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Before we lost out on CL last season i was thinking that in terms of development the Europa would be better for all concerned, mainly cos the pressure is not there. When we failed to get CL, even though disappointed i wasn't suicidal as my gut feeling was it would be basically a great proving ground out of the spotlight.
Now with hindsight im really convinced of this. Ok so far the opposition in the Europa has not been seriously top drawer, but like last night it gives the rest of the squad serious game time to do the gelling thing and players to show their merit and for Mancini to know more about the squad. It is superb for squad player confidence.
If it was CL Bob wouldn't be able to field the side he did, so players like Lescott and SWP and AJ for that matter wouldn't have got the chance for a solid work out and a chance to impress.

Like others i dont think we are going to have an A and B team.. more one a game at a time and the on form players mainly getting the tougher or more important games. Now the Juve game will only be about topping the group we dont have to go there with our best players, but we should fight to top the group for sure and the team last night should be able to pull that off.
As we want try and win the comp, if we drew Zenith or someone i'm sure Mancini would put out the best team possible, but in the mean time this comp is the best possible thing for the players trying to get into Mancini's thinking.

Has anyone who really wanted CL changed their minds on it ?

Good argument BBS but depth-wise we have the strongest team in the League and should therefore be better equipped for CL than anyone. Some CL teams are even worse than Salzburg!

True, but it is development that we need.. both the prem team and the rest of the squad, we've seen that all to clearly i think so far this season.

Deep down i didn't want Champions League football last season, i would of been delighted if we had got it and it was nice to have something like that to go for but straight away as i left the ground against spurs i was more gutted that we got beat by spurs than got pipped to champions league qualification.

I didn't think we would win the champions league this year and we have no european pedigree unless you go back 40 years, a year in the europa league getting acustomed to european football would be perfect preparation for the champions league and a night out in dublin would be better than in london ;-).

When we enter the champions league i want to be in it to win it, not see how far we can get.

If there is a benefit it would be that we'd have a better shot at the league this season. This remains to be proven of course.

dazby wrote:If there is a benefit it would be that we'd have a better shot at the league this season. This remains to be proven of course.

I think that too, i think CL would have been one straw too many. Even though Spurs are doing alright so far im convinced it will hit them at some point and effect their league chances. In fact they have already had some poor prem performances straight after CL games.

All this depends on what type of fan you are, there are those that want instant success and those like me who are willing to wait a few more years to realise our ambitions and are perfectly willing to wait for the trophies to come rolling in. My personal feelings are that the Europa League has certainly been a great opportunity for the new members of the squad to gel and get some playing time in. it has also been ideal for Bobby Manc to see all the squad players and for him to try out some formations etc. Spurs have done really well in the CL, i doubt we would have got through their group and we would have been slaughtered in the press for not doing so.

IMO we do not have sufficient quality depth to play with an A and B team which is why last night you saw a mix of first team players such as Milner, AJ, Kolo, Boateng and Mario all starting alongside fringe players like SWP, Jo, Vieira and Lescott. Mancini in the past couple of games only had the chance to play his best team on paper and it will take until the end of Jan for them to be flying on all cylinders, at the earliest. The instinct to know what your teammate is going to do isn't there at the moment. I think we can go all the way in Europe but the further we progress the more Mancini will fall back on his regular first team players and the league form will probably suffer. The best thing to come out of the last month is there is a definate first team forming that is capable of defending against anyone home or abroad and breaking any team down, (Hart, Kolarov, Kompany, Kolo, Boateng, Aj, Milner, Yaya, De Jong, Barry, Silva, Tevez and Mario). Once this undisputed core of players settles in then Mancini can develop a high quality B team. The pieces are beginning to fit together!

I'm glad we got European football this season and I was hoping for Europa not CL, CL would have been a bonus but the priority last year was to get back into Europe. This season it's to stay in Europe and progress to CL and perhaps pick up a cup along the way.

Personally, I was bricking it that we'd have got knocked out in the CL qualifying round had we got 4th place in the league.

Although we'd have obviously ended up in the same position we're in now, there'd have been that glaring gap in the Champs' League group tables which is normally filled by a fourth English club. As fans, we'd have never heard the end of it from the media or other supporters.
I still don't have enough confidence in Mancini to take us through a must-win scenario like that; other managers seem to instill far more 'bite' in their squads, and someone like Young Boys could become a potentially massive banana skin. So, for me, it's third place (or better, obviously) in the league or, Europa League again next season.

john@staustell wrote: Some CL teams are even worse than Salzburg!

Like who? I watched both games with mate who are SPL season ticket holders for various clubs and we all agreed they are no better than that.

john@staustell wrote:Good argument BBS but depth-wise we have the strongest team in the League and should therefore be better equipped for CL than anyone. Some CL teams are even worse than Salzburg!

I am not in agreement with this of yet, I believe Chelsea still have the strongest squad in the league, we are not far behind but we have some seriously weak links and overated individuals.

And I also believe that Chelsea are a way behind Barca.

ross.mcfc wrote:

john@staustell wrote: Some CL teams are even worse than Salzburg!

Like who?

Bursaspor, Rubin Kazan & Panathanaikos off the top of my head. There must be others as well. This years CL group stages have been a joke.