Source: Liverpool_Echo
TOMMY SMITH: Liverpool FC must respect Europa League if they want to end trophy drought
AS Liverpool kick off the Europa League campaign tomorrow night we can take a few lessons from recent history.[LNB]I remember heading into the FA Cup tie with Reading and there seemed to be no question as to who would progress.[LNB]A draw and a replay later and it hadn't gone according to plan though.[LNB]That's why we must be careful against Unirea Urziceni. If anything is taken for granted, we could be looking at another unwelcome cup upset.[LNB]Although there is one school of thought that says Unirea might simply be happy to be playing at Anfield, they're not a bad side and only narrowly missed out on reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League.[LNB]While everyone would prefer us to be in that competition, we have to take the Europa League seriously.[LNB]The Liverpool philosophy has always been that, as soon as you went out of one competition, you set out to win the next.[LNB]The Europa League presents an opportunity for us to lift a trophy for the first time since the FA Cup in 2006.[LNB]The club's reputation has been built on silverware and so we shouldn't pass up an opportunity to add to that, be it in the Carling Cup, European Cup or whatever.[LNB]I'm not sure the squad is good enough to win the Premier League as it is but it should be good enough to win the Europa League.[LNB]Saying that I'd expect to see a strong team sent out against Unirea. We can't afford to be complacent and field all the fringe players and kids.[LNB]Playing an under- strength side would immediately give the opposition an extra lift.[LNB]Plus, people pay good money to come to Anfield and watch the best players. If we want to win the competition we have to respect it.
