The 2016/17 Europa league and us: will we, should we and could we?

[Luka Van der Bale]

Don't do it to yourself mate, I personally think you're under estimating the opposition a little as well but anyway we will see, I don't want to come across negative or have a defeatist attitude, just being a realist.

If we want to win a trophy then the FA Cup offers a far more realistic chance of winning silverware and we are better equipped to win that.

Have to say I don't really see how you can say that. Chelsea, Arsenal, City and Liverpool are all in the FA Cup - all 4 probably tougher opposition than anyone in the EL. Not to mention the fact that a 2 legged tie gives the better side a huge chance of advancing. An away draw against say Chelsea or City in the FA Cup and you have a very tough time of it. This season, the EL is our best chance of a trophy.

 

[Shadydan]

Have to say I don't really see how you can say that. Chelsea, Arsenal, City and Liverpool are all in the FA Cup - all 4 probably tougher opposition than anyone in the EL. Not to mention the fact that a 2 legged tie gives the better side a huge chance of advancing. An away draw against say Chelsea or City in the FA Cup and you have a very tough time of it. This season, the EL is our best chance of a trophy.

Because we know the relative strengths and weaknesses of those teams as opposed to the supposed 'weaker' teams who we come up against in the EL. Don't really understand how a 2 legged tie gives you a better chance of advancing in the EL because at the same time consequetive home draws against a lesser side means you have a huge chance to advance in the FA Cup, all it comes down to is how lucky you are in the draw for both competitions but what I do know is that there's less games in the FA Cup and less travel and historically more chance of negotiating getting easier draws than the Europa League.

 

[Hazardousman]

We could win it, we certainly have the talent, Should we try and win it? Yes, but it's doubtful Poch will try but I hope we do go for it because I think winning a trophy is essential to taking our mentality as a club to another level.

Will we win it? No, I don't think we will not if we half arse it, we are not the best team in the comp (well if we are then it's not by a big margin anyway) on paper you could argue it I suppose but by no means are we a given to win it, not by a long shot, if we do prioritise it over everything though I think we might win it.

 

[TwanYid]

We could win it, we certainly have the talent, will we try and win it? Doubtful but I hope we do go for it because I think winning a trophy is essential to taking our mentality as a club to another level.

Should we win it? No, I don't think we are by a big margin the strongest team in the competition, on paper you could argue it I suppose but by no means are we a given to win it, not by a long shot.

By "should" what I mean is do we think it's something we should truly, actually go for, as opposed to doing what we normally do (i.e., heavily prioritizing the league over this Cup).

 

[Hazardousman]

By "should" what I mean is do we think it's something we should truly, actually go for, as opposed to doing what we normally do (i.e., heavily prioritizing the league over this Cup).

Edited it now. lol.

 

[archiewasking]

Now Maureen is getting Pogba in gear and Mkhitarian is showing how good he is, I would make them favourites tbh.

 

[Gbspurs]

By "should" what I mean is do we think it's something we should truly, actually go for, as opposed to doing what we normally do (i.e., heavily prioritizing the league over this Cup).

Did you really just spam me a week after my post!

 

[Darrkespur]

Villarreal (ESP) v Roma (ITA)
Celta Vigo (ESP) v Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER)* v Fiorentina (ITA)

This is something I hadn't noticed until now - the draw has been quite fortunate for us, with a relatively easy draw while arguably 6 of the biggest sides have been drawn against each other. I think this gives us the benefit of not deciding yet how to pursue things - hopefully we can get past Gent without too many issues, and then see who we get drawn against for the following game - I think if we have an easier draw for that, then would be the time to start thinking about devoting more of our attention to it. At the moment, we have the luxury of maybe balancing the demands of league and cups, which would have been more of an ask with a harder draw.

 

[TwanYid]

Did you really just spam me a week after my post!

You called the thread "pointless," an unnecessary and inflammatory statement if there ever was one. That was you leaping to a negative judgement quick and fast (in essence trying to kill the thread before it even started).

This thread isn't pointless- your comment was.

 

[TwanYid]

This is something I hadn't noticed until now - the draw has been quite fortunate for us, with a relatively easy draw while arguably 6 of the biggest sides have been drawn against each other. I think this gives us the benefit of not deciding yet how to pursue things - hopefully we can get past Gent without too many issues, and then see who we get drawn against for the following game - I think if we have an easier draw for that, then would be the time to start thinking about devoting more of our attention to it. At the moment, we have the luxury of maybe balancing the demands of league and cups, which would have been more of an ask with a harder draw.

Agree totally- and this is what I'm saying- that basically, without too much difficulty we could find ourselves in the quarterfinals of this competition-- and then it's five games to glory.

 

[Gbspurs]

You called the thread "pointless," an unnecessary and inflammatory statement if there ever was one. That was you leaping to a negative judgement quick and fast (in essence trying to kill the thread before it even started).

This thread isn't pointless- your comment was.

Somewhat impressively that rant has no relevance to my actual comment. You are good at this.

 

[TwanYid]

Somewhat impressively that rant has no relevance to my actual comment. You are good at this.

Oh, that- I didn't immediately react because I actually thought you might amend your comment after you saw enough people interacting with it. And then it was Christmas and I wasn't paying attention.

