Europa League 2013/14

[Mr Pink]

If we are in this competition next season I want AVB to use his squad more wisely. That does not equate to not taking it as seriously as such - just a better approach that doesn't compromise any of our objectives, with the caveat that the League should shade the priority stakes.

We know AVB has massive respect for the competition and will take it seriously. I would love him to use it to start the likes of Carroll, Townsend etc regularly. Mixing it up more and being more inventive (not negative for the sake of just league matters) with his selection to balance our needs.

I think that approach with that sort of mind set would excite me about the upcoming season. Ambitious yet slightly adventurous with the Europa League. Just not the same eleven starting on Thursday then Sunday.

 

[SteveH]

Some are living in fairytale football land.

It is a "Mickey mouse cup".

AVB bless him, got his football club unnecessarily mauled on a couple of occasions in this silly bloody cup this season.
We unnecessarily then struggled in subsequent EPL game i.e. Fulham loss 17th March - after 4 - 1 in Milan .

AVB was wrong IMO.

His current incumbents cannot hack Thursday then following Sunday game schedule without it jeopardising our league position. This is not worth it for anything other than the top level competitions i.e The Champions League where the rewards balance out the risks to our EPL targets.

 

[SteveH]

If we are in this competition next season I want AVB to use his squad more wisely. That does not equate to not taking it as seriously as such - just a better approach that doesn't compromise any of our objectives, with the caveat that the League should shade the priority stakes.

We know AVB has massive respect for the competition and will take it seriously. I would love him to use it to start the likes of Carroll, Townsend etc regularly. Mixing it up more and being more inventive (not negative for the sake of just league matters) with his selection to balance our needs.

I think that approach with that sort of mind set would excite me about the upcoming season. Ambitious yet slightly adventurous with the Europa League. Just not the same eleven starting on Thursday then Sunday.

amen to that Mr P!
Play the U-21's!

The Carroll's of this world should of cause be used for the EL. But the Townsend's will be important first team support players. These are the type of players Chelsea have got in abundance (well a few anyway ).


I'm putting this season attitude with EL from AVB down to his Portuguese roots (who really love this bloody competition, mind their team don't win the CL very often, so its understandable) and youthful enthusiasm

 

[DEFchenkOE]

I don't have a problem with us trying to win trophies, I have a problem with the Europa League. It's a poor tournament in terms of prize money and prestige. Why should we show it respect when uefa don't by first allowing the failed qualifiers into it (fair enough I guess) and then allowing the 3rd placed cl teams into it giving them only a couple of rounds to reach the final. When they have already benefited and strengthened their squads based on the huge amounts of cl revenue and the status it gives.

At the beginning of the tournament there is never a favourite as you don't know which CL team will be in it. We can bust our guts all we like playing our strongest teams in the group stages only to be brushed aside later on by one of those teams who have an unfair advantage.

Like I said never had a problem with the uefa cup, but this tournament is not worth the effort required to try and win it especially as it can effect league form

 

[Mr Pink]

I don't have a problem with us trying to win trophies, I have a problem with the Europa League. It's a poor tournament in terms of prize money and prestige. Why should we show it respect when uefa don't by first allowing the failed qualifiers into it (fair enough I guess) and then allowing the 3rd placed cl teams into it giving them only a couple of rounds to reach the final. When they have already benefited and strengthened their squads based on the huge amounts of cl revenue and the status it gives.

At the beginning of the tournament there is never a favourite as you don't know which CL team will be in it. We can bust our guts all we like playing our strongest teams in the group stages only to be brushed aside later on by one of those teams who have an unfair advantage.

Like I said never had a problem with the uefa cup, but this tournament is not worth the effort required to try and win it especially as it can effect league form

Have to say I agree with a lot of this as well.

 

[ShelfSide18]

I actually really like the Europa League and have enjoyed being in it regularly since we qualified for the 06/07 season. Of course the CL was an amazing season, but I've enjoyed following Spurs around some quirky, interesting places around Europe (Nijmegen / Braga / Seville etc) in those years and I think as a club we are better off because of it. As fans too, you experience other fan cultures, styles of play and even in this age some sides do still have that element of the unknown about them.

If we are in the Europa next year I hope we take it seriously, we as a club need to learn how to manage a long season with games all the time and I'd love to see us pick a European pot for our troubles too. We all want to be in the Champions League, because the benefits of this mean we are better able to compete and win domestic trophies by increased revenue and attraction to better players, but winning that trophy is a long way off. We can win the Europa if we are in it next year, and I'd love to experience the glory of a European win.

 

[Monkey Bastard Hands]

We should be looking to win every competition we take part in. Imagine if it was us taking on Benfica in the final tonight, the atmosphere on here would be electric and i'd have been stupidly excited about watching us in a European cup final. The money might not be as much but that's not the be all and end all.

 

[WiganSpur]

I'd like us to field a relatively strong team but we can still do well in this with some of our youngsters out. A team like this maybe?:

Lloris​

Smith Caulker Dawson Fryers​

Livermore Carroll​

Townsend--------Falque------Pritchard​

Adebayor​

Archer, Kaboul, Naughton, Holtby, Sigurdsson, Ceballos, Kane​

​

That's discounting signings too, but I believe that team could compete, certainly in the groups anyway.​

 

[SteveH]

We should be looking to win every competition we take part in. Imagine if it was us taking on Benfica in the final tonight, the atmosphere on here would be electric and i'd have been stupidly excited about watching us in a European cup final. The money might not be as much but that's not the be all and end all.

