I bet you guys thought you would win convincingly against Gent as well?
Yup, but football is football and we didn't perform, and like I've already said; Spurs were comfortably the worst English team in Europe this season if that's what you wanted to hear. This doesn't have anything to do with the argument though.
The Championship is the lower tier of the English football league system, those two are incomparable. Copa America and the EURO championship does not feature the best teams from Europe and South America respectively. Does that equate to winning the Championship as well?
Is finishing 5th like Arsenal and getting to the CL final better than finishing 6th and winning EL?
If you win the EL it is obviously a good thing, and the comparison I made was only to meant to show how the best teams in Europe aren't even in the competition. Copa America and Euro would in which case (to follow the analogy) be more like La Liga, PL and so on since it got the best teams from a region.
And finishing 5th and CL runners up would mean that Arsenal had a better European campaign than you, and domestic campaign in my view. But since EL win gives a CL spot who had the better season overall is still up for discussion. Which is one of the reasons I don't like that the EL gives a CL spot.
That is the most ridiculous point. Wondering how gutted Chelsea must be feeling right now as the best 8 teams of Europe weren't even in the PL. Bizarre thought process.
I don't think the 8 best teams in Europe are in the PL right now, maybe Chelsea sneaks in, but this is also not my point. I was talking about teams who had a the successful European campaign this year. And I've simply said that I think the most sucessful European teams can be measured like this:
CL winners > CL runners up > Semi finalists > Quarter Finalists > Round of 16 > EL winners > EL runners up and so on. I don't think this is that controversial. Or how do you think the EL winners fit into this?
My last post for today but to respond.
I don't think any team should crash out of any competition but I also would prefer to see my team win a final than not. I don't look fondly back on United being knocked out by Mourinhos Porto but I will look back on Fellaini lifting the Europa League tonight if we win.
My point isn't about what fans look back upon or remember. That was the whole point to begin with, how strange it is that a team that finished first in their group and deemed to be too good for the EL are seen to have had a worse European campaign than teams who were judged 'not good enough' to get into the knock out stages. I don't disagree with you at all about what might feel better.
Sorry to take up your posts and thanks for the discussion! Good luck tonight, I'm looking forward to the game!