We aren't good enough to win it though and just being in it doesn't give the club the financial reward the CL does.
the last 2 games have showed we haven't a hope in winning it, a draw against a poor Monaco side and a defeat against an average Anderlecht, we haven't a squad big or good enough to compete on all fronts. I would say we have a better chance of getting top 4 than winning the Europa so concentrate on that
We haven't come anywhere close to winning the EL in 7 years, reaching the QF twice but no more. I have no idea why people think that a squad of our size and strength stands a chance of winning it. You just need to look through the list of teams who've dumped us out of the competition to see where we realistically stand in the grand old footballing food chain... Sevilla, PSV, Shakhtar, Basel, Benfica, Fiorentina. That's roughly just about where we belong in European terms. Relatively big name well known around the world but certainly no giant of the game. And there are simply too many teams of that calibre in the competition for us to expect to win it.
Poor result tonight with another worryingly toothless display up front. Dembélé was also terrible again, giving the ball away with his languid, lazy couldn't care less style of passing and jogging around. Seeing we're in Belgium tonight, can't we just leave him there? Better off me thinks. Saves us on air fares and he'll go straight home after his shower.
It's a pattern that's repeated across all English teams in Europe at present. We seem to look particularly awful whilst doing it though. I can't see an English victory in Europe for the next few years despite the ridiculous amount of riches our league generates. Oh for the days when Forest, Ipswich, Villa, etc. played 60 games a season and won in Europe!
We ain't won the title in 54 yrs (and won't this year), ain't won the FA cup in 24 years ain't won any European in 31 years ... so tbh I don't get the point in calling these competitions pointless...going by that logic we should only have entered the COC ... would have made for a very short season this year
I thought Lamela did well, that miss aside. He was unfortunate to stray just offside and not redeem himself like Eriksen was able to. In general play I thought he did well. Dembele was generally good on the ball and Dier put in some useful defensive work but I agree, it didn't seem to work as a partnership. Townsend and Trippier both awful again.
Here we are again.As per usual we don't seem to want to win this tournament.May I suggest we rest all the players,injured or not,and play the Academy team! Heck,they may even know how to put the ball in the opposition net!!!!!!!
I'm not too bothered losing in this competition i'll be more pissed if we lose on Sunday. I do find it slightly embarassing getting beat playing a full strength team though. At least with the kids out you can use that as an excuse
Meaningless? 4th place ****fest is what is meaningless. I hope we ****ing lose the 4th spot for the premier league the overrated **** fest that it is. Then maybe we can concentrate on doing what a sports team is supposed to do...compete for trophies. If I wanted to be proud of balance sheets and net spends and this ****ty modern phenomenon of boasting about which competition to enter so that we can get richer, I'd support my ****ing accountants 5 a side team.
Even if Liverpool lose,no one would notice, their fans and the media are all too busy ****ing into Klopps hat. No wonder the poor **** wears glasses, he's trying to avoid sticky eyes.
It doesn't make it meaningless though CK. I see it like this, it has half the games the PL has...maybe we should give up on the league...and stop chasing a very distant dream...I'll settle for 10th and a cup. Instead of this overrated 4th place crap. your right we haven't come close to winning it in 7 years. We haven't come close to winning the PL ever. We have only managed to qualify for the 'holy grail' once..so why the hell do we want to qualify for it just to get our arses handed to us. In the last few days I've read on here and other Spurs forums about the glory of 84. Well that was the Europa league, just with a different name. It's funny how we don't forget that glory 30 plus years on...it's why we watch football. We are football fans, not bank balance fans, no bragging right there for me...in fact Spurs just take money from me, never give me any back. So for me I demand trophies over this obsession which is why I hate everything about football bar the football. These corporate basterds have turned our game into a money spinner and the younger generation amongst us have become obsessed with bragging rights about transfer fees, gate receipts, sponsors, finishing a place higher up so we make more money etc etc. well **** that, it's not why I support a football team.
I agree with most of what you've said Dona, especially the final paragraph that is a sad truth of the modern game that I'm afraid is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. However - and feel free to disagree with me here - I really don't see much difference between the question of Spurs winning the EL and Spurs finishing 4th. As far as I can see it, there's more or less an equal possibility of both happening before any given season. We've generally performed respectably in our EL campaigns recently, ultimately falling short when it mattered; and we've generally performed respectably in our pursuit of 4th (finishing there twice in recent years and despite constant changes of manager and players somehow always finishing no lower than 6th), again - ultimately falling short when it mattered. Your own point highlights this - our general lack of any form of trophies for decades now; since long before the game became corporate and the CL became the holy grail. It really boils down to: what do we - as fans - value more...the medium to long term benefits of CL revenue and status, or the relatively short term gains and excitement of winning a trophy? I think the way I phrased that probably gave away which side of the fence I sit on And I don't think we got our arses handed to us in that maiden CL voyage at all. If anything, that campaign was more impressive and exciting than any of our 7 years in the supposedly easier EL...by far. I mean come on Dona, surely the thrill of seeing Spurs put both Milan teams to the sword and Bale scoring that hat trick on a never-say-die evening in Italy is equal to if not more than the thrill of seeing Ledley King lift the Carling Cup trophy after Cech punched the ball at Woodgate's face? I would much rather watch us march proudly out to face Real Madrid at WHL than someone like Hull City at Wembley. Maybe I'm in the minority here.
I simply can't understand people who "want to get out of the competition" or "rest our players" for are tilt at a 4th place finish, what a joke. What is the point of being a supporter. I can't wait to tell the grandchildren in 30 years about the time when we nearly came 4th place.
Really frustrating game. We started so well and i was genuinely excited in the way we were pinging it around and opening them up. Then what the hell happened? I'll be damned if i know. Its like someone flipped a switch on a FIFA game from beginner to expert.
But there are at least two clubs "ahead" of us in the PL stakes that would not be there other than massive amounts of a non-earned financial boost. It's all very well to call us a failing club, but it's all relative considering the artificial boost they've had. There's no chance of competing with them fairly, yet all discussions about how we've done all seem to accept this unfair competition. Basically without them, a 5th place finish is a 3rd place finish. And yes of course there has never been fair financial competition, but never anything like this.
