retired_2symonds

To be honest, with my long post above I tried to predict who would end up in the group stage and ended up with three teams missing so I gave up

retired_derek

Don't see the problem with the group stages.

The proposal they have changes two things.

a) the format to make it less teams per group.

b) Centrally contracting the TV rights to the competition, which in turn will hopefully increase revenue for the competition and provide teams with better financial incentives.

Good ideas in my opinion.

retired_2symonds

It will probably mean more games per group as well with teams in the UEFA Cup playing against each other twice like the Champions League

DebSchiff

Haha, Carter loves taking the side of unpopular causes doesn't he? Group stages = **** until the final round. Fact.

What makes me laugh about the UEFA Cup is how fans, players and managers of medium size clubs talk all season about how important it is for the club to get into Europe and then when they do, the fans don't bother turning up and the managers and players whine about fixture congestion. :/

retired_omiandrea

I like the group stages too tbf, though I can see why a neutral might find it dull until the last match day or two.

And yeah I've always wondered about that too.

DebSchiff

Don't get me wrong, the CL's thrown up some ace games (Arsenal's glorious raping of Slavia Prague) and some hilarious stories so far (Liverpool's games with Besiktas, Rosenborg doing Valencia home and away and getting Jose sacked) but for a neutral the format is dull. Which is why I liked the UEFA, it used to provide some interesting football pre-Christmas. No longer.

retired_jesenia

yeah group stages are boring, especially when you've no choice but to pay the £100 it costs to go, knockout all the way please.

wow, me and imps agreeing on something.

What's even better is that because United have qualified we get to pay more to see the same competition, viva uncle Malc

retired_khabmth

Good choice. :thup:

retired_anneduck

Looks like a good balance here, Platini has got what he wanted (guaranteed 17 champions the group stage (18 if the holders spot isn't used) and the top leagues have the extra group space.

The new non-champions qualifying round should certainly be interesting, as it will be a lot tougher for our fourth placed team.

retired_rinkjustice

Obviously this thread is a bit old, but I felt like pointing out one important thing about the smaller teams that people cite that made it further in the old system:

A lot of these were in communist countries.

Why is this important?

Because the successful teams were, more often than not, run and bankrolled by segments of the regimes. For example, Steaua Bucharest was run by the Romanian Army.

This is a pretty important circumstance that explains why it is highly unlikely you'll see the eastern european teams rise to prominence again unless the people in those countries become significantly wealthier.