The same old post Europa League problems

It was the 11th April 2013 and Emmanuel Adebayor stepped up to take the final penalty in the Europa league game against Basle. His languid demeanour suggested confidence, but this was 2012-2013 vintage Adebayor (not that it mattered last season against WBA). He jogged forward and struck the ball. It went over. Tottenham went out.

Fast forward to the 17th and Tottenham played out a dull 1-0 home defeat to Fulham. It may have been a game most fans would struggle to remember, and there were other vital points dropped along the way, but for me it’s a game to try to misremember because it’s come to be responsible for my experiences as a fan over the last 18 months or so.

It kick-started the domino effect where a top four finish seemed unlikely, meaning that Bale would probably leave seeking Champions League football and Tottenham would face the herculean task of trying to replace him. How significant that 1-0 loss seems now. Cheers Fulham.

[linequote]the midlands team have taken on a sort of bogey-quality because whether home or away, victory or draw, they’re never the greatest of games[/linequote]

But where the Fulham game is less unique though, is the way in which it provoked the seemingly age-old debate regarding the distraction of football in Europe’s second tier competition: a debate which still continues.

Last weekend, Tottenham followed up their 0-0 draw in Serbia with a poor home defeat to WBA. The fact that the opposition had failed to win at White Hart Lane in 30 years was used before the game by certain journalists to show how easy victory was supposed to be. For fans though, the midlands team have taken on a sort of bogey-quality because whether home or away, victory or draw, they’re never the greatest of games and nor are they ever comfortable.

And yet this was still a side bottom of the table and awaiting their first win of the season. Set up with banks of four and two pacey strikers up front, their game plan revolved around creating chances on the break which, if they could keep it at 0-0, would presumably arise with increasing regularity in the second half.

In the end though, WBA threatened from the start and within 13 minutes they’d won four corners and so it seemed apt that Tottenham would lose the game in such a disappointing manner. The team looked leggy in the extreme, which is odd seeing as Pochettino made whole-sale changes from the mid-week game and even left five of the starting XI at home. Tottenham struggled to break Sunderland down, but there was a bit of invention, and it could only be considered an extremely one-sided draw. In contrast, here against WBA, you just knew that the team weren’t going to score, just as you knew they wouldn’t against Liverpool who have since been humbled by Aston Villa and West Ham.

Most fans are probably somewhere in the middle when it comes to objectively assessing the positives and negatives of the Europa League. They appreciate that wins in Europe help to foster an impressive coefficient, the sort that can result in Switzerland being seeded in the top pot at a World Cup, just as they see the introduction of a Champions League place for the winner as theoretically just as attainable as reaching top four. But in a winless week like Tottenham’s, the negatives tend to come to the fore, with the same Europa League-sized questions arising once again.

Statistics can help you prove anything, which is why pointing out that since the start of last season, Tottenham only have a 40% win record following games in the Europa League (compared with 61% normally) is slightly disingenuous. It includes two games against Arsenal and Liverpool a piece, as well as the misfortune of coming up against a Newcastle side with Krul in goal whose performance was, in his own words, “the highlight” of his career. But on the other hand, this latest defeat to WBA follows defeats to the likes of West Ham and Norwich last season and the aforementioned Fulham game (not included in the record) a season before.

[linequote]Taking the Europa League seriously is necessary for squad rotation but it can often feel like doing so is a massive commitment[/linequote]

The importance of these games isn’t necessarily the score, such is the unpredictability of the Premier League, instead the significance lays in the manner of the defeats which can only be described as insipid.

As Brendan Rogers recently admitted, it’s harder to prepare for weekend matches when you’re in Europe because even if you rest players, it’s still inevitably a distraction for the manager and his staff. Taking the Europa League seriously is necessary for squad rotation but it can often feel like doing so is a massive commitment; your league form will suffer as a result which means that ironically, your participation makes getting into Europe next year all the harder.

No Premier League wins are certain, not when mid-week planes to Eastern Europe are involved but a team like Tottenham can only use the excuse of having a Europa League hangover for so long before it comes redundant. Fans are used to having to deal with the hangover, so it’s the manager’s job to find a cure.