European Leagues / Dave Farrar / 04 March 2009 / Leave a comment

The UEFA Cup is under attack from all quarters but, in a spirited defence of the competition, Dave Farrar explains why sporting gourmands are the death of variety.

The UEFA Cup has taken quite a battering this week, with at least one Sunday newspaper columnist declaring that it is, officially, a waste of time.

After Martin O'Neill and Harry Redknapp made it clear where their priorities lie, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the tournament should go the way of the Cup Winners' Cup, the last rites of which were played out between two full strength teams at Villa Park in 1999. (A small pat on the back, by the way, for anyone who can tell me which current Juve player scored the last ever Cup Winners' Cup goal, and which future Premier League winner was on the losing side that night - answers at the bottom*).

It would be a real shame if the current ambivalence extends into next season's Europa League. The attitude of those who want to wave farewell to the UEFA Cup seems to be that, because it isn't the Champions League, then it isn't worth winning. People only want to see football played at the highest level, watch on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and forget about Thursdays, when the lower ranked teams come to play.

There's a lot of football on television, and we're only interested in the highest quality. However, if you take the attitude that only the best is worth a mention, you may as well take the argument to its logical conclusion. Scrap lower tier football, get rid of every level below the Premier League and the Championship, and introduce a two League format in every European country. In fact, if it's only the best that you're after, then stick to the major leagues. Get rid of football in Scotland, and Holland and Belgium - if we're going to behave like sporting gourmands, who only want the very best at our table, then make less truly more and watch variety suffer. Actually, while we're at it, let's get rid of every sport which doesn't attract huge viewing figures and generate mass media coverage.

Just because certain Premier League managers take the stance that they're not bothered about the UEFA Cup, doesn't mean that we all have to fall into line and agree. I've never understood the curious contradiction in managers who talk all season long about European qualification and then, once they've enhanced their reputation with a top five finish or a Cup win, pass up the chance of more silverware.

Aston Villa and Tottenham aren't going to win the Premier League or the Champions League anytime soon, and they should be playing for every trophy on offer. Try telling fans of Sevilla or Valencia, of CSKA Moscow or Zenit St Petersburg, that it doesn't matter. Try telling anyone who watched one of the greatest ever European games, between Liverpool and Alaves. Give the UEFA Cup a chance, and you might be surprised.

The UEFA Cup isn't perfect, and the format is certainly unwieldy and geared to television but once we reach the knockout stages, it becomes fascinating. This year's last 16 is full of stories , and an interesting betting market to boot.

Manchester City are trading as [7.2] favourites, which is clearly hilarious, and that means that there are some fancy prices elsewhere. Last season's winners, Zenit, have to be worth an interest at [11.5] and PSG, resurgent under Paul Le Guen, are a massive [18.0]. There are cases to be made for just about every team left in the draw, including the underrated Sporting Braga, who have travelled all the way from the Intertoto Cup, and are [42.0].

Trying to pick a winner sums up the beauty of this tournament, and we should applaud the fact that it's genuinely wide open and could be won by any of the remaining teams. Isn't that what sport is supposed to be about?

Or do you want to watch the same teams compete for trophies year on year, with the odd surprise thrown in to keep us interested? If you do, then fall in line and criticise the UEFA Cup, but all of our sporting lives will be richer the longer it hangs around.

* The final ever Cup Winners Cup goalscorer was Pavel Nedved, and the future Premier League winner in the Real Mallorca side was Lauren.