Look, I wrote something that I felt strongly about, and I wanted peoples' opinions on the subject. You came on and immediately dismissed what I wrote by saying that the entire thread- one which I'd worked on- was pointless. I objected to you saying that.

And if you're telling me that you weren't calling out my thread per se but rather were alluding to the fact that our club won't take the Europa League seriously, well then your wording was pretty poor. I mean even if Tottenham do fuck the competition off-- is it not ok to talk about it?

Writing "this thread is pointless" was just not a very nice thing to read after I'd spent time trying to grapple with- and present on- a subject I happen to find very important. Better would've been to simply ignore my thread instead of trying to demolish it. Lastly, judging by the ratings and responses, people seem to be getting something out of this discussion. So how is it pointless?

 

[TwanYid]

Anyone still think we shouldn't be the favorites to win this? Can anyone name a team in the competition that- this season- is better than us? And does anyone actually think Man U are more likely to take it than us?

This is a VERY prestigious, VERY important Cup (one look at what winning it has done to both Atletico and Sevilla demonstrates that), and it is one that- if Poch plays his cards right- can indeed be ours. I want to win the League as much as the next guy but I think that this is more doable. In fact I know that this is more doable, since we're the best team left by a mile. If we win this I will fucking cry with joy. Yes, the group stages are shit, and yes, the format needs tweeking/changing (no need for the CL dropouts, for one)- but still, the Europa League is a beautiful trophy, one that will permanently alter the DNA of our club.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

I think all the time we're in with any sort of shout for the title plus top 4 we're (quite rightly) not going to go all out to win this, unless we manage to get to the last 8 or even possibly last 4 at which point it'll be given serious consideration IMO.

I wasn't particularly bothered before but on reflection i'd love us to go all out to win this, if for no other reason than to make european nights as special as they once were, right now becauze we don't take it too seriously a sort of apathy seems to seep into the atmosphere at the ground, it all seems a bit flat.

 

[Krafty]

I think all the time we're in with any sort of shout for the title plus top 4 we're (quite rightly) not going to go all out to win this, unless we manage to get to the last 8 or even possibly last 4 at which point it'll be given serious consideration IMO.

I wasn't particularly bothered before but on reflection i'd love us to go all out to win this, if for no other reason than to make european nights as special as they once were, right now becauze we don't take it too seriously a sort of apathy seems to seep into the atmosphere at the ground, it all seems a bit flat.

Do you think that we can avoid that apathy by fielding youngsters, certainly for the next two rounds? While we are doing well in the league, and the fa cup, I think a certain ambivalence about the Europa League is inevitable because of the cup's reputation, our recent history of doing a couple of knockout rounds then going mehhhhhhhh, and the coverage of the competition in the media.

If the likes of CCV, Edwards, Onomah, KWP get game time, it gets a unique selling point, it changes the conversation. I'd like to get to one last game at the Lane, and atmosphere is going to be good. However, if a ticket is available for the Europa, I would go in addition for the chance to see the youngsters in the flesh.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Do you think that we can avoid that apathy by fielding youngsters, certainly for the next two rounds? While we are doing well in the league, and the fa cup, I think a certain ambivalence about the Europa League is inevitable because of the cup's reputation, our recent history of doing a couple of knockout rounds then going mehhhhhhhh, and the coverage of the competition in the media.

If the likes of CCV, Edwards, Onomah, KWP get game time, it gets a unique selling point, it changes the conversation. I'd like to get to one last game at the Lane, and atmosphere is going to be good. However, if a ticket is available for the Europa, I would go in addition for the chance to see the youngsters in the flesh.

There's some sense to what you say but to answer your question, no. I think fielding the kids is actually one of the main reasons we have this apathy, it's like "if they don't care why should we", you feel a bit cheated, its almost like watching a friendly. Worse when the club do that for an away game.

I don't think we have actually played very well in Europe, be it CL or EL for quite a while now, maybe in fits and starts but the whole thing seems like an unwanted chore, as I said, I think a lot of fans think the club doesn't give a shit and in turn that makes it hard for us to get up for these games.

All IMO of course

 

[arunspurs]

Even a XI of

Vorm, Tripper, CCV, Wimmer,Davies, Winks, Sissoko, Lamela, Nkoudou, Son, Janssen

Should be strong against Gent home & away IMO.

I am sure Poch will add some experience in couple of places in this XI. As long as draw is kind enough we could get away with near second XI. If we do get likes of Roma, Villareal, Shaktar we got to with proper first XI. Luckily on paper much of strong teams last season like BVB, Sevilla aren't there this time.

 

[Shadydan]

If we're gonna go with a weakened team we need to get lucky to win this comp, it would be interesting if we get to the semi's what kind of team we play then.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Let's just carry on for now and cross the team selection bridge when we get to it, shall we. There's no secret that I love European footie, but I see no point in debating now the possible team selection a for a month away. Loads can happen still that would influence it.

 

[EJWTartanSpur]

I expect a little rotation all throughout however long we stay in this, and that's fine, but I think we should be taking it seriously. The worst part about EL is the qualifying/group stage and that's done with. We are one of the favourites in it and should highly value European silverware. Did Chelsea not win this after parachuting into it at the same stage ? We should try to as well.