u/NiCKi_17282376

Whilst it's nice that smaller teams have a chance to win it, the Europa League feels so much more meaningless than before. The Villa players seemed happy at the final whistle, but not overjoyed and ecstatic - the bench just sort of jogged onto the pitch at full time. This reaction was probably because they and their fans expected to win this competition all season. When ucl teams used to drop down, it was really exciting, with clubs that weren't quite the European elite, but excellent sides non-the-less playing out close and hard-fought semi-finals. Winning it back then felt like a proper achivement, and it had prestige.

The solution is pretty simple - have places 16-24 in the ucl group go to the Europa League and remove the champions league playoff. This would not only make the Europa League more exciting but add so much more drama to the Champions League, with clubs not being able to cruise through the league phase with several losses - e.g. PSG in 24/25. Teams placing 16-24 in the Europa League league face would then drop to the conference, with ucl drop-downs contesting a playoff with those placed 8-16 in the Europa League.

What does everyone think?

So many of the current new generation of elite coaches were associated with Pep. Alonso, Arteta, Kompany, Xavi, Maresca, Enrique (managed barca B whilst Pep was there) etc. Is his influence on the following generation of managers a unique phenomenon? Very few Ferguson players have gone on to become good managers - the best examples are Solsjkaer, Carrick or Steve Bruce, non of whom would be first picks to manage a top team (obviously Carrick has been doing well recently with United so it's still unknown what he could become). There are few Wenger players who have gone on to major success, aside from Arteta and potentially Fabregas, both of whom also worked with Pep. It could be the case that, as Guardiola has managed three of the best and richest clubs during his career, it is inevitable that he was going to cross paths with some of the best footballing brains, and thus many of the people that worked under him would have become great managers regardless. What are some other managers that have had a similar influence on the next generation of coaching, either in recent times or throughout history? Perhaps there are some in other countries that I don't follow as much.

Why don't we put half of the away fans in the upper? The clock end looks so much better with the whole end being full of arsenal fans imo

I'm an Arsenal fan who doesn't watch Fulham very often. For anyone that does, how has Smith Rowe performed over the last two seasons? Has he been a standout performer, or been particularly impressive for Fulham? I just remember him being one our best players in 20/21 and 21/22, with explose runs, and often being part of attacking moves. But I've realised I've rarely heard him talked about since he went to Fulham. Thanks

I was planning on trying to go to the screening but hearing it will be quite difficult for reds to get tickets. I've also seen a couple things about pubs around the stadium selling tickets, where would I buy these? Alternatively what are some big events like screenings that are happening for the game that are still selling tickets? Ideally it would be somewhere near arsenal as it would be a shame to be stuck in another part of the city when we win it. Thanks

Has anyone heard any news about this, how to get tickets, how it will work etc?

Currently approaching the end of my first year at uni, and it's fair to say I've disliked the experience as a whole. I've found it quite hard to make friends, which has been a problem before university aswell. I have made a few friends here, but not close ones, and not people who I can casually or spontaneously do things with (like going out, working together at the library, going to the pub etc). As such, I spend a lot of my time bored, unable to focus on my work, and being in a near-constant state of fomo from seeing everyone having fun all the time. I have joined some societies which I regularly go along to, and am now familiar with a fair amount of people, but due to being quite anxious, and my brain being in a frequent state of negativity, I feel as if I force myself to go to these events and don't particularly enjoy them. In second term, I was more positive, and tried to adopt an attitude of not caring about other's opinions, but I often felt so stressed and anxious (I think as a result of forcing my brain to to ignore what it wanted to do), that it was difficult to see the benefits of being more social. Essentially, I don't realy enjoy or feel relaxed at uni, and even though the opportunities here are much more likely to help me in the future than at home, the prospect of doing this for another two years is not very appealing.

When I was at home before uni, and during breaks, I often feel more relaxed and slightly more productive, being around my family. However, the problems that I have described, such as anxiety, were also with me before uni. I don't really have a plan if I were to drop out (obviously I would try and make one), and there are also significant downsides to living at home. E.g. boredom, feeling like I'm failing for not doing a conventional path like going to uni, feeling a bit trapped like I'll never properly grow up and leave home. I should add that back home is a big city, so there would be opportunities there if I were to drop out.

Fair enough if you feel like this post is self-pittying. I'm aware that there are several things I can do to improve the situation. I appreciate that this type of post has probably been made on here dozens of times, but I just wanted to get it off my chest really, and if anyone's got any advice feel free to share.