Champions League 2013/2014 discussion

Arsenal should not be a Pot 1 team - Uefa must overhaul ludicrous Champions League draw

Not once in the past five seasons have Arsenal been among the top six teams in the Champions League in coefficient terms. And yet they are currently ranked sixth.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Arsenal are in pot 1 because they are consistently in Quarter finals.

Only last season were they really not, and lost on away goals to the champs.

Haters gonna hate.

To cut three or four seasons from the coefficient totals would be one place to start. The Champions League ranking, based on each qualified team's performances over the past five terms, simply does not accurately reflect the strongest clubs on the continent. It offers too easy a ride for those clubs who have banked 'coefficient credit' over a long number of seasons but whose progress has recently slowed.

Conversely, it fails to acknowledge in any significant way the teams who have recently come to the fore in European competition and who have surpassed, in a contemporary sense, those clubs whose positions in the higher pots are safeguarded due to past performances.

Tomwin Lannister wrote:

Arsenal are mystically in pot 1, and they end up getting piss easy groups in which to pad their co-eff points some more. And the circle continues.

The writer of this article is clearly deluded and living in a world of fantasy...consider these few logical points
1.The competition faced by Manchester United and Arsenal in their domestic league[Tottenham,Liverpool(once a UEFA great),Swansea,Everton and even Newcastle) is wayyyy superior to that faced by their counterparts in the German league and French league..Thus for a team to qualify for the champions league in the EPL it really takes verve and character and to continuously do so for 3 to 4 seasons is really a plus..No disrespect to the other leagues but that is the truth,

2.Despite their faltering performances sometimes it is undisputed that United and Arsenal have been consistent in term of their performance over the past five years compared to the likes of PSG,Dortmund and Malaga..Consider Arsenal beating the eventual winners Bayern and Manchester united losing out to Real Madrid from bad officiating..A story which would have been much different had they progressed through.Juventus would have been deserving of a top spot but considering the scandal that plagued the team in recent times it affected their chances of earning a top spot although they would eventually make it to the top due to their nice input over the past seasons.
Dortmund would eventually get to enjoy much privileges should they be consistent for the next two years which i believe would be fair to them..in that way we can say they have earned their place and not out of a one off stunt they pull in a particular season.

3.Peter's analysis ignores the fact that "Rome was not built in a day"..I mean where were Dortmund and PSG prior to last two seasons?? PSG in particular is able to pull off a good performance after heavy investments [unlike Dortmund who really deserve plaudits for working with a low budget but achieving a lot in terms of team chemistry and brilliance] and he mentions that they deserve a top spot than United who have made no key signing since the departures of Ronaldo,Tevez and Paul Scholes respectively[A huge loss for any team with those players] and yet United reached another final in 2011 without these notable players..Where were PSG,Dortmund and Juventus then?....
You think Goodwill is only earned in a space of 2 years? You must be seriously deluded!!

aleumdance wrote:No point reading the article mate.,.

the dude should have a problem with UEFA not Arsenal..

Tomwin Lannister wrote:

Arsenal are mystically in pot 1, and they end up getting piss easy groups in which to pad their co-eff points some more. And the circle continues.

BLA BLAH BLAH

last season, when Arsenal got grouped, i remember people saying we won't make it, same with 2 seasons back when we had BvB.., surprisingly the tone is changing this season?.. wow somebody must be doing a good job.

Any how consitent you are if you finish 4th in your domestic league you do not deserve to be in pot 1, for god sake we all know that arsenal is a laughing stock even in england, they have no history in europe and they still end up in pot 1.

GoonerJay29 wrote:How can you measure how strong a team is in Europe over a two year period, though?

Let's say they were determined after two seasons. In 11/12, Dortmund didn't even qualify from their group. In 12/13, they went all the way to the finals. So how would you rank them? You could argue that they're one the best sides in Europe because they got the final last season, but this year they could be eliminated in the last sixteen or quarter-finals. Would they still be one of the best sides in Europe in that case?

I acknowledge that our performances in the Champions League may not merit a spot in pot one, but moving us down and brining up a team that performed very well the previous tournament wouldn't break that cycle of "top pot = easy group = more coefficients = top pot". It'd just change who benefits from it and ultimately, I don't think there's a way to fairly determine who should and should not benefit from it.

The best solution, for me, is to have a free draw. Retain country protection for the group stages and make it so everybody has an equal chance of drawing everybody. That's probably the fairest you could make the draw.

S wrote:What exactly constitutes a 'free draw' ? I dont get it.