How Big a Priority Should the Europa League Be for Liverpool?

The above is a very modern football question, isn’t it? The sort of thing which wouldn’t have been asked 30, 20, even 10 years ago.

That’s because the Europa League, nee UEFA Cup, has undergone the kind of make-under that would never catch on in a TV reality show. Things are supposed to get better and brighter, not worse, dull and, in many cases, inconvenient.

That clubs of a fairly medium standing should occasionally consider themselves above the competition is now the biggest indictment of it, with barely a Thursday-night fixture passing by without the consideration of how it’ll impact on the team in the “bread and butter” of league combat the following Sunday.

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When he looked at the lay of the land following the draw for this season’s competition, Brendan Rodgers would have been pretty satisfied.

While Bordeaux, FC Sion and Rubin Kazan don’t exactly seem formidable opposition, another boost is that Liverpool don’t have to leave Merseyside in the weekend following a Europa League Group B fixture—with five Premier League games taking place at Anfield and one over the road at Goodison Park.

As it turned out, of course, that Merseyside derby proved to be Rodgers’ last stand, but when Jurgen Klopp surveyed what he’d walked into upon replacing him, then that trademark grin is likely to have spread across the German’s face. In truth, it has been there ever since he walked through the door.

But as Klopp would doubtless say, why do we worry about such things? Any Liverpool team sent out on to any football pitch in any competition should want to give their all and win the match, and not reserve energy for future combat.

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Yet as the Reds showed in their new manager’s encouraging start to English football life in the goalless draw at Tottenham at the weekend, whatever they earn under the former Borussia Dortmund boss is going to be delivered through hard work—the look on the shattered Adam Lallana’s face when he was substituted perhaps being the biggest evidence of Klopp’s changes.

So should the Europa League be sacrificed in order to prioritise hell-for-leather, “heavy-metal” Premier League football? No, not at all.

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Rodgers’ first season at Anfield, the 2012/13 campaign, is often forgotten due to what came next, but the Northern Irishman got his first taste of European football pretty much right.

Committing to a possession-based style of play, the manager introduced young players such as Raheem Sterling, Jonjo Shelvey, Andre Wisdom and Suso into his side—most notably in the away games—and all four eventually became important members of his first team for the “more meaningful” matches after they helped Liverpool get out of the group.

The problem Klopp has, of course, is that his first week on the job brought news of devastating injuries to Joe Gomez and Danny Ings, as well as a less serious one to Jordan Rossiter.

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All three would have been inserted into Europa League fixtures as a chance to get used to their new manager’s style of play, giving the likes of Lallana a much-needed breather, but that only means there will be chances for others.

Yet the beauty of Klopp—and, as the Daily Telegraph’s Chris Bascombe points out, something which is in contrast to his predecessors—is that he’s happy with what he has to work with. Give him 11 players and he’ll make a football team which fights for the cause, and he’ll have plenty of gifted players returning from injury fairly soon.

The question of whether or not the Europa League should be a "priority" for Liverpool shouldn’t really exist, then. Winning football matches should be a priority for Liverpool, and the next one happens to be against Rubin Kazan. Then comes Southampton.

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So forget the “modern football” take on the Europa League, and instead just see it as more chances to see Klopp at work with one of the more fascinating football projects in the world right now.

If Liverpool were to win the Europa League, then they’ll be in the Champions League next season, something that will also be the case if they finish in the top four of the Premier League. Right now, those two possibilities should be treated just the same.

If Klopp can instil that sort of mentality and approach in his players, then questions such as the one in the headline will hopefully become a thing of the past.