The FA Cup is far more exciting than Thursday night football against the also-rans of Europe however the guarantee of a CL place for the winners no doubt it makes it more appealing to the bean counters at the club.
Europa League or FA cup
- Thread starter UnofficialDevil
- Start date
europa league has higher prestige. i see no difference between fa cup and league cup, same cup played twice.
so much wrong with this post.
Europa League and it isn’t even close.
Winning the FA cup under LVG felt a bit meh because we didn’t qualify for the CL. The Europa league least gives you a place for the CL.
Finishing 5th and FA cup is meh
Finishing 5th and Europa league is decent/good.
Winning the FA cup under LVG felt a bit meh because we didn’t qualify for the CL. The Europa league least gives you a place for the CL.
Finishing 5th and FA cup is meh
Finishing 5th and Europa league is decent/good.
I expect there’s a division across demographics on this.
the Europa league honestly means nothing to me. It’s been a joke of a competition since they combined it with the Cup Winners Cup, especially when those who finish third in the CL groups get parachuted into the competition. it’s ridiculous.
Would be far better without the CL rejects, and yes that includes United.
The group stages are boring, and there’s little interest in most games before the semi and the final, even from the teams involved.
The only value is the CL qualification, and that’s only been an incentive for about 5 years (from memory).
I think what you've rightly pointed out is that this is completely dependent on where you finish in the league and where you finished the previous season.
No matter how you dress it up, for a club like Utd, even being in the Europa League is a sign of a failing of sorts at some point earlier down the line. Being in the FA Cup isn't.
I think most fans would choose getting through the Champions League group phase, even if it meant being knocked out the following round, than dropping into Europa. Equally, finishing outside the top 4/not qualifying for the CL at all is a failure for this club.
Of course once you're in it, you should try to win it, but the cloud hanging over the Europa League's head is that even being in the competition at all is almost certainly due to a feck up in the first place
Im 34 and I used to love the FA cup, especially 4-5 hour build up before the final. I also loved the knockout version of the UEFA Cup. Never overly cared for the CWC but it was a good watch.
I just value beating other teams in Europe (even in a lesser competition than the CL) higher than beating domestic based sides.
The FA cup means little to me nowadays. I got over our exit pretty quickly. The defeat against Sevilla last season left a bitter taste for awhile in comparison.
Well now we don’t have a choice but our European trophy haul is disappointing for the size of our club. I know it’s Europa but adding a 6th European trophy would be nice and hopefully a platform for this squad to go on and do better things.
im a bit older than you. Nothing wrong with disagreeing.
I would be more supportive of the EL if CL rejects didn’t get filtered into it.
the group stages are of no interest.
it should be a straight knockout with 2 legged ties, no group stages, then it might be interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a EL match as a neutral (not involving United), whilst I’d happily watch lots of FA Cup matches irrespective of the teams, especially a L1 or L2 team playing a PL side.
Agreed. The group stage can feck off
I’d love a straight knockout European competition. I still remember getting knocked out by Volgograd (who now don’t exist).I remember that! An expanded CL isn't going to help to EL either.Agreed. The group stage can feck off
I don't see it as an either or option. It should be both! If we can't beat a Milan side who's main man is 39 and a foxes team missing its best player then we aren't good enough.
As for the attitude of defending our history by stopping city winning the FA cup? We shouldn't be trying to stop them, we should be trying to win it for ourselves. Our history won't be defended until the Premier league trophy is back where it belongs.
Sadly I don't see that happening for a very long time as both Chelsea and City have been released from the shackles of financial fair play and will both be focusing on building World beating sides.
As for the attitude of defending our history by stopping city winning the FA cup? We shouldn't be trying to stop them, we should be trying to win it for ourselves. Our history won't be defended until the Premier league trophy is back where it belongs.
Sadly I don't see that happening for a very long time as both Chelsea and City have been released from the shackles of financial fair play and will both be focusing on building World beating sides.
It's one of those things that brits will value the FA Cup more but pretty much everyone else will view the Europa League in higher standing. More prize money and being 1st seed for the next years CL and the coefficient boost you get means the club would by far rather win the Europa League too.
The super cup is more valuable than the community shield for example. For info, we were in the Super Cup in 2017 after winning the europa league with Mourinho, lost 2-1 to Real Madrid I think. Since it was founded in 1972, we've played in it 4 times, beat Red Star Belgrade in 1991, lost to Lazio in 1999, lost to Zenit in 2008, lost to Real Madrid in 2017. Of course it's not a big trophy, but it's still something.
FA cup - sick of Thursday night football, rubbish away trips. Plus it will snuff city’s treble attempt.
the history of the FA cup is romantic, it’s still got that finesse about it.
the history of the FA cup is romantic, it’s still got that finesse about it.
On the long run I think I would rather win the FA Cup. I see the Europa League as a place where we don't belong and winning it and celebrating makes me feel as if that's our new standard.
Hopefully in the future when we go back on top we'll look back and see the europa league title/titles with shame thinking we should never had been there in the first place.
Hopefully in the future when we go back on top we'll look back and see the europa league title/titles with shame thinking we should never had been there in the first place.
For me squad depth means having enough players, especially ones who can slot in almost seamlessly with only a small drop in quality. We're not there right now, not least because we've had too many managers of differing philosophies over the last seven years. Ole isn't everyone;s cup of team but he's providing some stability in that regard and hopefully the board supports him in ensuring we have a squad capable of playing in four competitions and going far in all of them.
Last edited:
"Up for the Cup" - remember standing out side Anfield late 50's (or early 60's) 3rd round of FA Cup, United had drawn Liverpool away, who were ( i think) still in second division. I had a packet of homemade roast beef sandwiches tucked inside my jacket. Mad Scousers pushing and shoving all over the place, finally my sandwiches went flying... but we won 3-1 Warren Bradley (2) Bobby Charlton (1)... dont get that sort of memory in the Europa!
Thats an utopia, no team has such a squad. At least not a good one, not even City. Having players that are ok being squad players while only being a small drop from quality is impossible.
Top players want to be starters, by your definition we should have 22 top players. Tell me a single team that has had that no only right now but in history.