Europa Knock Out

[Yid121]

Is there any truth to being it advantageous to finishing 2nd?

 

[JeremyPaxton]

Is there any truth to being it advantageous to finishing 2nd?

No, you get drawn against an EL group winner or one of the CL 3rd placed teams with the better CL group records.

 

[Montalbano]

For those angry about the result — even if we would’ve beat LASK we would’ve still needed to win against Antwerp next week to finish first in the group given their win against Ludogorets today. Our loss to Antwerp has them ahead of us in the group through our Head-to-Head records, which is the first tiebreaker.

A draw and win against LASK is worth the same in the scope of the group.

 

[Nayim60yards]

I think second place get a CL drop out so if they are all shit it could be but not this year! There are some potential big guns or dangerous teams heading down to the Europa: Real Madrid, Inter Milan or Shakter, Atalanta or Ajax, Brugge or Lazio, Leipzig or Man United even Olimpiacos who gave us a lot of trouble last season.

 

[EQP]

For those angry about the result — even if we would’ve beat LASK we would’ve still needed to win against Antwerp next week to finish first in the group given their win against Ludogorets today. Our loss to Antwerp has them ahead of us in the group through our Head-to-Head records, which is the first tiebreaker.

A draw and win against LASK is worth the same in the scope of the group.

I think most people are frustrated with the performance. On paper, the team should have been solid whilst dominating possession and creating chances for the forward players. After that shit show performance, we now have more questions about some of our players and the added bonus of more tired legs for our important NLD this Sunday.

 

[JeremyPaxton]

I think second place get a CL drop out so if they are all shit it could be but not this year! There are some potential big guns or dangerous teams heading down to the Europa: Real Madrid, Inter Milan or Shakter, Atalanta or Ajax, Brugge or Lazio, Leipzig or Man United even Olimpiacos who gave us a lot of trouble last season.

No, the CL drop outs are split into a "better 4" (seeded for EL round of 32) and a "worse 4" (unseeded for EL round of 32).

 

[rez9000]

No, the CL drop outs are split into a "better 4" (seeded for EL round of 32) and a "worse 4" (unseeded for EL round of 32).

You seem to have the knowledge, J. Question: How are the 'better' and 'worse' CL dropouts determined? Is it the UEFA coefficient or some other means?

 

[Trees]

You seem to have the knowledge, J. Question: How are the 'better' and 'worse' CL dropouts determined? Is it the UEFA coefficient or some other means?

It is their performances in the group stage, i.e. most points.

 

[Tucker]

Think we’d be fine against CL drop outs, like Jose says, the players don’t seem motivated in the group stage. We’d do better against better teams where we have to put in a shift.

 

[Goldman]

A CL dropout might actually motivate some of our squad players to put some effort in...

 

[Marty]

I'm very concerned about our away performances in the group stage because if we have a similar episode in any of the knockout games it'll be very hard to make up for it in the home tie when we play against better sides than what we've faced so far.

It seems, and this has been a general theme in the UEFA Cup/Europa League since the first time I saw us in Europe after we won the League Cup in 99, that we either underestimate the opponents or for whatever reason just fail to turn up away from home. Funnily it wasn't such a big problem in the CL, which probably speaks volumes about how our previous managers have spoken about (belittled) this competition.

Jose won't belittle the competition in the knockout stages but the signs after this group stage are still worrying to me.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

We have never been much different in the Europa. It’s as if most of them cannot be arsed.
A game v Real Madrid in the next round might wake them up.
So much for the dream midfield combination. We won’t see that anytime soon in the league.
Harry Winks must be wondering what’s going on, unless Jose has a special plan for him.
Trouble is Harry is neither one nor the other. Not a defensive player and doesn’t score any goals either.
Might be tempted if an offer comes in for him. Won’t make the euros if this carries on.

 

[Goobers]

think we'll win on Thursday and the question is answered. Looking forward to the knockout stages and hopefully even more fans in the ground for it !

 

[Sevens]

We have never been much different in the Europa. It’s as if most of them cannot be arsed.
A game v Real Madrid in the next round might wake them up.
So much for the dream midfield combination. We won’t see that anytime soon in the league.
Harry Winks must be wondering what’s going on, unless Jose has a special plan for him.
Trouble is Harry is neither one nor the other. Not a defensive player and doesn’t score any goals either.
Might be tempted if an offer comes in for him. Won’t make the euros if this carries on.

With the new rules we really do want to keep hold of homegrown English players were possible, especially ones who came through the club.

Jose's tactics don't help our midfielders (or maybe the team aren't implementing them correctly but it amounts to the same). We always seem to be in this massive hurry to counter attack and that means we give the ball away a lot because we are trying killer passes on a regular basis. I'm all for a high tempo, quick passing game but sometimes you need a player who can put their foot on the ball and slow it down a bit.

The team need to find a happy medium of doing this. Under Poch (especially towards the end) we had way too many pointless short sideways and backwards passes. This allowed us to have high possession stats but we lacked a cutting edge and in my opinion it was often very dull to watch. Now under Jose we've gone the other way and play way too direct too often and that is also frustrating and dull to watch (when it doesn't come off). We need an adaptable team that can mix it up depending on the opposition and circumstances and that for is what we're lacking at the moment.

I think a big reason we are struggling is that we don't have a natural dedicated DM in the team. A natural holder helps the team maintain shape, takes the defensive pressure off of other midfielders and because of those two reasons a team looks more cohesive defensively and attacking. A good DM is always there available as an outball. Winks is actually good at being the DM when the team is in possession. He keeps it simple, he is always available for a pass. But defensively Winks isn't fit for purpose in that role.

I've said for a few weeks on here that a midfield of Hojbjerg, NDombele and Lo Celso won't work. It's just not disciplined enough defensively. Hojbjerg is at his best chasing the play, not holding.