Champions League, you're having a laugh? Wild Uefa changes almost make it harder for Premier League sides not to qualify
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE? You're having a laugh.
We've all heard it. The derisory chant from opposition fans when one of the so-called 'big guns' is having an off day.
4
Six English teams will qualify for next season's Champions League
Credit: Getty
4
Either Tottenham or Man Utd will earn Champions League qualification this season despite finishing 17th or 16th in the Premier League
Credit: Getty
For example,
Only now what was once a mildly amusing terrace jibe sums up perfectly what the leading club competition in the world has become. A joke.
Next season there will be a record SIX English teams in the Champions League.
Almost one third of the entire Premier League will be waved straight into the bizarre league phase by Uefa's welcoming doormen at an empty small town disco on a wet Tuesday night.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Anyone can come in. From
It is time to officially ban the phrase 'elite competition' whenever the Champions League is mentioned on TV and radio or written in print.
There was a time when you had to win your domestic league to progress into the highest level of European football the following season.
Simple as that.
Most read in Champions League
CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
4
Chelsea are set to qualify for the Champions League despite being 20 points adrift of Liverpool
Credit: Getty
We are now at a point where English Premier League teams have to work harder to stay out of the modern Champions League than to get in.
Spurs and Man United, regular participants in the past, have done spectacularly well trying to cock up their seasons. Yet
by virtue of winning the Europa League one of them will be alongside Liverpool,
'I'd dive head first through a brick wall for him' - Ange Postecoglou's rallying speech reduces Tottenham fans to tears
Erratic
From winning five Premier League games in a row, they went winless in the next five and couldn't string a pass together.
They lag 20 POINTS behind the bona fide champions of England from Anfield and are fifth.
Don't bet against them being in next season's Champions League.
The constant tinkering and chiselling away at a once simple game has led to Uefa getting its knickers in a right old twist.
Fifth in this year's Premier League grants a free pass into the treasure trove of the Champions League thanks to the coefficients which measure success where once it was about winning.
A whole page is devoted to thrill-a-minute 'coefficients' on the governing body's website to explain how a system that would baffle Stephen Hawking's much cleverer cousin actually works: 'Uefa calculates the coefficient of each club each season based on the clubs' results in the Uefa Champions League, Uefa Europa League and Uefa Conference League.
'The season coefficients from the five most recent seasons are used to rank the clubs for seeding purposes (sporting club coefficient).
"In addition, the season coefficients from the ten most recent seasons are used to calculate revenue club coefficients for revenue distribution purposes only.'
And that's just the overview.
There's a gag in there somewhere about how many coefficients does it take to ruin a game of football? Only I can't see a funny punch line.
There was a time back when the world was black and white in the 1950s when two imaginative French journalists took inspiration from South America and came up with the idea of the best clubs from each country competing for a trophy on our continent.
Ironically, it wasn't called the Champions League back then. It was the plain old European Cup. A cup fought over by teams in Europe. Simple eh?
Liverpool's first steps into the European Cup came in 1964, our sole representatives having won the league the previous season under Bill Shankly.
Next season they share the honour with five other English teams and some of them are pretty ordinary.
If Spurs win the Europa League and follow it up by winning the Champions League next year, the champions of Europe will come from a team currently 17th in England's top division.
You can argue it won't happen. Yet somehow a side which has lost more league games than it has won this season is in a European final next week.
That's cup football for you and it's a wonderful lottery. Qualification for the Champions League is not. It's a boring carve up.
4
The top five teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League due to European coefficients
Credit: AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
19 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
‘You can't sit and sulk about it' – John O'Shea backs Ireland striker Evan Ferguson to emerge from tough loan spell
John O'Shea says he has no fears about the state of mind of Evan Ferguson as he comes into the Ireland camp off the back of a disappointing spell in the Premier League. Ferguson had an unhappy stint on loan at West Ham from Brighton when he made just one start and failed to score, with his future at the Seagulls to be assessed ahead of the new term.
The Irish Sun
30 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
John O'Shea admits timing of June friendlies ‘awkward' but challenges Ireland stars to ‘show I'm needed' for World Cup
THE tone surrounding the talk about international football in June — excluding tournaments — is nobody likes it. But around 33,000 supporters and counting who have bought tickets for 2 Ireland face Senegal and Luxembourg in a pair of friendlies Credit: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile 2 John O'Shea challenged the players to show they are needed for the World Cup qualifiers Credit: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile Ireland's June results over the years, however, are enough reason to be wary of games being played when players could be forgiven for thinking of their summer holidays. Only recently, Shelbourne boss International Jason Knight acknowledged as much Tuesday when it was mentioned that he could be in Albufeira rather than the Aviva Stadium this week. Read More on Ireland MNT The sun is out, the English season is over and it is soon time for a holiday. At this time of year, players leaving the old Lansdowne Road or Aviva Stadium wheeling the big suitcase — the one you pack for the holiday rather than a short stay in Dublin — was a common sight. In 2009, one player even walked through a mixed zone in Bulgaria shouting, 'Vegas, Vegas', to leave onlookers in no doubt to where he was going next. It was seen as good fortune that Ireland's Most read in Football No qualifiers in June is a no-brainer. But results in June windows when nothing is at stake can be even worse. Assistant manager Heimir Hallgrimsson gives first call-up to four Ireland players in squad for friendlies vs Senegal and Luxembourg The same opponents walloped Ireland 5-1 in New Jersey as they prepared for the 2014 World Cup. Friendly wins are like hens' teeth in June, with landmarks rather than performances making them memorable. O'Shea's 118th and final cap came against the That was also a rarity for O'Shea who was so often excused from the summer action when there were no qualifiers. Earlier in his career, Steve Staunton felt he knew enough about the serial The 2007 summer tour of the USA was made up of a squad of players who often show up in 'Where are they now?' features. As O'Shea got older, he was given time off to put his feet up as Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O'Neill looked at other options. Still, the Ireland centurion was often back in the side when the real games started. But O'Shea insisted he and boss Those in the He said: 'It's awkward in the sense of the timing, it's different in the feeling of if these were qualifiers, the whole kind of reaction around it. 