Are you missing European football? (Or does only CL footy matter?)

Fortitude

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We have massive gaps between our games. Some ask why our players look tired given a week of rest between games? Likelihood is that that gap is damaging for momentum and form for most of our players.

But what about you as a fan? Some have been utterly dismissive about the Europa League and seem to be CL or bust mindset. Is that you? Or do you miss us playing in Europe even if it means random locations you might never heard of on a Thursday?

Is a domestic campaign more your cup of tea until we’re back in the CL, or would you prefer EL football next season if we’re not in the CL?
 
It's annoying to wait a full week between games, that's for sure. Especially because they've squeezed in 17 international breaks in the first third of this season, for some reason. So in that sense I miss it. That being said, this squad would not be very capable of competing on multiple fronts at the same time. So for this project it probably makes sense to not have it this year and then add a lot to the quality of the squad depth before next season.
 
I don't miss the midweek games as much as I thought I would have. It's still a blow that we didn't even qualify for the Conference League this season, but given the severity of the transition we're going through right now I'd much rather be out of Europe altogether than be in the Europa or Conference League and see our results in the PL suffer because of the drain on the players. But what that means is that we desperately need to finish 4th (or is it 5th now?) in the PL or win the FA Cup.
 
I'm not really missing it because I don't think we're at the level to be competitive in it right now. I'm not a massive fan of the new format either, from a Man Utd perspective. It's great for smaller clubs though.
 
Yeah. EL is still a great competition, and we’ve gone very far in it multiple times, which just doesn’t happen in the CL any time we’ve actually qualified.

Would be buzzing to be back in either next year. Not the conference though.
 
Can never really get too worked up about the EL. CL only for me.
 
I really miss it, but happy to sacrifice it this season to see if there is some outside chance we can keep guys like Casemiro healthy and maybe sneak top 5.

I do hate what it does to players like Mainoo and Heaven who cannot find enough minutes.
 
Our midfield is very weak. One injury to Casemiro and we would be wrecked. Not having that extra midweek game helps in the long run to build our gameplay and formation that should probably help us next season. Having said that, if we don’t take advantage of this and don’t qualify for CL, it would be a massive loss. We should be targeting top 5 and FA cup win to set us up for a more successful next season. We are a team in transition and not having midweek game helps
 
Nothing beats Champions League nights let's face it, but its time we got to grips with the league and showed some consistency there.

I've definitely enjoyed some of the random teams we've faced in the Europa plus the exciting knock out rounds in recent years though.

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling the long weeks between games now, plus the effect it's having on hospitality in Manchester. Hotels, restaurants and bars will be feeling the loss of European football badly!
 
Miss European football. The dramatic nights at OT like the Lyon game last season… on route to European finals. Let’s bring it back… first though we need to show consistency and competitiveness in the league.
 
Of course it matters, a club of this size should be playing in the latter stages of the Champions League and actually making an impact, risk being a complete afterthought at the top of world football after a long stretch away from it. It's okay one season out of it, but only if it leads to a significant upturn and sets up playing at that level again in the next few seasons.
 
Of course, after watching the big games I always ponder of how we have to be in CL already next season. It's vital.
 
It’s imperative that we are back in European competition next season, both for the added revenue and the opportunity to strengthen the squad. Not too fussed which competition we end up in. CL is where we obviously would like to be, but I don’t want to be in it if we are not competitive enough. Yes, I miss the mid-week matches but our squad is so thin that it’s probably best we are out of Europe this season. I do think we need to take it a step at a time. At least qualify for one of the lower European competitions this season and build from there.
 
I really miss us playing more. But also guess it's good for the likes of Shaw and Casemiro, less good for onboarding academy players. Two matches a week is ideal.
 
I actually really enjoyed the Thursday evening games, something about it, like a nice nearly start to the weekend (when we did well anyway). I find Tuesday's/Wednesday's generally much more difficult to find time to tune in anyway.
 
I really can't understand people who are in "CL or nothing" camp.

European football (any kind of it) brings:
1) More games to watch your team
2) Money
3) Potential trophy
4) Chance to rotate team and avoid having unhappy players.
 
Not really as

1)We wouldn’t get very far in the competition.