When cost outweigh the reward one would look to common sense to strike a balance, not carry on blindly.

I would prefer to have gone out earlier in the EL and have the 3 points on the board from the Fulham game, everyday

 

[SteveH]

I'd like us to field a relatively strong team but we can still do well in this with some of our youngsters out. A team like this maybe?:

Lloris​

Smith Caulker Dawson Fryers​

Livermore Carroll​

Townsend--------Falque------Pritchard​

Adebayor​

Archer, Kaboul, Naughton, Holtby, Sigurdsson, Ceballos, Kane

That's discounting signings too, but I believe that team could compete, certainly in the groups anyway.

Players these day will not sit on the bench for a occational EL run out, I would not have thought

 

[fieryjack]

When cost outweigh the reward one would look to common sense to strike a balance, not carry on blindly.

I would prefer to have gone out earlier in the EL and have the 3 points on the board from the Fulham game, everyday

You don`t go to the games then and wouldn`t have been in Amsterdam tonight?

 

[Mattspur]

If the players can't handle playing the likes of the Cypriot cup winners on a Thursday and maintaining a league campaign, how are they supposed to adjust to playing CL midweek matches if we achieve our aims of getting in there again?

What AVB was trying to do this year was get away from the culture of "it's only a Mickey Mouse cup" that Harry had ingrained, that every match is important, and that we want to compete in every trophy we are in. Ultimately the squad was not deep enough this year, but with a few additions and promoting a few more of our talented youth players, we should be able to make it work.

Also, success breeds success, Europa League trophy would be a great springboard for the club as a whole.

AVB may have been trying to change the Mick Mouse Cup culture, but the players didn't play like they cared for it. Poor performances in all but a couple of games, followed by a few defeats in the league really made the competition far more costly to our season than any benefit gained from it.

 

[SteveH]

You don`t go to the games then and wouldn`t have been in Amsterdam tonight?

Unfortunately no - I would not, fieryjack.
But having a good time following the mighty Spurs in a European in an away tie. Was not the reward I was talking about it this instance.
It was revenue back to the club for the new stadium and new players versus costs like of Bale being crocked for a a couple of vital league game.

A few bevies in Amsterdam with the fans, sounds like fun and I would like to able to join in, fieryjack.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

For the people that's saying money isn't everything in football it's about winning etc, that's also true. But in this case we have paid by fielding strong teams in the EL and then flopping our league matches after due to not having Bale/fatigue.

I hope those same people are not complaining if we don't bring in any top quality players in the summer. Making the CL would have helped us to do that but it's clear with the training ground and new stadium plans, being in the EL is not going to help us at all.

Which is why I believe we should play a mix of fringe players and u21s in the tournament from now on unless Uefa change the format to make it more worthwhile.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I think we should integrate young players and squad players in the early rounds, not wholesale, but prudently, but make sure we qualify and then take it seriously. We have to learn to juggle Europe and the league as this is what we will have to do if we have ambitions of making the CL.

The domestic cups should be used almost entirely as proving grounds for squad and young players. Until at least QTR's FA cup and semis League cup.

 

[SteveH]

For the people that's saying money isn't everything in football it's about winning etc, that's also true. But in this case we have paid by fielding strong teams in the EL and then flopping our league matches after due to not having Bale/fatigue.

I hope those same people are not complaining if we don't bring in any top quality players in the summer. Making the CL would have helped us to do that but it's clear with the training ground and new stadium plans, being in the EL is not going to help us at all.

Which is why I believe we should play a mix of fringe players and u21s in the tournament from now on unless Uefa change the format to make it more worthwhile.

Spot on.

Football does not operate in a bubble where finances don't matter it's the exact opposite its all that matters.

 

[Mattspur]

For the people that's saying money isn't everything in football it's about winning etc, that's also true. But in this case we have paid by fielding strong teams in the EL and then flopping our league matches after due to not having Bale/fatigue.

I would say money IS everything. Unless someone can tell me which Premier League team regularly competes for Domestic and European honours which isn't absolutely loaded. To be competitive you need to have the best players. The best players want big money. Money which only the richest clubs can pay. No team has ever won the PL without being far richer than almost everyone else.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

For the people that's saying money isn't everything in football it's about winning etc, that's also true. But in this case we have paid by fielding strong teams in the EL and then flopping our league matches after due to not having Bale/fatigue.

I hope those same people are not complaining if we don't bring in any top quality players in the summer. Making the CL would have helped us to do that but it's clear with the training ground and new stadium plans, being in the EL is not going to help us at all.

Which is why I believe we should play a mix of fringe players and u21s in the tournament from now on unless Uefa change the format to make it more worthwhile.

If managed correctly the Europa league is not a problem and does yield valuable revenue for a club like ours who get good tuen outs for European games. More importantly it's about conditioning and educating our players.

It's the domestic cups that we need take a little less seriously.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Spot on.

Football does not operate in a bubble where finances don't matter it's the exact opposite its all that matters.

But there is good money to be made for us in the Europa. It's not just the prize money but the match day revenue.

 

[SteveH]

But there is good money to be made for us in the Europa. It's not just the prize money but the match day revenue.

Clubs like Spurs and really any top European side burn money as they travel to these tournaments, so the cost must be astronomical to get squads around the EU. This must be taken in to account when looking at prize monies.

Benitez has walked the tightrope that is the Europe League with some aplomb this season. But he had little to loose he's only keeping the seat warm for Maureen. But you imagine if Chelsea were in our predicament and he was not a seat warmer. His ass is grass as the yanks would say!