Europa League - Time to Take it Seriously

I paid scant attention to the Champions League Group games because the writing was on the wall from early season form that Spurs would not navigate the group well, especially having to play their "home" games at Wembley Stadium.  When Arsenal had to do the same while their new Emirates Stadium was being built, Arsenal discovered the Wembley hoodoo. 

One would have thought that Spurs would have learned the lessons Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had to bear, but this was not the case.  The reality is that by qualifying for the Champions League group stage, Spurs simply avoided having to play Thursday night football in the Europe League group stage.  There was no expectation that Spurs would have finished in the top two of either competitions, which is why a third place finish in the Champions League means Tottenham drop into the Europa League.  A third place finish in the Europa League however simply means Spurs would now been completely out of Europe.

Over a knock-out tournament, Spurs don't carry the European experience that would have helped them in the Champions League, not if a 2nd place finish sent them to places like Borussia Dortmund - a team that extinguished Spurs with a 3-0 win in last years Europa League. The difference last year however was Spurs were concentrating on qualifying for the Champions League through the Premier League, so fielded weakened teams for Europa matches. 

There is a huge financial cost for not qualifying into the last 16 of the Champions League, which is anywhere between 20 to 30 million pounds.  To make up that shortfall they will need to win the Europa League.  This year because the Europa League carries an automatic qualification spot for the Champions League, this competition is actually worth fighting for. 

The choice is simple qualify for the Champions League by winning 4 ties home and away ties in the Europa League and then win the final in Stockholm, Sweden - or battle over 24 remaining Premier League games, with less guarantee that a top 4 place will be secured.  If Spurs lose to Manchester United next Sunday, that will simply underline even more high comparitively difficult it will be to garner a 4th place, though a Top 3 place actually guarantees Champions League group matches.  There is no guarantee that a 4th Place finish will lead to Spurs winning a qualifier match to enter the Champions League group draw next year.

The Europa League has been an anathema for Tottenham in the past, because it's Thursday match-day format never suited Spurs and did affect their Premier League form.  Yet the prize for winning the Europa league has never been more important than it is now.  The prospects of winning the Europa League are there, with the major obstacles being the presence of both Liverpool and a Europe hungry Manchester United team.  Drawing any one of those two before the final is not a good recipe for success in this competition.  We do know that Pochettino has begun to improve his match tactics against big teams, but he still will risk playing youngsters in matches that may be better suited to the experienced members of the squad.

There lies the rub, Spurs overall are still one of the youngest aged squads in Europe and that naivety cost them dear in last years race for the title.  Spurs have had a prior history of doing well in Europe, by being the first British team to win any kind of European silverware when they lifted the European Cup-Winners Cup in 1963.  They have also won a couple of the prior editions of the Europa League then called the UEFA Cup.  Those victories in the past were memorable encounters, especially the one involving Spurs goalkeeper turned hero in 1984 :

A Europa League cup win is also essential if Spurs want to keep their superstar goalkeeper Hugo Lloris at the club, because Lloris is questioning whether Tottenham have the mettle, mindset and setup to become a club that wins regular honours.  A whole new generation of Spurs fans have been born and now are entering the labour force since they last won in Europe and with all the talk of the promising future of Tottenham - winning things now becomes the gold standard for this Tottenham team - and winning against five teams in the Europa League sounds way more reasonable than winning the lion share of the remaining 24 Premier League matches, while there are at least six other clubs who are capable of finishing in the Top 4.

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