I don't think that was the problem, though. We're starting with a team whose focus is miles from fully fit. Kane got injured against Bournemouth when we were 1-0 down and we won 4-1. He missed the game against Swansea which we won 3-0 and came on against Chelsea when it was already 3-1. Since then we've struggled to beat Stoke, got slaughtered by City, drew with Brighton and lost to Utd. It almost feels like we're playing with 10 men at times, as our only striker is barely involved. Maybe he can get back up to speed in the week before our next match, but if he's not 100% then I don't want to see him start. Pick Llorente, go with a 4-3-3, stick Lamela up there or try something entirely different with Moura in the side, because what we're doing isn't working. I'm sure that he's desperate to win the golden boot again, but it's not going to happen if he's barely touching the ball anyway.
The Europa League is. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with trying to win it if you're in it, but it's a real slog. Unless you can **** the league off, like Man Utd did and Arsenal are doing, then the fixture congestion and Thursday/Sunday **** is a killer.
It's more down to mentality in my opinion. With the first couple seasons back in the UEFA Cup aside, we've never taken it seriously enough, whether that's been the manager playing rotated sides or the first team just going into the game too relaxed. When Poch played a B side away at Dortmund that just showed how much we bothered about the competition. I'm always of the opinion that if you're in something, try and win it. For sure, in early rounds it's understandable to make a few changes but in general it should be taken seriously. I know Europa poses some potentially long distance away games but the format in general isn't much different from the CL. Unless you get a Tuesday fixture in the CL, the rest periods of Wednesday-Saturday and Thursday-Sunday are similar.
We're not Wigan and Birmingham though. Not sure what Wigan has anything to do with it, it was the FA Cup they won before being relegated.
You have to give Chelsky some credit in 2013, as they won the EL and still finished in the PL top 4, when the CL back door did not exist.
If he was not fit, then the game would have got him fitter. I wouldn't have chosen a semi final to get him fit, but one thing we know about Poch is that he is very hard on fitness. I think he's just going through a bad spell. To get golden boot he's probably going to have to finish like last season.
But it's always Thursday/Sunday, as opposed to Tuesday or Wednesday/Saturday or Sunday. Our Champions Leugue games this year went as follows: Wed/Sat, Tue/Sat, Tue/Sun, Wed/Sun, Tue/Sat, Wed/Sat, Tue/Sun, Wed/Sun. Only two matches with the normal turnover for the Europa League. Four were an extra day and two were two extra.
I think that he's still injured. Extra games will just make that worse. He was supposed to be out for about twice as long as his absence.
I will only believe the club is being so monumentally stupid is if I hear he is being given painkillers to get through. Recoveries vary enormously, cannot always predict. Normally with us it goes the other way. It could only be if Pochettino thinks Kane is a player we cannot do without, as otherwise he is very cautious bringing players back.
Three days should still be sufficient rest time, mate, especially with a squad of our size and ability. Again I put it down to mentality, we could've very much gotten to a number of finals in the Europa when you consider some of the teams that have made it in recent years, for a good few years we were considered one of the favourites yet IIRC our best finish in it since our return to European nights over a decade ago has been the quarter finals. To build the winning mentality I think it's good to aim for the lesser cups to begin with, that sets us up for when we do reach FA Cup semis/ finals, knockout stages in the CL, high pressure league games etc. I have no issue with Poch aiming for Prem/ CL glory, ambition is an incredible thing that should never be mocked but at the same time when chances arise to pick up trophies elsewhere we need to jump at it - Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal have all proven in recent years that if Prem/ CL titles are out of the question they take the cups very seriously. Our mentality, even before Poch joined, has been so poor towards cup competitions, I feel like as a club we've tried running before we can walk.
I agree with the mentality thing and it's something that I've always pointed out about Mourinho. He wants to win everything and sees it as building up a mindset throughout the side. Win the first thing that you can and it shows that you can do it. Keep going and you'll expect to win things constantly. The players would go into big games with no fear and massive confidence. I disagree with the three days thing, though. It clearly doesn't work like that, just going on the form of everyone that plays in it. Utd's form slumped last season when they took it seriously and Arsenal can't win an away game in this one. Is our squad dramatically deeper and better than theirs are? I don't think so. We could've taken it more seriously and fielded stronger sides and perhaps we should have, but it would've come at a cost. Is it one worth paying? Possibly, but it can backfire badly if you put out your best side and still get knocked out.
I'm fully aware they won the FA Cup before going down, but the point remains: their FA Cup run was directly responsible for their getting relegated from the Premier League. It's worth remembering that season Spurs finished 5th and Liverpool 7th, so Chelsea were under far less pressure to finish top four that season than they have been in pretty much every season since.
3rd/4th/5th finished with 75/73/72 pts. It took until fixture round 37 for Chelsky to ensure that Spurs could not finish in the top 4 above them. You could argue that as the UEFA FFP was yet to bite them, they were under less financial pressure to finish in the top 4 than 4th/5th were.
