Why Europa League could be so important to Liverpool
The FA Cup hasn't been kind to Liverpool over the last few years. Since that epic victory over West Ham in 2006, the reds haven't progressed beyond the 5th round, have twice been knocked out by Championship sides at Anfield and have also been drawn early and faltered to great rivals Arsenal,Manchester United and Everton. So you would have thought that the misery inflicted by this famous cup competition was over for another season after Howard Webb helped United to a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in January. Last weekend proved otherwise.
A club like Liverpool shouldn't really find itself hoping for certain teams to win and resulting draws in cup competitions they are not involved in, but thats the situation they find themselves in and last weekend couldn't have gone much worse. Liverpool needed Birmingham to beat Bolton at home and for the winner of the Manchester United versus Arsenal game not to get Manchester City in the Semi Finals. Obviously neither of these things happened and could prove costly.
The reason it could prove costly is because now qualification to the next seasons Europa League now pretty much depends on entering it as holders. As Birmingham City's Carling Cup victory has given them a place in Europe it would have been more beneficial to Liverpool if they could have made Wembley for a second time, but Owen Coyle's men had other ideas meaning one of his Bolton side or Stoke City will be in Europa next year, removing the place that, in recent seasons, has gone to sixth position.
Which is why Liverpool will probably have to be holding up the trophy in Dublin in May just to be in the competition come 2011/2012. Currently in sixth position with many points to play for, it would still take a mixture of a complete collapse by Tottenham and a great Liverpool winning streak in order to have a sniff of fifth place. That looks unlikely at present, which is why Kenny Dalglish's men must throw evereything into this very winnable competition.
Fans have often debated the merits of Europe's secondary competition, but it is certainly better to be in it than not. Yes, it probably isn't half as glamourous as the Champions League and doesn't really get interesting until the knock out stage but as Roy Evans once said 'Liverpool without European Football is like a Banquet without Wine.' Some fans are stating that it could be a good thing if Liverpool don't have the distraction of Europe and really concentrate on the league, but that could be more harmful than helpful.
A return to the Champions League has to be the main target for Liverpool's new regime, of that there is no question. That means finishing in the top four of the Premier League and that means having a big squad full of good players. If you want to keep all of those players happy then the more games the better. To have a good squad full of good players you need to attract those players and although it doesn't have the lure of the senior competition it definitely has pulling power. Luis Suarez confirmed this upon joining in January when he said Liverpool are always in either the Champions League or Europa League and he wanted to be part of it.
A good squad must have the right mixture of experience and youth and the Europa offers a great opportunity to blood those youngsters. Under Roy Hodgson, Martin Kelly was only really used on Thursdays and that only would have helped him once he was called upon for Premier League games. The likes of Jonjo Shelvey, Danny Wilson, Jay Spearing and Nathan Ecclestone have all featured in Europa games and they certainly wouldn't see those games as a hinderance. As both Shelvey and Eccelstone have their twitter pictures of them in European action for Liverpool, this could be an indication of how honoured and pleased they have been to play in those games, because without them, they wouldn't have featured.
As well as giving the fringe and younger players a run out, it can also provide much needed match practice for players returning from injury. Joe Cole has struggled for minutes in the Premier League yet has been used a lot in Europe whilst Andy Carroll is currently using these matches to get himself ready for regular starts. Of course, as with the examples of Daniel Agger and Fabio Aurelio, players will also get injured in these games, but the positives surely outweigh the negatives when talking about qualification, and thats without mentioning the benefits to the fans.
Who isn't looking forward to a potential trip to Dublin? If Liverpool fail to make it to the Aviva Stadium in May, it will be five years since Athens, their last final. Think of how good it will be taking over another European City, red flags, scarves and shirts everywhere in sight, brilliant banners that only Kopites can do. Think of the songs, the banter and what it does to the morale of the fans, think of the memories that can be treasured forever. Although the competition may have lost some prestige since that famous match in Dortmund ten years ago, who doesn't rank that game up there with the most memorable matches of the naughties?
So there are plenty of reasons why Liverpool should do all they can to win The Europa League. This Thursdays game will need everyone behind the team in order to overturn the one nil deficit from last weeks game in 'The Quarry.' No, it's not, nor will be St Etienne, Inter Milan or Chelsea, but it is still a very important football match in a very important competition. As you take your seat in the stadium or tune in from home, don't forget how important this competition could be to Liverpool's future.
Follow me on twitter @andy_hayes1
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Dead right, and don't forget as winners we could look forward to a nice little trip to Monaco in August to meet the winners of the CL in the Super Cup.
Now what an opportunity that would be to start the new season and tell the football world we're on our way back.
A season with Kenny at the helm from the start(he must be made permanant), Suarez and Carroll settled in, a couple more canny additions in the summer and some very promising young lads coming through.
Looking forward to it.
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