2)Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG are the only really great teams in Europe at the moment anyways.

So we aren’t missing much.
 
United not being in Europe is tragic for me. Constant reminder of a dimming light, I hate it. But hopefully we get our spark again soon
 
TsuWave said:
United not being in Europe is tragic for me. Constant reminder of a dimming light, I hate it. But hopefully we get our spark again soon
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I totally agree. I hate these weeks. It was bad enough when we were playing Thursday night football but no European games at all is awful. Perhaps we’ve been spoilt.
 
It’s a bit odd, the big gaps. But i think it’s what is needed at present. Could get tired of it next season though
 
Yes. Premier League isn’t enough football to distract from real life.

Football is and always has been my escape from the real world for a couple of hours every 3/4 days, and I’m sure it’s the same for many others.
 
I want to watch as many games united play as possible, i would have watched us play UECL at 1.30 AM happily today. I would never turn my nose at united playing any competition, cause its united and you know, you have to watch. Its an escape from reality that can alter mood for a weekend and if its bad at weekend, there is a game in 3 days to look forward to hopefully make you happy.
 
When Utd competed in European competitions midweek, complain was that we didnt have the squad to then rotate players and maintain the same intensity for PL games at weekend. Now we don't have any midweek games, it cannot be that lack of game is causing the lethargy.

The fact remains that if our players cannot maintain their physicality and intensity when the opposition does, invariably we drop points as our level isnt high enough to be able to compensate.
 
I’m watching more non-United football on account of us having fewer games, which has been good because I’ve watched Liverpool lose a good few times.

I’m actually quite glad we’re not in Europe though as it’ll be better for us in the long run. Meant we’ve been able to be more brutal in cutting the deadwood. If we’d had CL football, we’d have had to run a bigger squad. Could’ve seen Hojlund being kept on, Lindelof getting a one year extension, another punt or two of signing that would quickly become deadwood. It’s allowed us to trim the fat to the bone which we’ve needed to do for a while.
 
By the end of last season I was fed up watching the team. This season is a bit more fun but once a week is enough. It's kind of nice not to have to think too much about football during the week. Obviously if we were playing better football my opinion would be different.
 
Missing it? Yes. But as others have alluded to, in order to rebuild properly we needed to be out of Europe. We need the limited games to help cut the squad and the time during the week to learn Amorim's system properly.
 
European football is all about the CL. I don't really give a toss about the EL or the conference league. Would prefer no Europe over those two.
 
Not really. We don't deserve to be in Europe after how shambolic we've been. Plus, European games are an extra chance for our players to get injured.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I miss CL absolutely. I don't miss EL, it's pretty much nothing games until you get into knockouts in the spring.
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As true as this is, it’s still good to watch the team play down pub and get more games under their belt. No doubt, for example, we’d see a lot more goals from Sesko finding his feet against weaker opposition rather than trying to combat a Dyche block against meathead centre backs during his first few months in the job.
 
If we beat a presumably tired Spurs this weekend, I would be content with no European football this season at least until the next tie we have with a Top 6 side.
 
I’m not even missing the champions league for that matter
 
Ever since the new formats I can't be bothered with any
 
Obviously CL is the bigger deal but at this time they feel like exhibition matches with no jeopardy.

I used to be positive on Europa but with ourselves and Spurs making the final, us without a loss until then, couldn't find a win the in PL, both teams just above relegation I really question the standard of Europa. Thursday nights and moving games to Sunday at 2pm have always felt off.
 
I’m actually don’t mind not watching much football. Perfectly fine with just watching us once a week.

Think the disappointments of the past years have taken a toll on me and just how the game is going with all the money, sport washing, silly officiating, silly rules etc. means I have less of an interest in the overall game. Plus the game itself has less magical moments with flair players. It’s more a tactical game with systems and formations and robotic play now:

I still enjoy watching us regardless but don’t have as strong feelings about it as I did years back.
 
I did like our EL nights a bit when it got to the latter stages, but for me it's nothing compared to CL games. You can win the EL and can't say you're the best team in Europe. At least in the CL you're playing amongst the best. Feels better. EL feels a bit more Carling Cupish.
 
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