I may be wrong on this but I have the feeling that the result of the Arsenal v Hull the FA Cup final will have a bearing on whether we play in the Europa League next season (assuming we get 6th). If Arsenal win then we will play in the Europa as they have already qualified for Europe. If Hull win then they will take our place in the Europa League. So a bit of a dilemma for Spurs fans here. Do we want Arsenal to win their first trophy in 9 years thus securing us a Europa League place? Or would you prefer Hull win and we miss out on Europa league, a factor which could have consequences on our ability to sign players, the club's finances, and our chances of winning a trophy?
I thought that 6th place was a guaranteed Europa cup spot due to City winning the capital one cup and Hull will qualify as well whether they win or lose due to Arsenal champions league qualification
Haha even if that is the case, I can't imagine many on here seriously wanting Arsenal to win some silverware! I know I don't!
If the goons win then we enter one round later than we would if Hull won. I'd still rather Hull won though. Be funny to see the goons trophy drought continue.
Frankly, avoiding the Europa Albatross would be preferable - although I'll give my condolences to Hull now, given how that tournament has wrecked several PL clubs' seasons of late (Swansea this season, Newcastle last season, etc)
I agree. Europa is a waste of time. Look how not being in it helped Liverpool this season and it will help Man Utd next season. Plus I'd rather we played on Saturday than Sunday.
Hull to win all day long for me....will never happen unfortunately. ..but I could never want the goons to win a trophy
I'd prefer Spurs to finish 8th rather then risk injury playing in that plastic cup competition. Thursday night 'Europa' games has proved to be the undoing of clubs and players who has had the misfortune to be place in that competition. Croydon is being too kind in calling it an Albatross. I'd call more of a ****e-hole then Albatross. Not only that,. imagine the detrimental effect it has in the minds of the better players. The only Premiership club to have won the thing were Chelsea., and even then, they were 'more or less' given byes up until the semi finals. Also considered this at todays prices. Semi finalist receive £1M ......Finalist get £2.5M..... and the out right winning collects £5Million. IMO, It's too much of a risk to take for a 'pat on the back'. We should continue to try to avoid it like the colic.
If you win next season you get a CL spot which is worth considerably more. Also, if we don't have the squad able to play twice a week next season then we're going to have to waste that extra cash bulking out the squad so we can the following season. Look at what happened the last time we qualified, we spent the extra money on a couple of players and the rest paying bonuses for getting to the CL and giving our players new contracts so they didn't get poached and in the end we just didn't have the squad for the CL run on top of a Premier League season and fell short of qualifying again.
I don't want the Europa simply because it doesn't have any qudos. It only gets interesting during the final stages when we come up against the sides that were not good enough to progress through the CL, and we always get crippled by them. What's the point with that, especially when it costs us points in our domestic league? There is absolutely no glamour associated with us being in the Europa when we have no chance of winning it.
Not quite sure that I understand your reasoning YV, but that's more likely to be because I hit the rum after yesterdays game. I'm reminded that Juventus earned nearly £54 million just by getting to the quarter final of the Champions League (CL) last year. In terms of economics, prestige and to attract players to the club. It make far more sense to go directly towards CL via 4th place EPL. Liverpool benefited greatly from not having to play hard games on Thursday nights and so will Man U if they don't get burdened next year.
(Theoretically speaking, of course) it would be a more difficult choice if Arsenal winning meant we were in the Europa, not out of it. The Europa has done a lot of damage to both of our last two seasons--not that this one was liable to end well. The last time it didn't hurt us was when Harry only played reserves. While that's the right way to play it in terms of strategy, it's not in the spirit of the club, or, really, of competition in general. I'd rather not have to choose between two bad alternatives.
If we get Europa I want to win it. What annoys me is that our players take Europa lightly and never seem to put in a strong performance. Our first team is a side capable of reaching the semis/ final yet there seems to be no desire with some players. I'd rather not get it if the players have that attitude as then it just becomes a nuisance.
The irony is that the Europa is a bigger test of a PL club than the CL. More games, worse away trips, sunday PL games. Once again, a decent Spurs manager will understand this, and find the middle ground between the contempt of Arry 2011 and the paranoid fear of losing from AVB.
...opposition the foreign equivalent of Enfield Town. I agree with you to a point. I think the Europey is far more grueling than the CL, but it doesn't become taxing for most PL clubs until the final stages. Up to that point, there should be absolutely no excuse for a PL side fielding anything other than a reserve squad. I'd like to see us use the competition to give the likes of LOLdado, Lame-la, and Paulhino an opportunity to get a feel for how we play, and to build up some confidence.
Well this summer United are going to have spent a **** load, City and Chelsea will do their usual whilst Arsenal and Liverpool are also rumoured to be in for a significant spend up. To me that makes the CL qualification spot for winning the Europa League valuable target and no less realistic than finishing in the top 4. I'm not that bothered about CL football myself but if you're worried about the EL affecting our league form it's going to be a struggle to break into the top 4 next season with those teams ahead of us so I'm not overly concerned about the potential for our league form struggling. If anything we should be ditching the FA Cup and League Cup as they don't have any CL qualification spot for winning them.
I've said it before, but I can see 'Pool bombing next season, whether or not they manage to keep hold of Goofy. Actually, keeping hold of him will cause just as many problems as it solves, with new signings coming in and demanding the kind of wages that he's going to be on. There comes a point when 'Pool simply cannot afford to compete with the big boys. In that respect, they are no different to us.
