Although the ugly and abhorrent European Super League is as good as dead, the problems that led to its birth have not gone away.
The main driving force behind the creation of the ESL was, of course, the fact that the owners of the 12 clubs involved were greedy, selfish and desperate for power.
But if we can forget (hard, I know, but try) their main motivations for a second, then you will find that beneath the avarice was a genuine, and probably justifiable, dissatisfaction with Europe’s premier competition.
The big clubs are concerned that the competition throws up too many lacklustre matches and not enough clashes between the powerhouses of the European game which, in turn, leads to reduced spectator interest and reduced revenue.
And it’s hard to disagree with that.
UEFA has, as we all know, tried to address some of those problems with its new revamped Champions League which was officially launched on the Monday after the ESL was revealed on the Sunday evening.
But the reception to this new format has been mostly negative, ranging from “is that it?” to “are you serious?”.
Fans are not happy that the four additional places (up to 36 from 32) will be awarded on historical achievements. On this basis, if a ‘big’ team fails to qualify because it is currently not very good, it can squeeze its way into the competition through the back door because they were good, once upon a time. Hardly the ‘sporting merit’ UEFA were so passionate about when they attacked the ESL.
Coaches are not happy because the new league system will see teams play 10 opponents of varying strengths, meaning at least an extra four games at a time when they already think players are playing too much football.
And the greedy, money-grabbing owners aren’t happy because, well, they basically aren’t happy unless they see a way of adding extra zeroes to their bank balance. But to hell with them!
So, as reforms go, this hasn’t been a hugely successful one by UEFA.
My system would be fair, more interesting and a spectator dream with exciting qualifying matches, tense group matches and thrilling quarter-finals
However, I think I may have come up with a bit of a solution that may go some way towards improving the situation. It’s evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and won’t require much of a change from the existing format, but let’s see what you think.
Under my plan, the ultimate aim would be to end up with four groups of six teams, with the top two in each group going to the quarter-finals.
So, how do we decide which teams make up these groups?
Well, that’s where it gets interesting. Take the actual champions of the eight biggest European Leagues (Italy, England, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Portugal and maybe one at random) and throw them straight in. They’ve won their league, they deserve the reward.
The other 16 places would come as a result of a knockout phase similar to the one we have now but involving every single team that has qualified for the Champions League other than the ‘big eight’. This phase can be seeded, with the second-placed teams from the big leagues only coming in for the last round, for example.
Crucially, this knock-out phase will separate the wheat from the chaff, and by the time we get to my revamped group stage, what’s left will be mostly big boys, with maybe a few surprise packages thrown in to keep it interesting.
By my calculations, scribbled down on the back of a napkin admittedly, this should mean most clubs wouldn’t need to play any more games than they do right now to win the trophy. So that solves that problem.
It should also lead to a more exciting group stage because each mini-league is more than likely going to be made up of quality teams – something that will satisfy the ESL gang.
Equally, however, it doesn’t make the final stage a closed shop. Any team in Europe will always have a chance to force their way through to the groups, keeping alive the hopes and dreams of millions of fans.
The ‘drawback’ to my cunning plan, of course, is that it doesn’t give the dirty dozen a lot of privileges or ensure them untold riches just for turning up. Some of them may not even make it through my qualifying process, which would be highly amusing for most of us, but harrowing for the owners of that club.
Frankly, however, I don’t care one iota if the likes of Liverpool’s John Henry and the Glazers of Manchester United aren’t happy. Just like they didn’t care if they broke football in pursuit of money, money and more money.
My system would be fair, would be more interesting and would be a spectator dream with exciting qualifying matches, tense group matches and then, obviously, thrilling quarter-finals.
In some ways it does lean towards favouring the big boys, I get that, but not to the detriment of fair play and football justice. The automatic entry into the group stage is reserved for actual champions, which strikes me as the way it should be done.
My plan might not be perfect, but it feels like a reasonable compromise, so if anybody has an e-mail address for Aleksander Ceferin, feel free to drop him a line on my behalf.
As payment for the idea, my only demand is Malta’s champions are included in the big eight…
email: james@quizando.com
twitter: @maltablade