Europa League Verdict (How was it for you love?)

After all the effort to qualify for the thing last season has it been worth it? Have you enjoyed any of it or has it been a waste of time?

When the groups were drawn, I thought we had a chance of getting through the group. I thought the dangers were Inter and Sparta. After the first round of games I thought we'd breeze it.

I don't live in Europe at the moment so I've been waking up at 4a.m and 2a.m to watch what have been mostly very boring and disappointing games, the exception being Inter at home.

Did traveling to the away games make it any better or did it make it worse?

Team selections have been frustrating, I feel if we'd played our first team in the first 3 matches we'd have been in a position to rest players for the last two and have got through to the last 32.

Did any of the rotated players benefit? I can't remember a performance from any of the players brought into the team for Europa games impressing enough for people to clamour for their inclusion at the weekend.

I've got to go to work now, but from my point of view the whole Europa venture has been a waste of time, for fans, players and casual viewers. Even Consortium11 doesn't bother writing about it in the Guardian comments section.

Not sure I'd want us to bother qualifying again, it's been bloody tedious.

The rotation has cost us imo.

Too soon. Too raw.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

We blew our load in the Inter home game and couldn't get it up after that.

We must now sleep on the wet patch for the rest of the season.

Bit mixed - I think our success in the league cup hurt us in Europe.

Everyone round here seems to think we should perform like all the other teams who are always in Europe every season - seems a little unrealistic to me.

Hopefully this can be a kick up the Arse for the PL till FA Cup and the league cup Semi's - we have some emininently winnable games coming up and going on a run would be good.0

Would have been good to get to the knockout stages and I guess that would have been the target to qualify from the group at the start of the season.

Sparta game cost us in the end.

Away games as an experience were fantastic, games themselves dreadful. Sparta and Inter at home brilliant all round.Shambolic not to qualify, but playing the type of football we did in the group games we fully deserve to be out.

Nothing other than a total failure.

We should have qualified from the group, not easily but we should have qualified.

Yesterday was pathetic but we had blown it before then by throwing away the Prague and Beer Sheva away games. While rotation may have worked by getting game time to more players, it's completely failed in its objective to actually qualify from the group.

Rotation seems to have become the end in itself rather than actually trying to succeed on the pitch or, you know, scoring an actual single goal in one of the away matches.

I've been supportive of Puel, I'm desperate to like him, but he has dropped massively in my estimations now. We probably won't be in Europe again for a couple of seasons or more, so this is a failure that is borderline unforgivable.

It's gutting that we are not going any further but:

what a trip really. We played at The San Siro, some of us fathers took our kids to watch Saints play Inter Milan at The San Siro.

And then we cam e from behind to beat them at home, what a night that was.

some of you went to Israel, one of the lost historic countries on the planet, you might never have gone without that game.

and what a great few days in Prague.

it was a great opportunity to see games in places that a few years ago were unimaginable whilst we watched the skates play Milan at that **** hole.

Shame about the football but good times waiting, planning and executing some great trips.

I loved the away trips but not the results. The football we played was somewhat mixed and it all finished with a hugely frustrating last 2 games.

We blew our load in the Inter home game and couldn't get it up after that.

 

We must now sleep on the wet patch for the rest of the season.

Not quite the simile I would use, but it does convey the feeling.

Sadly without the core of the team that actually qualified for the competition- Fonte, Pelle, Mane and Wanyama, (arguably, exc VVD,our best players ) we struggled.

Enjoyed Sparta home, Milan trip and Milan at home.

Maybe our continuous selling of our best players contradicts our ambition to qualify for Europe. One for the board to work out.

Doubt if we will ever get this opportunity again and we blew it. Enjoyed the travels away but other than the Inter home game we haven't performed. Very very disappointed with the overall lack of passion and urgency shown last night (other than VD) not sure how we can pick ourselves up ready for Sunday.

- Some good performances.

- Some bad performances.

But we missed SO many chances in all of them.

(A familiar pattern)

If you're not going to take the competition seriously, then dont bother putting the effort in to qualify. Puel has got this competition completely wrong.

The rotation has cost us imo.

Hardly, there was no rotation last night and we did nothing. We rotated in league cup and are in the semi.

The problem is just like the league we have been utterly horrendous away from home. I'm not convinced the supposed first xi would have done any better in Prague, Israel or Milan.

All in all this year's european campaign has been much more enjoyable than last year's but still galling not to make it out the group.

How was it? Massively over-hyped is how it was. The football seemed to be an adjunct or secondary to the whole UEFA 'experience'. Who wants to go to football on a Thursday evening anyway? Looking at the 6 games we played in the round you would have to say you would see more excitement and more quality in 6 PL games. Thoroughly enjoyed both Inter games, the rest of it was all a bit meh. Hopefully the rotation has given Puel a good look at all his options and we have enough left in the tank to get through Xmas and then consolidate in the league. Does make you wonder what the point of qualifying was when we went out with such a whimper.

After all the effort to qualify for the thing last season has it been worth it? Have you enjoyed any of it or has it been a waste of time?

 

I've got to go to work now, but from my point of view the whole Europa venture has been a waste of time, for fans, players and casual viewers. Even Consortium11 doesn't bother writing about it in the Guardian comments section.

Not sure I'd want us to bother qualifying again, it's been bloody tedious.

Went to all 6 games, the awaydays were fantastic, the matches... well, it's been controlled low-impact Saints - lets see what we're like only playing one match a week like most other teams.

I think I'd have enjoyed it about 0.5% more if we'd actually scored away.

If you're not going to take the competition seriously, then dont bother putting the effort in to qualify. Puel has got this competition completely wrong.

Actually Puel has got this competition one Yoshida header a foot to the right away from absolutely right.

Doubt if we will ever get this opportunity again and we blew it.

This.

I cant see us getting into Europe for quite some time. The non performers from last season have picked themselves up and we lack goalscorers.

As has been mentioned on here and on Solent last night why put in all that hard work to qualify last season then blow it all away with a questionable team selection process.

The two away trips to Milan and Prague were excellent, but depressing in terms of the results, although we deserved more in Milan than Prague on the effort and performances of those selected. Overall Puel has got it wrong in the strategy / planning his teams to get us through, one header a foot wide in the 93rd minute of the last game of 6 in the league is no way near good planning in my opinion. Some good results at home should have been enough if we had shown some ambition to with last night.

Some great memories of the trips and beating Milan at SMS, but overall disappointed with the sad exit, the walk home was painful, having gone through the excitement of the draw and the lows of Prague and Milan, to be let down at the death is hurting hard, now sure the FAC or League Cups are going to bring us joy I am afraid. But eternally optimistic we can pull around the league performances, onto Boro on Sunday, COYR

Actually Puel has got this competition one Yoshida header a foot to the right away from absolutely right.

It shouldn't of come down to that you moron.

Actually Puel has got this competition one Yoshida header a foot to the right away from absolutely right.

Nah. We shouldn't have needed that. We should have already got more from Israel or Sparta away, and we should have been 2-0 up last night.

Beer Sheva qualified not through some fluke but because they went away from home and beat teams. We didn't even score one goal. Focusing the whole thing on one missed chance in a match is nonsense.

How was it for me? I hope your sex doesn't finish as weakly as our campaign did.