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

[mano-obe]

I'm putting 10 quid on us winning it

 

[Cravenspurs]

After seeing that fixture list yes, we should go for it. We should have more than enough depth to give it a real go. If Poch can somehow strengthen in Jan then we are in even better position.

 

[TwanYid]

I'm putting 10 quid on us winning it

Are you the lucky type?

 

[TwanYid]

After seeing that fixture list yes, we should go for it. We should have more than enough depth to give it a real go. If Poch can somehow strengthen in Jan then we are in even better position.

Craven that's just it: I honestly feel like we as a fanbase are basically resigned to us not giving it a go (as well we should be, since we basically never have) and are just kind of assuming that we're either not going to win it or not even gonna try to win it. As such, we're not even paying attention!!! I mean look at that list (rhetorically speaking, since you actually did lol): HOW CAN ONE NOT HAVE CONFIDENCE IN US WINNING THE THING IF WE TAKE IT SERIOUSLY?!?

(NOT shouting at you mate-- just shouting in general)

We honestly, truly, non-rose-colored-glasses ARE in fact the best team out of those 32. Hell- even the odds makers pretty much think that! Last season we weren't- in fact in no other year have I ever felt this way. Indeed, in years past there was always someone- a Dortmund, a Sevilla, a Chelsea, etc.- that was, in fact, miles better than us- but NOT NOW!

And yet here we are, all of us (including me btw) just assuming that we ain't gonna do shit because Poch'll prioritize the League and just fuck the whole thing off in that weird way he does seemingly every year!

How can we just accept this?!?

Or better yet- how can we not accept this?

 

[DEFchenkOE]

Great response.

One question (or thing to think about at least): wouldn't being in the Champions League in 2017-18 be a lot better than, say, a fifth place finish in the EPL this season? I mean yeah, sure, a fourth place finish- along with its attendant CL qualification- would be ideal- but pragmatically we are the likeliest not to be invited to that party. As much as I would love it, chances are we're finishing 5th at best. (Yeah I get it- we could do it; my point is that- odds are- we won't).

HOWEVER, we are practically odds-on favorites to win the Europa League, with only Manure being favored over us! And they are freakin' terrible!!!

Wednesday 24th May 2017
Europa League Winner 16/17 - Win Outright

Manchester Utd 4/1 Tottenham 15/2
Roma 11/1 Zenit St Petersburg 12/1
Shakhtar Donetsk 12/1 Schalke 14/1
Lyon 16/1 Athletic Bilbao 16/1
Fiorentina 18/1 Villarreal 22/1
FC Copenhagen 28/1 Borussia Mgladbach 28/1
Fenerbahce 28/1 Ajax 28/1
Besiktas 28/1 Celta Vigo 33/1
Olympiacos 33/1 FK Krasnodar 40/1
Sparta Prague 50/1 Rostov 50/1
Genk 50/1 Anderlecht 50/1
St Etienne 66/1 Ludogorets Razgrad 100/1
Osmanlispor 100/1 APOEL 100/1
Gent 150/1 Legia Warsaw 150/1
Hapeol Beer Sheva 150/1 AZ Alkmaar 250/1
Astra Giurgiu 250/1PAOK 250/1

So why in God's name don't/won't we take this seriously?!?

WE CAN FINALLY WIN THE FUCKING THING!!!!!

But Man U aren't terrible are they? In fact besides Chelsea they are probably one of the form teams over the past month or so, they have been gradually improving. And I also wouldn't bet against them strengthening the areas they need to with huge signings in January. Whereas there's no chance that we'll do that.

I think we'd struggle against Roma, Man U, Fiorentina, Villarreal, and Monchengladbach. I don't know if Shaktar and Zenit are any good these days but we may also struggle against them if they're packed with Brazilians like they used to be.

Having said that, if Poch prioritises this competition then we still have a chance against these teams. But honestly our european record under Poch doesn't really fill me with hope.

 

[Krafty]

What is the priority? I would have said getting back into the champions league, but the way we treated the CL this season maybe indicated that we weren't too bothered about being in it!

I think we play it by ear. Against Ghent we should be too strong with them even with Trippier, Vorm, even CCV and Onomah starting. Then we see how the league campaign is going, who we get in the last 16, how the FA Cup is going, and make a judgement call.

I think it goes: League, then FA Cup/Europa League jointly

 

[Shadydan]

I understand that sentiment but I almost feel like if we as a fanbase demanded that the club take the competition more seriously then maybe- just maybe- it might bleed over to the board/Levy/Poch. Remember how the Liverpool fans boycotted Hicks and Gillette until those slimeballs left, because they just couldn't deal with it anymore? Well, what if we, too, were rancorous- if somehow we also made our voices heard? Look, I'm not saying we have a situation like theirs (although tbh under Hicks and Gillette they made two Champions League finals and won one- so it's not like they had it that bad either)- but throwing this competition when we absolutely 100% positively could win it is fucking criminal imo- and I'm betting 90% of us (at least) would truly want to see us give it a proper go.

