I'm not saying I want us to falter at the Champions League group stage, but if we did I'd want us to go on and win the Europa. I see no inherent contradiction.

Much like the FA Cup or the C1C, it's a competition that features quite a few teams on about our level and is usually won by one of them. No shame there.

Burnwinter wrote:

Much like the FA Cup or the C1C, it's a competition that features quite a few teams on about our level and is usually won by one of them.

Porto, Valencia, CSKA Moscow, Sevilla, Zenit Petersburg, Donetsk and At. Madrid are our level now?

Things are bad!

Some people still think the world is flat. Ho-hum...

General Mirth wrote:

Porto, Valencia, CSKA Moscow, Sevilla, Zenit Petersburg, Donetsk and At. Madrid are our level now?

Many of the clubs mentioned and other examples either have beaten, or would have had a decent chance of beating us in Europe during the last twenty years.

You're saying that's a crap list of clubs? Well it's obviously not the top table, but equally it easily surpasses the lower quartile of the PL, or the vast majority of clubs in the domestic cups.

Biggus wrote:

I don't know why you're so surprised, some of us have known that for some time.

Burnwinter wrote:

General Mirth wrote:

Porto, Valencia, CSKA Moscow, Sevilla, Zenit Petersburg, Donetsk and At. Madrid are our level now?

Many of the clubs mentioned and other examples either have beaten, or would have had a decent chance of beating us in Europe during the last twenty years.

You're saying that's a crap list of clubs? Well it's obviously not the top table, but equally it easily surpasses the lower quartile of the PL, or the vast majority of clubs in the domestic cups.

We've played most of those teams in the CL group stages, with the exception of At. Madrid, and been a superior outfit.

Seriously, the teams Chelsea had to face to reach the final are: Sparta Prague, Steaua București, Rubin Kazan, FC Basel and now Benfica. That's not a competition, even the Emirates Cup attracts bigger teams than that!

If teams started taking it seriously, for starters by offering CL qualification to the winners, then there would be some merit but aside from that it's just a nice trip for match going fans but nothing more.

I don't even remember who won the Europa league last year. Can't remember the last time I watched the final either.

I'm interested in the FA Cup, but beyond that I just want to win a trophy that actually means we're a bloody good team; the league or CL.

We're not arguing whether the CL and PL are better than the other trophies, we're arguing whether any damn trophy is better than sweet fuck all.

Of course the majority of elimination cups consist of a string of routine victories followed by a couple of challenging encounters for the eventual winners. That's how they're structured.

Our situation is different we haven't lifted a trophy since 2005, to gain some credibility and to start things off, we need to win a trophy that is actually listed and that includes the CC, FA cup, Europa league, or indeed the CL or PL, and no I don't include the emirates cup or 4th spot or competing in the CL as a trophy.

Having said that, since we are now able to spend we should be aiming higher.

Burnwinter wrote:

We're not arguing whether the CL and PL are better than the other trophies, we're arguing whether any damn trophy is better than sweet fuck all.

Of course the majority of elimination cups consist of a string of routine victories followed by a couple of challenging encounters for the eventual winners. That's how they're structured.

Honestly, there aren't any challenging encounters in the UEFA cup. The only reason the likes of Villa, Everton and Tottenham haven't won it multiple times is because no one's bothered to be playing on a Thursday night.

Moreover, in domestic competitions you at least have history on your side with encounters dating back a 100 years. I'd much rather play Leeds in the FA cup 3rd round than face Rubin Kazan in the quarter finals.

Anyway, we'll probably end up in the Europa next season, and I'm not so sure you'll feel the same way about the competition when you have to set the alarm for 4 am to watch us play Young Boys Bern.

Burnwinter wrote:

We're not arguing whether the CL and PL are better than the other trophies, we're arguing whether any damn trophy is better than sweet fuck all.

Of course the majority of elimination cups consist of a string of routine victories followed by a couple of challenging encounters for the eventual winners. That's how they're structured.

Really not bothered about winning a two bob trophy.

Nor me. Sweet fuck all or Europa League is about the same.

What?

Sure.

I think Captain meant the Europa League

Like I said, I'm not talking about what sounds good at the start of the season when everything's still on the table.

But right now I'd rather be Chelsea with CL qualification locked up and a final to look forward to. If we won it it'd only be our second bloody European trophy.

You can look down on it and perhaps correctly so, but it's not like we have a cabinet full of European Cups so I'd say it's about our level. Our time in Europe remains in the future.