How important is the Europa League to the club's future?

SER19

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This could be taken as a more optimistic thread, as despite this nightmare season, we are unbeaten in Europe (although much tougher challenges would be between us and the final.)

I'm not talking about getting back into the Champions League just for its own sake, but for a club so tight financially, the financial rewards are huge. Between the base payment, and match bonuses, as well as the tv share, you'd easily be looking at 30-40m as a starting point. Given that we will definitely not have other European football, that is 30-40m versus zero, in terms of finances.

Then of course there are the sporting benefits of being in the Champions League, even if we don't expect to compete very well. You can attract better players, and I imagine it hugely improves morale of a team to be competing in the CL rather than feeling so far from the top as we do now.

Maybe most importantly of all, it would meaning winning this years Europa League. I know we have won trophies in recent years, but managing to round out this horror season with a trophy win would heal alot of wounds I think. It would lift Amorim, and his players.

To me, winning this years Europa could for a variety of reasons be one of the most important trophy wins at the club in a long time, certainly since Fergie's last title, to the point of it being trajectory changing. Am I overstating it? Or should it be our absolute priority
 
Amorim will be sacked before the final, Ole will be rehired and given another shot at the EL. Onana will miss the decisive penalty and the camera will pan to Sir Jim's box, where looking out onto the pitch will be Moyes with the biggest grin ever seen on his ball sack of a face.
 
These players already crumble under the pressure of playing in front of their own fans in a league game, the last thing they need is to be given the impression it’ll be an unmitigated disaster for the club if they don’t win the Europa league.
 
Short term I think it's vital for United, purely to get into the CL, it attracts better players, extra prize money and still be seen in Europe as a big club. The longer they're out of it, the quicker people forget that. I know people that don't see AC Milan as a big club, but then they grew up when Milan were largely irrelevant in Europe or not even in it, whereas I grew up when they dominated it.

Long term I think it might serve United well to not win it. Have a full season out of Europe completely, focus on rebuilding the squad and bedding them all in properly in the PL league.

It might put some players off coming if they're not in Europe, but that might not be a bad thing. Players should be coming as they want to play for Manchester United at all costs, and ambitious players would likely relish the challenge of getting them back to the top. If a player is put off by missing one season of European competition, then you have to question their priorities.

If I were a United fan, I'd rather miss a season and regroup. If United were in this season's CL group, they could well have ended up as one of the teams that got eliminated at the first hurdle. City nearly did, as did PSG, so would this current side have made it? I'm inclined to think not.

Have a season of no Europe, trim the chaff from the squad, play the kids in the domestics, and build a team good enough to comfortably finish top 4 in the league. Then worry about CL the next season, hopefully with a set of players that have had a years experience of playing Amorim's tactics plus a few top level additions brought in based on the top 4 prize money and CL qualification.
 
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How we do in this season's EL will have relatively little impact on where we are as a club in, say, five years' time. So not very.
 
sullydnl said:
How we do in this season's EL will have relatively little impact on where we are as a club in, say, five years' time. So not very.
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It probably does impact you 5 years down the line if you win it due to the financial implications.
 
sullydnl said:
How we do in this season's EL will have relatively little impact on where we are as a club in, say, five years' time. So not very.
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Maybe you're right, but I'm not sure. As I said, financially it would be huge at a time when it seems like we're almost not washing kits to save on money. It would surely instill some confidence in a set of players seemingly broken down. In the context of this season, and ignoring the past, I can't see how winning it and being in next seasons CL, and starting the season off the back of winning a big trophy, would not be important - especially if being in the CL means a higher calibre of player brought in the summer.

We're not getting the very best players no matter what, but if CL was the difference between Osimhen joining or not, or Gyokeres being intereted or not, as an example, I think it's impact would work the same as all momentum. Who we start with next season is absolutely key to how Amorim does.
 
I don't know, I feel like the side and club have given up entirely. I've never seen a big club simply decide to stop trying to be successful like this before.
 
sullydnl said:
How we do in this season's EL will have relatively little impact on where we are as a club in, say, five years' time. So not very.
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I think it will have a big impact. It’s not only about finances but also our standing in the game - even in our bleak post-SAF years we were able to win a couple of cup and get more silverware than other clubs do in their golden era. It’s one of the last things remaining from our times as giants - we’re no longer a threat in the league, OT is no longer a bastion it used to be, our facilities are not top notch, but we still manage to win a competition every now and then. It seems very important for the mentality
 
SilentWitness said:
It probably does impact you 5 years down the line if you win it due to the financial implications.
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Meh. The CL money would obviously be a help, but qualifying for the CL one time doesn't bring that much money in the context of half a decade of the club's income and expenditure.