I think our supporters just feel impotent, that's all (and not in a way a Smurf could help with lol).

Like I said we need to take it in its stride, there is no point going all out for it if we have a chance to win the title, for example if we have a game on Sunday which could potentially send us top of the league or into a good position then it's pointless playing our strongest team on the Thursday as we all know that they're gonna be tired for Sunday.

We need to assess and re-assess at the time and work out the strength of the opposition then we rotate accordingly but it's not going to be easy when there are other teams who will be fully committed playing their strongest side and most of those players coming to Wembley who will be looking for a big scalp.

Also some of those teams left aren't easy pickings like you suggested, Spanish teams will cause anyone problems like we've seen in the past as they tend to be better drilled tactically and technically and personally Villareal are the dark horses because they have an exceptional defensive setup (better than ours) Then you have Mochengladbach, Roma, Utd, Shakhtar, Lyon, Bilbao Zenit etc...It's not an easy competition at all. Not saying we can't win it, we could but we need to put 100% focus on It and need some favourable draws and yes it represents a good chance to get into the CL but I honestly think it's easier qualifying for the top four, at least we know the opposition in the Prem are we are better equipped to deal with the rigours of the league.

 

[topper]

Of course we can win this competition - we're Tottenham Hotspur and this competition brings back some great memories from days gone by!

 

[Shadydan]

After seeing that fixture list yes, we should go for it. We should have more than enough depth to give it a real go. If Poch can somehow strengthen in Jan then we are in even better position.

I don't know what this is based on? We showed that we couldn't handle the CL when our top players are missing, when we played Monaco with a weakened team we looked a million miles off.

When we played Dortmund last season the same thing happened, we aren't good enough to realistically challenge for the league and EL.

 

[JimmyG2]

We certainly have a good enough squad
including fringe and youth players to win it
without unduly jeopardizing our chances of making the top four.
But Poch needs to be cleverer than he has been about rotation
and there is always an element of luck in Cup football.
Injuries,form, draw, weather referees, need I go on?
Beat Chelsea in January and the whole Prem is much more open again.
None of the other teams above us have been consistent
and there is still half a season to go FFS (as they say).
We need to pick our games carefully to play the wider squad
in the Europa, the Prem and the FA Cup.

Good thread.

 

[lol]

focus on the league. play second team unless we reach semi

 

[widmerpool]

We certainly have a good enough squad
including fringe and youth players to win it
without unduly jeopardizing our chances of making the top four.
But Poch needs to be cleverer than he has been about rotation
and there is always an element of luck in Cup football.
Injuries,form, draw, weather referees, need I go on?
Beat Chelsea in January and the whole Prem is much more open again.
None of the other teams above us have been consistent
and there is still half a season to go FFS (as they say).
We need to pick our games carefully to play the wider squad
in the Europa, the Prem and the FA Cup.

Good thread.

Are you Sarah Wardle in disguise?

 

[JimmyG2]

Are you Sarah Wardle in disguise?

You don't need a disguise on the Webnet thingy.
Finally unmasked you cad.

 

[Goldman]

It's not unusual for a manager to play a team they think are capable of beating the opposition. I imagine we will rotate a fair bit for our game vs Gent. Whether that will be good enough, time will tell.

Judging Poch on last seasons UL team selection, particularly Dortmund away, I don't see us playing a full strength team in this competition. Not until the latter rounds at least.

 

[TheHood]

focus on the league. play second team unless we reach semi

So employ the usual approach of playing weakened teams, getting knocked out and then falling away in the league when it matters? And people wonder why we do not have the required mentality and never win anything.

 

[JimmyG2]

focus on the league. play second team unless we reach semi

Catch 22 rears its inevitable head!

 

[lol]

So employ the usual approach of playing weakened teams, getting knocked out and then falling away in the league when it matters? And people wonder why we do not have the required mentality and never win anything.

true. 2nd team all the way till finals then.

 

[rio bryan]

Iv'e got a theory that Poch wasn't too bothered about the CL as he knew we have a lot better chance of winning the Europa, so on that basis yes we will be going for it.
To be fair to the Europa and people saying " why bother when it is 2nd to the CL" well the the Eufa cup was 3rd in line and we are still talking about winning the two we did some 40 years later !

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

I would merge this because we do prefer not to have multiple threads on the same topic BUT.......

I can't be arsed

 

[npearl4spurs]

focus on advancing through to the quarters and see our draw and how the rest of the draw turns out. then we re-evaluate. We have enough to get to the quarters. We always do every year. Once you get to the quarters though, it is anyone's game