I have a thought about how to encourage bigger teams to take the FA Cup & (particularly), the League Cup, more seriously. At the moment, most of them play below strength teams in the early rounds. My suggestion would be:
All teams that make the quarter-finals, or further, would only be allowed to use players that had played a minimum of 45 minutes in the competition, up to that point. Putting out a team full of reserves and just giving a star player a run-out for a few minutes before the end of a match, would be insufficient.
It might stop managers playing their shadow players in matches up to the quarters, and then sending out their top teams to grab the cup glory at the end.
On the subject of the Champions League, (I know this wouldn't happen, because of the greed of the big clubs), I think the competition should revert to just the "CHAMPIONS" and nobody else. How can a team finishing 4th in their national league be classed as champions? These days, most teams just play for 4th, instead of going for the Championship.
LONDON CITY
Olympic Stadium...East London
Season 47...........Manager Level 33
EPL is poor quality - A good reason of this is because the 4th biggest league in europe is "The Championship"
*Retired From Top Eleven*
Have to agree there. It's so unpredictable. At the start of the season, there are always about 14-18 teams that are capable of making the play-offs at the very least. The fact that the 3 relegated clubs from the Priemiership are only mid-table shows this. Far more interesting than the Prem.
LONDON CITY
Olympic Stadium...East London
Season 47...........Manager Level 33