'But you have to build into what it can lead to in qualifying for tournaments. 'I think that has to outweigh any kind of . . . could be on holiday somewhere, could be away somewhere or whatever it might be. 'But I think the bigger goal of qualifying for the World Cup in America, 'If we get players to have an impact this week in the friendlies that suddenly help us qualify or score a goal to qualify us for the World Cup, I think you'll say it was definitely worthwhile.' KNIGHT & DAY It is why Knight — who was only included because his Championship season was extended by The 24-year-old said: 'I could be in Albufeira, you're right! Look, there's always time for holidays. I know I'm young, but I know these caps and these opportunities are like gold dust and I'm trying to grab them as much as I can. 'This is the dream, this is where I want to be and I'm excited to be here for these two games and hopefully many more.' His assistant boss O'Shea continued: 'It's representing your country at senior level, the highest level, and that's what you have to have in the background. 'And ultimately it's for the coaching staff, for us as a staff to have the time with the players to kind of get to increase the relationship with the players, increase the bond with the players, to introduce one or two new players, all those little factors. 'That brings a freshness into the lads that have been here a good while as well. We need that kind of freshness, but also increased competition. 'And I think it's up to the lads that are here now to show, 'Right, I'm in, I'm getting a chance, I'm involved, I need to stay here, I need to prove I can be needed here'. 'And I think that's the key element, increase that competition and then we get increased levels of performance. 'The lads that are having a rest as such from what the manager has spoken about, they will be thinking, 'I wonder how the other lads might get on'. That's what we need.'
Irish Examiner
35 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Caoimhín Kelleher transfer brings buzz to low-key Ireland summer camp
It wouldn't be a June window without absences and distractions. Caoimhin Kelleher has provided both ahead of the Republic of Ireland's pair of friendlies with Senegal and Luxembourg and not a soul is complaining. In London on Monday to firm up his switch from Liverpool to Brentford, the goalkeeper was back in situ in Abbotstown the next day for training before news of his five-year deal finally emerged from his new Premier League employers. Ireland assistant manager John O'Shea faced the same sort of decision a generation ago when, after over a decade hoovering up medals at Old Trafford, a dwindling of first-team opportunities prompted him to leave Manchester United for Sunderland. Speaking before Kelleher's news became official, O'Shea was already sure that Ireland are in good hands. 'It's not an easy thing for him to do. He's proven the quality that he has every time he's been asked to go in as the number one for Liverpool, the run of games that he's shown, that he's been able to show the consistency… 'He's shown when he's had a run that they haven't missed Alisson when he's been injured. That's what the whole of Europe and the whole of the world has seen when CaoimhÍn has been in goal for Liverpool. So whatever happens, I'm sure we'll get the benefit of it.' Read More Brentford announce signing of Caoimhín Kelleher from Liverpool Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has stated consistently that every player's club situation is different while confirming an overriding preference for his men to bank as much game time as possible. O'Shea seconded that. Kelleher as a first-choice Premier League player firms up the impression of a national side with lots of defensive options. If there has been headway made in terms of the forward line, then the stagnation of Evan Ferguson's career is still a cause for frustration. A loan spell at West Ham United didn't go as hoped although the teenager impressed with Ireland in the spring. He has 'trained excellently' the last few days, according to O'Shea who highlighted the need for players to keep doing what they do best regardless of circumstance. 'I mentioned it in March: it's just a case that you can't sit and sulk about it. The Premier League is that elite level that at the minute … You see all the teams already trying to get players in, trying to get business done early. 'If they can, the competition, you have to be at it and on it every day possible, doing everything you can. And if you do that and you're not getting in the team, you hold your hands up and you say fair enough.' Ireland have no injury concerns among the men called to arms this week, which is just as well given the number of Championship players already given the summer off for a spot of R&R and the low-key nature of the month's business. There isn't a huge to-do list against Senegal and Luxembourg. A pair of losses wouldn't be ideal given the momentum built up against Bulgaria in March and those qualifiers to come in September, but this is really about small gains. Some of the new faces will get a run and who knows what that may bring. 'Listen, if we get players to have an impact this week in the friendlies that suddenly help us qualify or score a goal to qualify for us for the World Cup, I think you'll say it was definitely worthwhile,' said O'Shea. Killian Phillips and John Joe Patrick Finn are two big men who will look to make an impression in the middle if given the chance and Josh Honohan has been 'having a good battle ' with Festy Ebosele in training. The coaches speak about how players need to show their personalities. The harsh fact of it is that opportunities can be fleeting and even signs of real promise can be superseded by obstacles further down the path. Kasey McAteer and Bosun Lawal, for example, both made inroads with Ireland in the last 12 months. Both have since found injuries hampering their hopes of building on that with Leicester City and Stoke City respectively. There will be no Sadio Mane on the Senegal side on Friday evening but the visitors still boast a side of some class with players assembled from eleven different countries. Four of them come from England's Premier League. As friendlies go, it beats Qatar or New Zealand. 'They will have different attributes, but also they have that quality of maybe a top European team that can hurt you on transition attacks, technical ability, speed. So we have to be very careful in terms of when we are attacking, that we're not leaving ourselves vulnerable. 'They have that pace and power to hurt you. They've obviously been on a very good run themselves too, a run of form. So don't concede too many goals. It'll be a very good test for the lads.'
