Middlesbrough - Champions of Europe???
March 17, 2006
For some seasons now, much has been made of the demise of the UEFA cup. There was a time where the competition held a different-but-equal standing with the European Cup as top clubs and players alike fought to mark their place in history. Unfortunately the expansion and general dilution of the Champions League has left the UEFA cup, well, rather crap and pretty much ignored.
Nevertheless, Middlesbrough are happily marching onwards after defeating a Totti-less Roma on away goals to face ex-worst-Tottenham-manager-ever Christian Gross and Swiss side FC Basle. A club with relegation still a possibility 3/4 into the season…is in the quarter finals of the UEFA cup. Excellent.
But good luck to them. It seems their slow, incredibly boring brand of football is - as always - better suited to Europe than it is the Premiership. We’d like to see them win it all, if only to drive point home about how insignificant the competition has become.
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What a load of rubbish, as a journalist your perspective on both Middlesbrough and the UEFA cup lack any real points or information. If the UEFA cup is so unimportant then why do teams do everything in there power to qualify through the league or cups. Ask any manager or fan of a club hovering around 5-10 in the Prem. if they would like to be involved in the UEFA cup, yes, yes and yes!!! It is a goal for every club in the league to qualify for Europe either in the Champions League or UEFA cup. It may have only diminished in your eyes mate, not everyone’s. I find your comment towards Middlesbrough FC to obviously be a back-handed compliment pertaining to the style of play. Who cares!!! If Man U, Liverpool or even Chelsea (who we beat 3 weeks ago) adopted a change of tactics for European ties they too could still be playing. It has taken Arsenal a few disappointing runs in the Champions league to find this out. Is it ugly football or smart football? What would you rather have: Attractive football and an exit from a cup, or a more sensible approach and continue to the next round. If our style of play is ugly how would you describe Roma’s play? No one describes their sytle as ugly, just defensive minded and calculated. The bottom line is simple; there are plenty of teams in England and Europe that would love to be in our spot. If you don’t believe me just ask any player from Stuttgart, Roma or even Bolton. Stop wasting our time with this crap. Your sour grapes are quite transparent. Up the BORO!!!!
The only people who care about UEFA are teams who need a distraction from their league campaign.
I think the UEFA cup has lost a lot of it’s lustre, the new group format has diluted it further as the knockout-format was part of what made it exciting.
The top teams (including Roma) have played second string players as they rest up for league duties, as much as Boro won’t like it the more that teams of their standing suceed in the UEFA cup the less it means.
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