In Defense of the Cup-tying Rule

In many competitions across Europe, players are "Cup-tied" each season, meaning that if you play for one team at one stage in the competition, you cannot play for another team later in the same competition. The focus of the rule is to keep the rich from getting richer by poaching players from teams already knocked out of the competition.

Mike Collet writes that it is time for the rule to go. While it would be unfair to presume, it would not suprise me if Collet is a Portsmouth FC fan. Pompey's Jermain Defoe is unable to play for Portsmouth in England's FA Cup Final against Cardiff City at Wembley in May because he played for Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the competition before coming to Pompey during the Winter Transfer Window. However, Defoe is able to play for Pompey in their English Premier League campaign, where PFC currently sit sixth in the table and are chasing a UEFA Cup slot.

Likewise in Europe, players who played for one team at one stage of the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup cannot play for another team in later stages of the same tournament, yet are allowed to play for their new clubs in their national league.

Collet says this is stupid to have one standard for cups and one standard for leagues. But in Collet's criticism lies its folly. Cups and leagues are entirely different competitions. If one team loses in a cup tie, they are out of the competition. No worries. It would have been nice to advance obviously, but it's not the end of the world. League play on the other hand carries with it the very real chance of relegation.

Teams in poor positions in league play have much less incentive to sell their players to the teams that advance (which more often than not, the teams that advance are higher in league play) due to the risk of relegation. In addition, to deny a player to participate in League play after joining a new team in the winter transfer window could mean him missing close to 20 games. Missing the Cup games means denying a footballer his trade only 3-5 times.

For these main distinguishing reasons, the cup-tying rule is good, and will affect only a handful of footballers each year, but in exchange, will allow the mid-level teams (and high-mid-level teams like Celtic, Porto, Benfica, PSV, and Olimpiacos) to keep their best players and grow as a team, rather than being glorified farm teams for a handful of conquering finalists.

Last Minute Champions League Picks

And as such, not really thought out, more gut reactions.

Who and Why?
Group A: Liverpool and Porto
- Liverpool and Porto's European experience and good form to start the season coupled with the lack thereof from Besiktas and Marseilles.

Group B: Chelsea and Valencia
- Chelsea's star power overpowers Schalke's lackluster form starting domestic play (1-0-4) to take second place after Valencia takes the group. All teams should be over the moon to have drawn Norwegian champs Rosenborg.

Group C: Real Madrid and Olympiacos
Real Madrid are off to a lfying start domestically. Frankly, I don't feel that great about Werder Bremen or Lazio, it's a pretty lackluster group even with los Meringues, so I'm gonna pick Olimpiacos as my upset special.

Group D: AC Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk
Celtic may sneak in, but the holders are too powerful, and the group is too weak. Benfica has had an average start to the season (2-0-2) and will probably not make the knockout stages. Tuesday's Celtic-Shakhtar game in the Ukraine looms huge and will set the pace for second place behind the Rossoneri. Come on the Celts!

Group E: FC Barcelona and Rangers FC
As much as it pains me, Rangers have been near perfect domestically, and Ibrox is a fortress. I can see them running the table at home, and maybe pipping a few points off Stuttgart and Lyon away. Damarcus Beasley's game is more suited for the European competition than the knockdown-dragout SPL and he should blossom.

Group F: Manchester United and AS Roma
United has the star power, and Roma looks to make a serious run at the Italian title this season. Sporting Lisbon and Dynamo Kiev have all the makings of also-rans.

Group G: Internazionale and Fenerbahce
I got a good feeling about the Turks and Inter is always Inter. Not too high on CSKA Moscow (or Russian teams in general) and PSV.

Group H: Sevilla and Arsenal
Slavia Prague and Steaua Bucharest round out the group against the English powerhouse and the near-Spanish-Treble-winners (UEFA Cup, Spanish Cup, 3rd in Spanish League) winners from last season. Need I say more?

There Are No Words

Celtic are through to the Champions League!