"Do you want to be in the Europa League next season?"

You get asked this question and instinctively you react with a yes. Why wouldn’t you want to play in the Europa League? Okay, it’s not the Champions League but it’s something, and playing in Europe makes the club feel more relevant than if it’s absent.

We can’t really afford not to be in Europe next year or any year, it feels horrible when we’re not in it. It’s tough to watch the Champions League now, especially as the tournament reaches the knockout stages and the weather turns warmer (well normally it does); you get a resentful attitude towards it because on the one hand you’re bitter that we’re not in it, but on the other, it usually throws up great games.

The comments Rodgers made this week about Europa qualification weren’t outlandish and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t understand where he was coming from. He probably shouldn’t have made them though, it was a thankless statement and he’s only added fuel to the fire that his doubters already have. He might have been trying to spin a negative (failing to qualify) into a positive (we’ll have less distractions next year) but ultimately it’s always difficult making failure look good; Everton have been trying it for years.

The Europa League has it’s flaws including (and not limited to) it’s too long, Thursday football is rubbish, it doesn’t pay well, it’s treated like the Champions League’s dirty cast-off; we could be here for hours. There’s a ‘but’ coming though… but… it’s a challenge to win, especially once the group stages are over and you start coming up against bigger teams, most teams on the continent have more respect for it than we do in Britain, it’s well regarded by most foreign players, it provides valuable European experience for the younger squad members and, most importantly, it’s a trophy to win.

Most players who we’re trying to sign will be more attracted by a club in the Europa League than one that isn’t. The Champions League is regarded as the standard for attracting the best players but most will want to take part in European competition irrespective; it’s better being part of the dance than sitting on the sidelines. It might not quite be a deal-breaker but it’s an added incentive when attracting new talent.

On a personal level I quite like Sunday football but I’ve never been totally invested in the Europa League as I find its problems too difficult to overcome. When it comes down to it, I’d prefer the club to be in with a chance of winning it rather than sitting on our hands towards the end of the season. The Champions League might be vital to our financial growth as a football club but the Europa League is vital to our reputation. Qualification for it should be the absolute minimum we should be expecting every season and sitting out European competition altogether isn’t what Liverpool should be doing.

Sure fewer games would mean we could have a better run at Champions League qualification but there’s no guarantee that it would make a lot of difference. I understand what Rodgers was trying to get across but we need the Europa League at the moment and we can’t afford to be out of Europe. As long as it’s a trophy to win then it’s relevant to us. Continually being out of Europe will only make us less relevant to everyone else, and relevancy in football is worth more than anything else.

Julian Richards

I absolutely believe we should be going all out to be getting in Europe, and I think that finishing outside of the Europa League places would turn an already disappointing season into a pretty terrible one.

People may deride the Europa League, and I've been guilty of doing so myself previously; but the competition has grown into a very good and very entertaining tournament that is full of quality...eventually, anyway. I mean it's only taken four years for it to happen.

It's not even the teams who drop down from the Champion's League that are making it a better tournament either, in fact I don't think one of the "drop outs" have won the competition or even been in the final. Hang on *consults Wikipedia*....no they haven't. Although, somewhat disappointingly, it looks like Chelsea are probably odds on to win it this year and break that cycle (c'mon, Fenerbache, Benfica or Basel!)

I think it also does help in attracting players as, like I say, while it's derided here; players and pundits on the continent generally show it more respect. While it obviously won't help us to attract players from the top bracket - whether we would be able to with CL football is up for debate anyway - it is still something foreign players look at as a positive. It's mainly English players who drone on about the amount of games, or the locations they have to travel to; but I don't think I can remember any of the foreign lads who've played for us bemoaning much about it.

As a fan, I also want to see us competing for trophies on as many fronts as possible, not to mention the fact that some of the early stages help to blood youngsters that are on the fringes. This season's competition helped the likes of Wisdom and Suso make such an impression that they were keeping out the likes of Enrique and Downing, so who's to say the likes of McLaughlin, Ibe and Jack Dunn won't make a similar positive impact if we were to get into next season's group stages? To dismiss the Europa League outright is backward. It's beneficial to both the present and the future of the club.

Terry McDonald

It’s stating the obvious to say that I want us to finish as high in the league as possible.  Finishing above Everton is pretty much all we have left to play for and European qualification would be the end result if we manage to do that.  So yeah, I want us to be in the Europa League next season as that means we’ve finished 6th or higher.

If league position (and overhauling Everton) were separated from the equation, and it was simply a case of ‘do you fancy playing in the Europa?’ it’d still be a ‘yes’ although I can see both sides of it and if I’m completely honest, I wouldn’t miss it too much.  

The group stages of it can be a massive chore, packed with uninspiring fixtures played out by shadow squads on low profile TV channels and they can be a hinderance to a league campaign.  Just ask Newcastle.

I hate the whole Thursday/Sunday thing too, not least because  it means we have to reschedule our own weekly 7 a side whenever the Reds are playing.  If you reach the knockout stages it holds more of an interest and it’s definitely a competition worth winning, but playing in Albania at 6pm on a Thursday isn’t something I’m particularly arsed about, although obviously I’ll still be watching.

In theory, not being in it *should* help a league campaign, but there are no guarantees.  We weren’t in Europe last season, and it was spun as a positive as it meant we’d be able to concentrate on making a push for the top four.  We finished 8th, so much for that then.

So if we don’t make it this year I’ll not be shedding any tears but I’ll not be looking at it as any kind of blessing in disguise either as it simply isn’t.  Yes, it means less game for Suarez, Gerrard & co but the flipside is that it also means less games for Coady, Ibe, Sterling, Suso, McLaughlin, Wisdom & any other young players for whom these games represent their best hope of getting starts.  Swings & Roundabouts as they say.

It’s not the Champions League, it’s not even close, but nevertheless it’s better to be in it that not to be in it.  Being in the Europa isn’t enough to attract players in itself, but not being in might be enough to put them off joining us.  And Liverpool FC needs to be playing in Europe, it’s what we do.  At least it’s what we did, and I’m not prepared to accept those days are over just yet.

Dave Usher

Honestly? No. But it's not because I don't want "European football", I just desperately don't want the type of European football we have on offer. "Yes Mum, I'm hungry, I just don't want to eat a dog turd with chilli sauce".