It's not like the INEOS cost cutting measures will suddenly stop applying, or the multi-year rebuild ahead will be massively shortened, or we wouldn't have the same "we need to sell to buy" reality ahead of us even this summer.

Red Star One said:
I think it will have a big impact. It’s not only about finances but also our standing in the game - even in our bleak post-SAF years we were able to win a couple of cup and get more silverware than other clubs do in their golden era. It’s one of the last things remaining from our times as giants - we’re no longer a threat in the league, OT is no longer a bastion it used to be, our facilities are not top notch, but we still manage to win a competition every now and then. It seems very important for the mentality
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Also meh.

The EL really doesn't represent anything from our golden years, because it's a competition that was beneath us during the SAF period where we consistently qualified for the CL. Just being in it is a sign our standing has fallen. And beating a team like Spurs (the second favourites) to winning it is unlikely to radically change any player's perception of where we are as a club or where we're likely to be over the next few years.

We won the EL under Mourinho. And a few month later the club was once again in disarray, he was fired and we facing into a multi-year rebuild that itself led to nothing. That's how little one-off EL wins can impact your future.
 
If we don't win the EL this season then everyone will die.

I don't know exactly when of course...
 
Not important. We've got nowhere in the last 10 year regularly qualifying for the CL and spanking tonnes of money. Other clubs who've were out the CL for many years (Liverpool) slowly built a squad that, when they finally qualified, could actually do something in it. Arsenal last season did better than we have in years too. That's what we need to do.
 
Offside said:
Not important. We've got nowhere in the last 10 year regularly qualifying for the CL and spanking tonnes of money. Other clubs who've were out the CL for many years (Liverpool) slowly built a squad that, when they finally qualified, could actually do something in it. Arsenal last season did better than we have in years too. That's what we need to do.
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I think youre overlooking though that getting nowhere, in the climate of PSR rules, we have put ourselves in a more difficult position to rebuild than the examples you mentioned. Arsenal have spent a fortune in their rebuild which is something we supposedly dont have now. Would they have got rice for 100m without CL? I really doubt it. Not only they wouldnt have spent it, but he wouldnt have gone from west ham without cl. I like the idea of a well thought rebuild too, but pretending money and cl wasnt integral to arsenals is foolish.

Personally I think that without CL players like Osimhen and Gyokeres dont even look at you. Now maybe the club has a different strategy and has a list of excellent strikers ready and able to join, but our track record doest convince me.
 
sullydnl said:
How we do in this season's EL will have relatively little impact on where we are as a club in, say, five years' time. So not very.
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Considering winning the EL is our only pathway to CL qualification and the funds as well as the attraction for players that come with it, I'd say on the contrary, winning the EL would be a game changer.
 
FortunaUtd said:
Considering winning the EL is our only pathway to CL qualification and the funds as well as the attraction for players that come with it, I'd say on the contrary, winning the EL would be a game changer.
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Thats how Id lean too. Im not saying that without winning the EL this season we cant undertake a good and succesful rebuild, but I do think that winning it gives us a better chance at achieving it.
 
People don’t honestly expect us to win the Europa league do they? Anyone who has watched us the last 3 months can tell that’s a pipe dream. Fulham are putting us out of the FA cup and once we get semi functional team in the EL we are out. I just can’t see how we rebuild with so little to offer
 
If Ten Hag was still in charge we would win the Europa League this year.

League Cup in 23, FA Cup in 24, only Sociedad, Bilbao and to a lesser extent Spurs stand in our way this season to winning the Europa league. Very winnable, you know we would win it if he was still in charge, he was a good cup manager and was clearly over performing with this squad. Europa League in 25.
 
With each Premier league place worth 3m, the disastrous league campaign is going to cost 25-30m in terms of income. Winning the EL would paper over those cracks, and also avoid the drop off in sponsorship clauses that kick in after 2 seasons of no CL. So it’s financially imperative I think, if we want to see money available to bring in some decent players
 
Utterly De Ligt'd said:
If Ten Hag was still in charge we would win the Europa League this year.

League Cup in 23, FA Cup in 24, only Sociedad, Bilbao and to a lesser extent Spurs stand in our way this season to winning the Europa league. Very winnable, you know we would win it if he was still in charge, he was a good cup manager and was clearly over performing with this squad.
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I think Sociedad, Bilbao, Lazio, Frankfurt and Spurs are the obvious teams that look like theyd put us out. All that said, and I dont really expect to win it as Bilbao are having a great season and the final is in Bilbao, weve managed to not lose in Europe and we arguably play with a little less tension than in the league. Maybe Amorims 'system' will suit european ties more, Im reaching but, its not as if the very best teams in europe are in front of us. those five I fear would beat us over two legs though
 
It’ll be more important for the accountants than the players. Even if we got into the CL next season, it’s not like we’d get very far.
 
sullydnl said:
Meh. The CL money would obviously be a help, but qualifying for the CL one time doesn't bring that much money in the context of half a decade of the club's income and expenditure.

