Fans Comment
Koi Ng
Hands Off! It's Ours!
26 March 2005
Well, how should I start? After
finally qualifying for Europe and ending a 10-year wait, as Evertonians, we should sit back and enjoy
the moment. No matter what,
since the moment when Crystal Palace's keeper Speroni tried to dribble
around Campbell back in August 2004, we have made our
friendly pundits and �experts� eat a lot of humble pie. Well
done to David Moyes, our players and fans, who did a great job in
transforming our fate.
 |
Howard Kendall: Looking for somewhere to ram home this
phallic trophy should Everton yet be denied CL inclusion!
|
However, after guaranteeing a Uefa Cup place, we
are still aiming for a Champions League (CL) place and the potential
confrontation should Liverpool win this season's competition. Although I
don't believe Liverpool can win, and there is still some way to go before we can
guarantee 4th place, it would be interesting to think �if such
scenario really takes place, how should we justify ourselves as the
legitimate and deserved one in next season�s CL?� and the objective of
this article is to address this issue.
In order to justify
ourselves, I would argue that emotional arguments based on past
injustices (Heysel) should be avoided because they will do us no good at all,
with pundits and
�experts� all feeling that Evertonians just want revenge on their neighbours.
We should also avoid those
forever-inconclusive arguments like who will perform better in CL next
season or whether Liverpool�s dreadful performance this season was due
to injuries (or our good performance was only due to the lack of
injures), etc. etc. Even if such scenario happens, we are
justified in two aspects: 1) the fundamental weakness of
their own justification; and 2) the strength of our own cause.
The major argument by
Liverpool is that the title holders should have the right to defend
their
title, citing the case that Real Madrid played in the Champion's
League after
their success in 2000, despite the fact that they
finished 5th in La Liga. At that time, it WAS
common sense that title holders should be able to defend their titles, as
reflected in various major international tournaments like the World
Cup and European Championships. However, times have changed:
soon after the arrival of the new
century, Fifa passed a resolution stating that World Cup winners will
not automatically qualify for the final stage of the tournament, with Brazil
now playing in the �South American League� in order to
qualify for Germany 2006.
Also, according to
soccernet.com, in the
qualifying rounds for Euro 2008, everyone except Switzerland and Austria
(the co-hosts) will be divided into 7 groups, where the
group winners will automatically qualify for the final stage of the
tournament, while 1st and 2nd runners-up of each group will play off, making a total of 16 teams (7 group winners, 7 play-off
winners & 2 co-hosts) in the final stages. Although this
arrangement is only a proposal, it clearly implies that
Greece does not have the automatic right to defend its title.
The traditional belief that tournament winners should
be granted the right to defend their title automatically is long-gone.
The Real Madrid case happened in year 2000 and at that time the Spanish FA made
a rational and, in my opinion, fair choice. However, whether
it makes sense that an outdated case can be used to give Liverpool a
place in the CL without finishing top 4 is highly doubtful.
Then it comes to strengthening Everton's case. If we consider
the Champions' League as another
tournament (like the World Cup), then the national leagues
represent qualifying
rounds. In this �qualifying round�, the top 2 teams automatically
qualify for the �final stage�, while 3rd and 4th placed teams have to
play a �play-off� with other clubs from another country�s league to
qualify for the �final stage� of CL. So, if we finish in 4th
place, it simply meansthat Liverpool fails in the �qualifying round� and
is not good enough to play in next season�s
tournament! Quelle surprise! It�s just as simple as that.
Finally, I cannot end this article without mentioning some
Liverpudians arguing about the name �Champions League�. Some
argued that Champions League, as the name suggests, should be a
tournament for �champions� and so if Liverpool won CL, it would be a
joke if the Champions were not included next season. Don�t make me laugh!
"Champions' League"
itself is only the name of the tournament and is NO different to
other names like World Cup, European Championships, UEFA Cup,
Intertoto Cup, etc. etc. Although the name usually suggests some
meanings of the tournament, don�t forget that names can also change
easily. Chelsea
will not be winning the Championship, as we would have once said:
they are winning the Premiership. If Liverpudians really think that the
word �champions� is so important, they should relegate
themselves next season and play in the Championship� Ohhh�
doesn�t seem to be a very good joke, but it is on a par with claiming that �Champions League� is for
�champions�.
The above analysis shows that, even without making any emotional
statements or bringing up dire memories, we already have a very good
case to justify ourselves as the deserved team to be in CL should such
an unlikely scenario arouse. Of course, the FA Board, chaired by a
lifelong red fan, might think otherwise. But if, touch wood, the
decision really came against us, citing that �common sense� issue,
what I can say is that their decisions simply biased and outdated.
I sincerely wish that this scenario does not arise or, if the
inevitable happens, the FA can make a sensible decision with respect to Everton�s
case.
No matter what, still, we are NOT qualified for CL YET. Of
course, I hope that this scenario never happens (no matter who gets
4th place, or whether our neighbours win CL or not). Moyesie et al. have already done a fantastic
job this season, so, no matter what happens, we should just enjoy
ourselves rather than muddling through the mud whirl. I feel so
proud that I am born to be an Evertonian, not manufactured to be a
Liverpudian.
Come on you Blues!
Koi Ng
©2005 ToffeeWeb
|