Should the league or Europa League be our priority this season...?

[sloth]

Simple question, but is it a simple answer? For years we've thought the EL is a bit of a distraction, however this season's winners will secure CL qualification. Given this route means a trophy and CL riches, should we be prioritising the EL, for example, by playing our best team in important EL matches even if it means resting them in the subsequent PL match? Or should we put all our efforts in doing well in the PL given that's our bread and butter?

 

[sloth]

Not sure what my answer is, obviously both would be ideal, but that's not going to be possible all the time. I'm not sure which is easier to achieve either? It feels like EL should be, but is it?

 

[Marty]

It really depends entirely on how lucky we are with the EL draw and what our league situation looks like when the knockout stages come around.

But ideally I hope and believe we have a strong enough squad to rotate well and fight on both fronts.

 

[Time for Heroes]

Look we are going to get through the Europa league group comfortably.

When the league starts to take shape and the knockout phase starts in the Europa league then this may be a better time to ask this question.

 

[nightgoat]

We always get a shitty draw in the knock out rounds, so it would be foolish to completely prioritise the EL, and Liverpool and Arsenal both look capable of slipping up in the league. That said, the EL route is probably easier, but it could also be ruined with one bad game. We should still be aiming to manage the squad carefully for both competitions.

 

[Mr Pink]

Personally I think the Europa League will he harder to win than finishing fourth, but both are very tough asks.

Both should be the aim though. At the moment, in the group stages, I'd be prioritising the League. We need to use the squad anyway and our fringe players are more than good enough to get us out of the group stages and if they're not it speaks volumes about the quality of this squad.

In an ideal world we can keep fresh our best eleven for League games until February. Then we can assess where we are in the League. If we're well off the pace in the race for fourth we can clearly prioritise the Europa League.

If we're in a strong position in the League and truly in the race for fourth the manager will have to use his squad wisely as either competition should be taken as serious as the other - providing we've qualified for the knock out phase.

That's one of the skills of management. Planning ahead, making shrewd decisions and using the squad wisely from a tactical point of view to - in terms of setting up dependent on the opposition.

 

[Blackcanary]

Personally I think the Europa League will he harder to win than finishing fourth, but both are very tough asks.

Both should be the aim though. At the moment, in the group stages, I'd be prioritising the League. We need to use the squad anyway and our fringe players are more than good enough to get us out of the group stages and if they're not it speaks volumes about the quality of this squad.

In an ideal world we can keep fresh our best eleven for League games until February. Then we can assess where we are in the League. If we're well off the pace in the race for fourth we can clearly prioritise the Europa League.

If we're in a strong position in the League and truly in the race for fourth the manager will have to use his squad wisely as either competition should be taken as serious as the other - providing we've qualified for the knock out phase.

That's one of the skills of management. Planning ahead, making shrewd decisions and using the squad wisely from a tactical point of view to - in terms of setting up dependent on the opposition.

I don't actually think that a pure best eleven exists really - the best 11 for a match against Man City is a very different beast to the best 11 for a game against QPR. Our squad is vast and the most balanced it's been in a while so there's really no reason not to strike a balance and aim for both.

Obviously certain players need to be managed so they don't get overplayed (Dembele, Lamela, etc) but i'd be disappointed to see EL given short shrift on grounds of prioritising the league.

 

[jurgen]

If we can cut out the utterly stupid defensive errors - which is clearly a BIG ask - I'd fancy us to be troubling the top four more than getting close to winning the EL to be honest. We're always amongst the favourites for the EL but we've never unduly troubled the competition so far, as soon as we come up against some canny operators with good technique it goes to pot.. Weirdly, despite the disappointments of the last few seasons in the league, we feel more like a league team to me at this moment in time because we seem to have psychological issues with bigger one off pressure cooker games..

 

[Gilzeanking]

We always get a shitty draw in the knock out rounds, so it would be foolish to completely prioritise the EL, and Liverpool and Arsenal both look capable of slipping up in the league. That said, the EL route is probably easier, but it could also be ruined with one bad game. We should still be aiming to manage the squad carefully for both competitions.

Can't get my head around this thinking . In last 6 seasons we've missed 4th by a whisker and made it twice . We haven't had a sniff in the EL...not a whiff of a sniff .

Which team is going to drop down from the CL do we think...City , Pool , Barca ? who knows but our recent performances vs top teams leave us just hoping to keep the goals conceded to vaguely non embarrassing level . EL triumph is a long way off imo .

 

[mpickard2087]

One game at a time, aim to win every game etc. etc.

 

[Mr Pink]

I don't actually think that a pure best eleven exists really - the best 11 for a match against Man City is a very different beast to the best 11 for a game against QPR. Our squad is vast and the most balanced it's been in a while so there's really no reason not to strike a balance and aim for both.

Obviously certain players need to be managed so they don't get overplayed (Dembele, Lamela, etc) but i'd be disappointed to see EL given short shrift on grounds of prioritising the league.

