Liverpool’s insistence that they will not accept a Europa League place by way of their disciplinary record is going to get a lot of play this morning. More than likely, they’ll be accused of disrespecting the competition or of eroding away at its reputation.
So be it.
“There’s a pride thing and we want to get into it with our performance level and it’s highly unlikely we’d get that route [anyway].
It’s the top three countries and we’re fourth. It’s not something I would be keen on. I want to get there through the right means.
If we have to have a year where we are not in it, it’s going to give us an opportunity to push on.”
Those were Brendan Rodgers’ thoughts yesterday. While he may be being entirely truthful about wanting to qualify through merit rather than a technicality, there’s probably also a significant part of him which would happily do without the logistical hassle of the Europa League. It’s less a competition, and more a convoluted trawl through undesirable parts of Europe on an awkward day of the week – and one which doesn’t come with any truly significant financial benefits.
This won’t have been Rodgers’ decision alone, and Liverpool as a whole probably view entry into the second-tier tournament – through league-placing or disciplinary record – as an unwanted obstacle in the way of their real aim: a return to the Champions League. If Rodgers had a bigger squad, and he could send out a developing team on a Thursday night, then fine, but he doesn’t – he’ll need to stretch whatever resources he has if he wants to return the club to the top-four next year.
It’s completely understandable. Obviously it’s Liverpool, so there will be plenty of criticism, but nobody should really have much of a problem with this.
Get a free £25 bet by signing-up with William Hill
Follow The Premier League Owl on Twitter and Facebook.
