Our best chance of Champions League next year

[SantaHat]

I'd love for us to win Europa but we simply aren't good enough to win it. Every year we're amongst the favourites to win it yet our playstyle on the pitch doesn't show it even when we play a majority of the 1st team. The second we face a decent side I think we'll get knocked out.

 

[sammyspurs]

The beauty of it is we don't need to worry about it till mid Feb anyway. Lets see how the next 2 months of domestic action go first and then decide how seriously we should take it.

If we are in or around top 4 Poch will play his strongest side in the league and make changes for Thursday nights. Last season proved that.

Good point

 

[spursmalc]

Our February fixtures.
Liverpool before Europa and therefore not affecting it. Presumably FA Cup in between Europa matches and if in it depends who we are playing. Stoke after which we should cope with.
Lot depends on the FA Cup. If we are playing say the Scum we will have to prioritise that match otherwise no reason we cannot put out strong teams.
Premier League
LiverpoolvTottenham Hotspur
Sat 11 Feb 15:00 (might be moved)
Europa League - Round of 32
KAA GentvTottenham Hotspur
Thu 16 Feb 18:00
Europa League - Round of 32
Tottenham HotspurvKAA Gent
Thu 23 Feb 20:05
Premier League
Tottenham HotspurvStoke City
Sat 25 Feb 15:00 (will be moved)

 

[bk_spur]

It's great that we have Europa League, but, I'd rather focus on the league.
We really need CL qualification. It's not just the money and prestige gained (for signing purposes) that is important, as it is also the money and prestige denied to some other club that would have had that spot that is important (not just keeping up with, but staying ahead of the joneses, so to speak). With the extra prestige from a top league finish, we have the chance to make signings that we would not otherwise make.

I'm kind of pissed that we were willing to rest our top CBs for the vital Monaco match so that we could field a stronger side in the Prem against Chelsea (with CL spots still at stake), and then, this past week, field a full strength side against CSKA rather than rest our top players for Man Utd over the weekend (with CL squarely out of the picture). Where is the consistency in that decision making? I don't see much, unfortunately.

I feel that we have a much better chance of getting Top 4 than of winning the Europa League.

 

[sammyspurs]

4th on 38 points or

5th on 72 points?

Spoiler

LOL

 

[I8AVB]

This is where Poch has to make a very serious decision. We know we haven't managed cups & the league too well with our squad & have ended up empty handed to finish in the top 4. Been there, done that. Maybe, just maybe, prioritising the cups (EL & FA) over the league would allow us to keep our strongest XI fit to give both a real good go, whilst allowing the squad players to get valuable game time in the league, perhaps playing more regularly as a group & with some of the more senior players playing a part.

Personally I wouldn't care if we finished 8th,9th or even 10th if we brought home a trophy or two this year because I would know that it was given a different priority. Our squad is neither strong enough or experienced enough to fight on all fronts when we consider injuries, fatigue & suspensions have & will play their part.

If we don't take the cups seriously, then I think it's a missed opportunity.

With you 100% on that

 

[clevelandspur]

With the extra prestige from a top league finish, we have the chance to make signings that we would not otherwise make.

I hear this a lot but what actual proof of that exists? Who did we sign this year that we wouldn't have been able to get without CL football? I would argue our two biggest name signings were Soldado and Lamela both of which were made without CL football. Man U signed Pogba without CL football, Liverpool signed Suarez I can go on..

It is about the money and nothing else. Our transfer business is well documented we hardly ever have a net spend if we do its minimal. CL money does not go to sign additional players that has been proven. The fact we have been able to hold on to our players is because we generally are just a much better side but more importantly we are finally paying wages comparable to other top clubs.

 

[bk_spur]

I hear this a lot but what actual proof of that exists? Who did we sign this year that we wouldn't have been able to get without CL football? I would argue our two biggest name signings were Soldado and Lamela both of which were made without CL football. Man U signed Pogba without CL football, Liverpool signed Suarez I can go on..

It is about the money and nothing else. Our transfer business is well documented we hardly ever have a net spend if we do its minimal. CL money does not go to sign additional players that has been proven. The fact we have been able to hold on to our players is because we generally are just a much better side but more importantly we are finally paying wages comparable to other top clubs.

How about holding on to Hugo Lloris, for starters? Jan and Toby as well.
If we don't have CL football, it might encourage our existing talent to look elsewhere.
Van der Vaart I thought was interested in large part because we had attained CL football.
Though our past and current wage-structure doesn't typically allow CL knock-out round quality players from coming to us, we do make and retain some signings due to our competing in the CL. We need to keep qualifying as often as possible to keep the forward momentum going with regards to our acquisition of talent.

 

[clevelandspur]

How about holding on to Hugo Lloris, for starters? Jan and Toby as well.
If we don't have CL football, it might encourage our existing talent to look elsewhere.
Van der Vaart I thought was interested in large part because we had attained CL football.
Though our past and current wage-structure doesn't typically allow CL knock-out round quality players from coming to us, we do make and retain some signings due to our competing in the CL. We need to keep qualifying as often as possible to keep the forward momentum going with regards to our acquisition of talent.

All three of them you mentioned have multiple years left on their contracts and seem happy here. We have come a long way as a club. The last two players we have lost were several years ago, Modric and Bale both to Real Madrid for stupid money, and both of them would have left for Real Madrid whether we had Champions League football or not.

My point being I think we are thankfully past the days of players using us a stepping stone. If we lose players now it would be to one of the true giants of world football for huge money and none in our own league. Last players we lost to English clubs was 8 years ago! I understand your sentiment though if we finished mid table a few years on the bounce then I would be concerned about player retention. Even then there is so much money just for being a part of the Premier League now you don't see nearly the same amount of transfer business between EPL clubs. Crystal Palace and West Brom are turning their noses up at 25m transfer fees and hanging on to their players, so I doubt we would have an issue anytime soon.