I meant by in large our strongest eleven. That will change from time to time and obviously tactics and opposition can influence things but Pochettino has been pretty consistent with the front four so far.

I also didn't say I give the EL short shrift, no idea where you got that idea from.

I would, however, prioritise the League, at least slightly, over the group stages - a mixture, of youth, fringe and experience should be more than good enough. I want to see players like Mason involved in the group stages.

 

[The Scarecrow]

A bit difficult to answer at this point, really. The group stage is a formality, and we should get through even if we play our B-side in every game. In the knock out stages, it all depends on where we are in the league. If we're in or around the top 4, I see no reason why the league shouldn't be our priority. If we're not, we should go all in to win the EL.

 

[sloth]

Can't get my head around this thinking . In last 6 seasons we've missed 4th by a whisker and made it twice . We haven't had a sniff in the EL...not a sniff .

That's arguably because we've played our second string in the EL though, often because we've been within sniffing distance of top 4 in the PL, we've certainly never rested players in the PL to keep them fit for the EL.

Also the nature of a cup competition is that you're somewhere until you're suddenly nowhere, but in reality we've tended to get within three or four matches of winning it. I think if we knew this season we were still going to be in with a sniff of top four with three ties remaining we'd take it.

What I'd also point out is that this year the EL offers two things, both a trophy and CL qualification, whereas top four only provides qualification to CL and that in an early qualification round if it's only 4th we manage. So here's the hypothetical, if we get to March and we're fifth in the league 5 points off fourth with a worse GD and we have a match against Benfica in the EL to get to the semi-finals, but just before that we have a tough away match against Everton - who are sixth and a couple of points behind us - on the Monday, should we play our best team against Everton and rest some players against Benfica, or vice versa?

 

[sloth]

A bit difficult to answer at this point, really. The group stage is a formality, and we should get through even if we play our B-side in every game. In the knock out stages, it all depends on where we are in the league. If we're in or around the top 4, I see no reason why the league shouldn't be our priority. If we're not, we should go all in to win the EL.

Why do you put it that way around when the rewards for winning the EL are much higher than for getting fourth in the PL?

 

[Bobbins]

I've said neither.

Just because initially the EL will be easy enough to negotiate using squad players. Later on, we'll need our straongest team. Even then, though, the EL is incredibly hard to win because of the ridiculous drop-down of Champion's League teams in the later stages. It's completely perverse but means we'd realistically need to beat an extremely good team to actually win it.

Also, with the league - I'm not that bothered, but a lot of supporters are, and more importantly the press are obsessed with it - I've noticed they're already talking about Poch 'needing' to finish 4th to keep his job, which is such bollocks. Anything outside the top 5 and he will be crucified by the press.

But despite all that - I'd actually like to prioritise us winning a domestic cup, particularly the FA Cup. I'd rather have the glory of that, and bring some good feeling back into the club, that yet another season of fighting for a CL place in various ways and ultimately falling short.

I think the league's so tough this year it's a good excuse to make winning a cup an absolute priority. I will be incandescant should we yet again put in inept performances in the cups and act like we don't give a shit.

 

[deckchair]

we should be concentrating on both.....and the fa cup and the league cup. the top teams in our league will be concentrating on at least 3 competitions (some may put the kids out in the league cup) and we need to get used to challenging on multiple fronts.

 

[Blackcanary]

I meant by in large our strongest eleven. That will change from time to time and obviously tactics and opposition can influence things but Pochettino has been pretty consistent with the front four so far.

I also didn't say I give the EL short shrift, no idea where you got that idea from.

I would, however, prioritise the League, at least slightly, over the group stages - a mixture, of youth, fringe and experience should be more than good enough. I want to see players like Mason involved in the group stages.

Sorry Pinky, that was more general rather than aimed at you.

It always annoyed me when people moaned about the EL - I saw some Everton fans chatting elsewhere about how excited they were to be back in Europe and it struck me that some people don't seem to realise how lucky we are to be in Europe year after year.

 

[TaoistMonkey]

I'd rather win a cup and get champions league than get 4th and get champions league.

Having said that I voted both as we can't take focus off the league too much.

 

[Lo Amo Speroni]

I think if or when we get to the knockout stage it should take priority. A prestigious European trophy and Champions League. FWIW I think we should prioritise all the cups this season, I would like to win something.

TBH cup wins should always be a priority over fourth in my humble opinion.

 

[The Scarecrow]

Why do you put it that way around when the rewards for winning the EL are much higher than for getting fourth in the PL?

I'm not saying we should field youngsters in the EL, but say we're fourth medio March. The chances of maintaining that position would be much bigger than the chances of winning the EL, seeing as we'd still only be at the last 16.

I'd love to win the EL regardless of CL qualification, but we have to be cynical and prioritize the option that at any given point gives us the highest probability of CL qualification.