French Ligue 1 has slipped to sixth place in the UEFA Index after failing to impress in recent European adventures. Rather than owning up, clubs have started blaming eachother for the slip up
The sad descent of France in the UEFA Index has not escaped the eyes of the onlookers and all who follow Ligue 1. After most of the Ligue 1 clubs failed to impress in the Champions League and Europa League in recent seasons, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 has lost its triple A
status in Europe and has plunged into sixth place behind http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Portugal-c2984.
Portuguese clubs have done remarkably well in Europe in the last few seasons and deserve to overtake their French counterparts. Today, it is difficult to say clearly what has gone wrong but stats simply show that French club are not competitive enough when
it comes to playing in Europe.
Interviewed by many French newspapers, several players and managers have given their own reasoning behind this fall from grace.
However, it is the respective coaches of LOSC Lille and Stade Rennais who have raised their voices against LFP. The duo feels that the governing body of French football is equally responsible for the events that have seen France slip to sixth place.
“At the basic level, it is the calendar. What will be good next season is that with the new division of days of the Championnat, scheduled from Friday to Sunday, it may give French clubs three days before and after a European game. It happened to us this
season.”
Same goes for Rennais sporting director http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pierre-c29989 Dreossi who says that the fixture list is so congested that it is impossible for teams to keep the same level of consistency in France and in Europe.
However, Frederic Thiriez says that the ascend was unavoidable as many clubs in France do not give much priority to the Europa League. Clubs tend to perform well when it comes to playing in the Champions League but don’t take Europa League that seriously.
Certainly, Thiriez has raised a valid argument. The likes of Stade Rennais and Sochaux did not do themselves any justice in the Europa League this season so it’s better if these clubs forego their Europa League berths in future to other sides who are willing
to do well in the competition.
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