There’s no situation so bleak or annoying that a football governing body can’t make it worse. UEFA’s supposed coefficient system to allocate European berths for next season would come at Chelsea’s expense.
Things historically don’t go well when Germany takes charge of large swaths of Europe. But if the domestic leagues and UEFA can’t come up with anything resembling a reasonable proposal for concluding the domestic seasons and European competitions, football may just need to cede control to the German authorities. While the Bundesliga has set a start date to go with their timetable and standards for resuming play, UEFA is noodling with a coefficient-based way of allocating next season’s Champions League and Europa League spots irrespective of what the domestic leagues decide, mainly since those leagues are more afraid of making a decision than Jorginho is of receiving a pass on the half turn.
To whatever extent you want to believe the Daily Mail, UEFA urged their member associations to do everything they can to finish their 2019/20 leagues and cups. Either as an option or a threat, UEFA then heard a proposal where teams would qualify for the Champions League or Europa League based on their success in those tournaments over the last five years.
The UEFA math would put Arsenal ahead of Chelsea. Even though Chelsea beat Arsenal in the Europa League final, Arsenal have not missed a season of European competition the way the Blues did in 2016/17.
Therefore, even though Arsenal are currently ninth in the Premier League and Chelsea fourth, and even though Chelsea have three European trophies in the last eight years to Arsenal’s zero in ever, the Gunners would get the higher spot.
Obviously, the coefficient system greatly favours consistently mediocre teams over surging upstarts or up-and-down winners. Wolves and Sheffield United would be the biggest losers, with Leicester City and Chelsea close behind.
Much like transfer rumours, this report is plausible if not credible. It’s plausible only because it tracks so well with the dynamic of putting a bunch of failed individuals in a room and expecting them to come out with a satisfying group decision.
A committee of the indecisive always takes action by developing the most convoluted and divorced from reality “solution.”
However, you can only blame the confederacy of dunces so much. That it came to them to decide collectively is the result of the individual failings of the constituent associations.
The mere possibility of this should compel Chelsea to drive the issue with the Premier League. Chelsea are the biggest club who would take a significant hit from this proposal. They therefore have the motivation and the influence to induce action. The league and the football media can ignore Wolves, Leicester and Sheffield United, but not Chelsea. And if Chelsea can lead these clubs who share a similar interest in a proper conclusion to the season, they might be able to goad the other clubs to lend their voice as well.
Football in England is without a leader. Anyone looking to the putative leaders will be told to wait under lockdown with everyone else, while the leaders wait for a different batch of leaders to tell them what to do.
Someone needs to actually lead. Chelsea can be that somebody, and the UEFA coefficient scheme could mark the beginning of the end of the season.
Or England can just outsource all their decisions to Germany. Things will get done, that’s for sure.