Source: SKY_Sports
O'Neill unhappy with Uefa
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is unhappy next season's Europa League has not been streamlined.
The Villa Park tactician believes teams have to play too many games in order to reach the latter stages of the competition.
Although Uefa have reduced the number of teams in the group stage they have also increased the number of fixtures by introducing home and away matches, as well as persevering with two knockout rounds before the quarter-finals.
O'Neill thinks that having too many European fixtures towards the back end of the season can detract from domestic campaigns, as when Manchester United fielded a weakened team for their FA Cup semi-final clash against Everton.
Too many games"There are too many games," stated O'Neill. "One thing they could have done was that whoever comes out of the group stage would be in the last 16, like the Champions League.
"The last 32 is a round too many. I accept there are more teams and that there are teams that drop out of the Champions League and go into it, but you can devise a system that those teams that come out of the group should be in the final 16.
"It should have been redesigned with that in mind because you can see the problems teams in the Champions League have had. Manchester United, going all guns blazing for every single competition, go to a semi-final of an FA Cup and play a weakened side.
"United can possibly get away with that but there's fixture congestion at the most important time of the season. And that's the Champions League. So you can image what it's like with the extra Uefa Cup games."
