The paradox of European football

Once again the "paradox" as I see it has occurred.

We spend all season (last season in this particular case) playing to win qualification to play in Europe. We play our best players in the league games to ensure that we qualify for European football.

Why do we do it?

One of the reasons is to attract a better class of player to join the Club so that the team is improved, so that we can get back into Europe again and attract even better players than the better players. How often in the past have we heard that so and so won't come to Newcastle because they want European football.

So what do we do when we get into Europe? We play the "squad" players and the youngsters in the European games and not the better players.

So is the message we are giving to all prospective players, come to Newcastle, a team that is playing European football, and watch from the sidelines as the kids play the European games that the better players joined us to play?

 

I think it is more about trying to manage us cutely through to the latter stages when the bigger players will be become involved. The obvious thing for me is though while it is admirable the job Pardew has done in getting us through to there, does it not also suggest we are cutting corners a little and leaving him a little light in terms of personnel? Therefore if this window results in very little activity is it not reasonable to ask, what do the board really want?

I'm not board bashing here because they have improved ten fold and we are in a fairly healthy position overall, I just think there is a final step they could take in not trying to trim it so tight.

Also whilst players is one element of this, so is coaching staff. The biggest impact Europe has had so far from my point of view is lack of preparation time for league games. I expect we won't be so bad tonight because we have had the extra day, but generally we look a little more disorganised defensively this season. It was clear last season our work was thorough and we were well aware of the opposition threats prior to the game. I'm not convinced it is still the case and I blame Europe.

The question I'm asking is, does Pardew need more support if we want to be a team that regularly competes in Europe?

 

It may be slightly optimistic of me to think so, but I reckon we'll be buying a few players in January to deal with our league position and being able to compete in Europe. Fingers crossed/

 

I think the approach taken to EL so far has been the right one. We are through and the youngsters got a lot of playing time and valuable experience. We might not see the benefit of this experience for a while but much like everything else in life you do something and it comes in handy later on down the line. It can only accelerate their development. I think now in the knock out stages we wil play the main guys and just see how far we get with a nothing to lose attitude. For these first six games you say our stars attracted by european football have been left frustrated not playing. I'd argue that if you are a Cabaye you are more motivated to play Man U in the league than Maritimo. People don't pay much attention to the EL group phase, it's once it's in the knock out phase it gets exciting and interesting, much like the champions league.

If Pardew continues to field the fringe players then I'd agree that it's silly and the paradox has hit us.

 

Quite simply, having qualified for Europe, we should have invested in expanding the squad with quality players who could step up straight away.

We haven't done that and we are paying the price for it now.

January will set the marker for the genuine ambition of the club - if Pardew is allowed to bring in a decent amount of quality players to help us survive and compete in the Europa League, then we can all rest easy. If no business is done then it's simply a case of staying up.

 

I see us at a bit of a crossroads now. Do we add the 2 or 3 that will allow the club to progress to consistent top half finishes, or do we settle for a tight ship that will always stay up and have the odd stellar season.