squad involved.

The latter rounds can be quite big ties and once you get to the QFs you defo want to win it and it becomes exciting at that point


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See this is the approach I don’t want, if we qualify this year.

I either want us to play a complete youth team or field as close to our strongest 11 most games.

It has been the half in half out approach that has ultimately meant we have never mustered up much form in the past. Just using up energy of some key players without actually committing properly.

comment by BelfastSpur (U15068)
posted 44 minutes ago
comment by Devonshirespur (U6316)
posted 1 hour, 55 minutes ago
I like the Europa. The early rounds allow some fringe players game time and gets the whole squad involved.

The latter rounds can be quite big ties and once you get to the QFs you defo want to win it and it becomes exciting at that point


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See this is the approach I don’t want, if we qualify this year.

I either want us to play a complete youth team or field as close to our strongest 11 most games.

It has been the half in half out approach that has ultimately meant we have never mustered up much form in the past. Just using up energy of some key players without actually committing properly.
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I think its more of a careful management and rotation , I would not want to see wholesale changes. In my mind i tend to group key areas and rest one of them.

SO in defence, change up 1 CB and 1 FB from the regular 1st choice.

Swap out the DM and rest one of the CMs and one of the attackers. May be 4 changes maximum. With 6 group games, all key players get rested plenty and fringe players get plenty of pitch time to keep them sharp and to may be keep pushing the first choice. Once through the group, then pick the stronger players but the group stages may see someone like Sarr, for example, begin to shine if he's given 3 or 4 games. In the league these sorts of players get minutes which isnt enough to develop or prove anything.

Also keep a strong core through the team at all times - quality, experience and leadership needed in every game.

The underlying thing is quality though - the quality in reserve, especially in defensive positions, is poor and any rotation often leads to a drop off in performance.