It's not like the INEOS cost cutting measures will suddenly stop applying, or the multi-year rebuild ahead will be massively shortened, or we wouldn't have the same "we need to sell to buy" reality ahead of us even this summer.
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Liverpool according to the Athletic are on track for 100m+ in terms of how much they'll earn this CL campaign. If you qualified I doubt you'd win as many games but you'd probably still be on track to earn between 50-100m which will be a big boost when you're in this sell to buy reality.
 
2 man midfield said:
It’ll be more important for the accountants than the players. Even if we got into the CL next season, it’s not like we’d get very far.
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The new set up of the Champions league has opened it up better for sides that aren't the strongest. Look at Brest this season, they've done really well.
 
SilentWitness said:
Liverpool according to the Athletic are on track for 100m+ in terms of how much they'll earn this CL campaign. If you qualified I doubt you'd win as many games but you'd probably still be on track to earn between 50-100m which will be a big boost when you're in this sell to buy reality.
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To my knowledge a team gets around 15m to start. Round up to 3m for a win and 1 m for a draw, so even a poor group campaign could be worth around another 10 in the new format. There is a further coefficient ranking payment of at least a couple of million. Then there is the TV share among English teams which is worth around 250-300m. Id imagine United could expect at least 20m of that. So even a mediocre campaign could be worth 40-50m, and an unlikely run to the quarters would add another 20m from UEFA alone. We are in no position at all to underestimate the impact CL money could have on the club for coming seasons transfer planning.
 
I think we're all really hoping for this and would take a 15th/16th place finish in the league if it was offset by a cup win.
 
Irwin99 said:
I think we're all really hoping for this and would take a 15th/16th place finish in the league if it was offset by a cup win.
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This & the FA Cup is all we have left. The club badly needs CL qualification mainly from a financial perspective so it is literally all eggs inside the EL basket now.
 
We are not winning the Europa League... we can barely win a football game let alone go and win a trophy.
 
romufc said:
We are not winning the Europa League... we can barely win a football game let alone go and win a trophy.
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I hear you. But we did come 3rd overall and have won our last 5. We remain the only unbeaten team across CL and Europa league I believe, so it's not THAT outrageous to think we could compete. I do think at present though, there are 4-5 teams that would beat us if the 2 legs were this week and next.
 
SER19 said:
I hear you. But we did come 3rd overall and have won our last 5. We remain the only unbeaten team across CL and Europa league I believe, so it's not THAT outrageous to think we could compete. I do think at present though, there are 4-5 teams that would beat us if the 2 legs were this week and next.
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TheRedHearted said:
How are we still in Europa then? As a cup side we are way better than league form
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Whilst we came third, all well and good but its not like we cruised through the league phase. We scrapped past most teams, in a 2 leg tie, we will struggle solely because we cant score goals.

In a knock out game, when you cant put the opposition to be, they will have a spell where they dominate and look threatening. Currently we concede goals in every game and you go up against a well drilled Italian team.

I mean we played Spurs who are below us in the league and they dominated us all game and we played like we are a league 1 team on the counter.
 
Offside said:
You're right, although we have won every cup game under the new manager.
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Yep, you must admit we are very very lucky we are still in the FA cup though, both rounds, we could have gone out, penalties and an offside goal.

The Europa league games, poor poor displays in every game gives me little to no hope.

Our biggest challengers for the Europa league... Spurs who were worse than us, dominated us, a team we can't beat, they have dominated / beaten us in the last 2 years comfortably.
 
TheNewEra said:
The club will dissolve if we don't win the EL this year
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I’m hoping this is sarcasm. There is fear mongering from INEOS to justify a lot their actions as well. We are still a massive club and revenue generator, it’s just we have seen limited to no growth, which why we’ve hired a new finance person.
 
Giggsy13 said:
I’m hoping this is sarcasm. There is fear mongering from INEOS to justify a lot their actions as well. We are still a massive club and revenue generator, it’s just we have seen limited to no growth, which why we’ve hired a new finance person.
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It would be the best if the club goes into Administration as we can then get rid of the Glazers, will be forced to sell the club.

Thats the only way to get away from Glazers ownership.
 
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