Today at 12 noonish we will find out who we play in the EL play off - here are some potential opponents: Spartak Trnava (Slovakia), Asteras Tripolis (Greece), Dinamo Minsk (Belarus), Limassol (Cyprus), Hajduk Split (Croatia) As we are seeded we can't be drawn against Hull Hotspur or Celtic. I for one hope that MoPo will take it seriously to give this season's comp a shake. Thoughts?
Draw for our first qualifying round : http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2130506.html Our opponent is one of the following : 6 FC Spartak Trnava (SVK) 7 Asteras Tripolis FC (GRE) 8 FC Dinamo Minsk (BLR) 9 AEL Limassol FC (CYP) 10 HNK Hajduk Split (CRO) A nice trip for the players to top up their air miles. I predict a malaria relapse for Adebayor come the away leg. Be nice to draw Hajduk Split, if only to do some scouting for new Lukas.
At least no Ukraine or Russina team there for us to play but Belarus wouldn't be a laugh a minute. Maybe sunny Cyprus or Hadjuk Split would be a good 'un.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEL_Limassol Small club. Smaller ground than Swindon. Too early to call "in the bag"?
Whilst I'd like us to seriously compete in the Europa League this season, I expect to see the squad rotated for these games until the later stages, if we can get that far. Going by our pre-season games and some of the stuff that's been said in the press, I think that we'll field something like this is the league, pending any transfers: Lloris Walker Kaboul Vertonghen Davies Capoue Paulinho Lamela Eriksen Chadli Soldado That would allow us to make eleven changes, leave all of our starters at home and still pick this side: Vorm Naughton Dawson Chiriches Rose Sandro Dembele Lennon Holtby Townsend Adebayor Subs: Friedel, Dier, Fryers, Bentaleb, Carroll, Ceballos, Kane. That doesn't include Archer, Assou-Ekotto, Khumalo, Fredericks, Veljkovic, Mason and the like, as I expect them to either leave, get loaned out or be part of the development squad. The available players for both teams look fairly suited to Pochettino's style of play and they should be good enough to progress, as long as they're fit and motivated. The lack of creativity under both Villas-Boas and Sherwood might still remain an issue, though. We're distinctly lacking in playmakers and an injury up front would leave us very, very light.
The squad is large/strong enough to navigate to the KO stages without trouble. IMHO the strategy should be to go out to win the away legs. Which de-risks the home leg and leaves the lineups more open to seniors returning from injury, Academy kids etc. If Spurs have the same first half season cup runs as 2013-14, that means 12 non PL games available for players to stretch their legs in before mid December (compared to the 16 PL games that would have been played by then) .
personally i think this comp should be our priority. Perhaps not against the joke teams but we should be looking to go balls deep into this competition
Pochettino will be judged on his league form, he won't last if hes a cup manager as thats too risky with having to face European teams who can knock us out in the later stages. The league is where we have to have most success and if we want to be taken serious and make real strides then top four is where we have to be aiming. Be great to win a cup but the league is more important as players aren't going to join us on the basis we attempt to win a second rate European Competition but get knocked out at the later stages, especially now that the winner gets a CL spot, which means the champion league drop out teams will be too strong for us. The aim has to be to return to the top four and prove ourselves over a league season as I keep hearing we should be aiming for the title, well if fans truly believe we should be (or its possible) to build for the title then that means first we have to prove we can get back into the top four, not attempt to win the Europa League.
"Pochettino will be judged on his league form" Primarily in the final third of the PL season. Spurs have only at best twice taken 27 pts from 39 since getting back into the CL fight. And one of those was in 2009-10.
They have 5 Brazilians in their squad- one of which is an "inho"! The mere presence of putting "inho" on the end of your name doubles your effectiveness...
