By Andrew Warshaw
September 5 – Europe’s top coaches are not convinced that UEFA’s plan to change the seeding system for the Champions League will be that significant. The format is being altered in future to avoid domestic champions being ranked lower than other clubs from the same country and to prevent them being drawn in the same group such as Group A this season where the champions of Italy (Juventus), Spain (Atletico Madrid), the Netherlands (Ajax) and Sweden (Malmo) are all lumped together.
But following UEFA’s annual get-together of elite coaches, it emerged that many believe seedings do not play that a great a role in the outcome of games.
“I don’t necessarily think the seeding plays a great part,” said former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, a two-time Champions League winner after chairing the two-day forum as UEFA’s coaching ambassador.
Currently, UEFA ranks clubs over five years of competition results – leaving national champions Manchester City, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain among No. 2-seeded teams.
“You take what you get and your performance is the most important thing,” said Ferguson. “Does it matter if one is the top seed or second seed or third seed?”
Ferguson led discussions on ideas to change the game, including the ‘sin-bin’ favored by UEFA President Michel Platini. “We couldn’t get to an agreement on it because it’s such a controversial decision to change,” said Ferguson who revealed scrapping the away goals rule was also on the agenda.
“”Some think it is not as important as it used to be…and the attacking emphasis on the game today means more teams go away from home and win,” said Ferguson.
“What is helping is that the state of the pitches, pitches are fantastic nowadays, so coming out of defence with passes is much easier than it was 30 years ago, and you get a better attitude to counter-attack today than you did 30 years ago.”
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