Liverpool V Cardiff
Arsenal V Birmingham
Utd V Villa
Utd V Spurs
Spurs V Chelsea
Chelsea V Arsenal
Utd V Wigan

I stand by my comment .

Even this season WBA had the cheek to field a reserve team against the cup holders Liverpool .

Why ?

Because they felt they couldnt win the competition & secure their league status hence “Cant Win Wont Try”

Arsenal , famous for winning nothing in a long time while penny pinching have made the final frequently but they have done it by fielding reserve players because they were chasing other prizes or more accurately , league positions & profits hence “Cant Win Wont Try” .

It is a culture within English Football & that culture has destroyed the competitive nature of the game .

The prize & appearance money a team makes from the Champions League is buttons compared to what they make from merchandise sales & advertisements due to appearing in that competition , its not even enough to buy a decent striker capable of scoring regularly in that competition .

So to say that the prize money in the Europa which is more than double what you get for the FA & League cup combined isnt worth it is ridiculous .

To try & claim that a club playing Games televised in every European Country & televised around the world isnt going to increase its fan base , increase its merchandise sales & increase its advertisement revenue streams is just plain stupid .

The fact is that the clubs feel its unlikely that they will win it so instead of appearing to be beaten by a less prestigious but good European club the Engerlish sides prefer to appear like they dont care about the competition .

Its bullshit , its “Cant Win , Wont Try”

Fact of the matter is that the gravy train of Football investment left Italy & relocated in Engerland & now the Engerlish clubs are trying to protect their wealthy status by making sure the image isnt tarnished by being beaten in the Europa by quality teams from less prestigious leagues & or failing to win the competition outright & getting egg on their faces .

I say that the sooner the major football investment returns to a more capable , more morally responsible European country like Germany that the better it will be for the sport within the game of football because in Engerlish hands all we see is trashy prostitute clubs like Arsenal gloating about profits while delivering zero success , competitions devalued & the civil libertys of fans being attacked for expressing themselves at football matches .

Engerlish football is sh*t on so many levels .

Also the point you make about ‘English Football retaining its status as the richest in the world’ is arguably the sole reason clubs don’t take the Europa League seriously. As I mentioned in the article the financial rewards on offer are a fraction of the Champions League payouts.

At present the Europa League is simply the Champions League, without any of the major benefits.

Which two or 3 trophys did they chase in a single season ?

City are nobodys in this conversation hence no mention of them .

Capishe ?

The competition are significant in every match that every team in England plays every week. If they aren’t to you, then don’t bother watching…

How any other club in Engerland can claim that the FA cup or League cup is a lesser competition without winning & regularly competing for trebles is an absolute mystery .

Clubs like Arsenal & LFC tried to keep up appearences by playing lesser sides in those competions so as not to apprea in Utd’s shadow but the fact is they were & they still are .

As for the Europa no English club outside of perhaps Utd , Chelsea & Arsenal can afford to treat it as a lesser competition .

Financially they possibly can but sportingly they cant because none of them are capable of winning it & for them to say its a lesser competition is no different to me saying that a Bentley is a lesser cat to a Ford Focus simply because I can afford one but cant afford the other .

There is a culture within English Football of “Cant Win So Wont Try” .

From that comes the flippant losers attitude that certain competitions dont matter .

English Football is on an alarming slide & 99% of you are so smugly fond of the stink of each others Sh*t that you cant see the woods for the trees .

So to answer the opening question I would have to ask is not the question …

Can English Football retain its status as the richest in the world while continuing to destroy the spirit of the game by ruining the competitive nature of the sport ?