Time for Poch and Tottenham to respect Europa

Matt Stead

With each passing minute, the positives continued to roll in for Tottenham: A first win in their temporary home at Wembley; a goal for Dele Alli, his first in nine games; a long-awaited return from injury for Toby Alderweireld; a quite wondrous performance from Christian Eriksen; a confidence boost for the players, the manager and the fans.

The 3-1 victory over CSKA Moscow was, for all intents and purposes, an evening of reflection for the north Londoners. Not one of celebration, but one of contentment. Their exit from the Champions League had been confirmed weeks ago. This was not an occasion to survey the damage from a failed campaign, but a night to look towards the signs of encouragement.

But every silver lining has a cloud, and for many Tottenham fans the sharp reality of the Europa League cast a dark shadow over an otherwise excellent win. The ugly cousin of Europe’s elite competition beckons in the new year.

Mauricio Pochettino was transparent in his attempts to spin the negativity surrounding the competition in midweek. “We need to think of it as a good opportunity to win a trophy,” he said. And they absolutely should. On the basis of this performance against an admittedly weak opponent, Tottenham have nothing to fear in the Europa League but themselves.

Eriksen, as mentioned was excellent. Harry Kane enjoyed one of his best games of the season. Harry Winks was composed. Full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose were at their devastating best, though Eric Dier continues to struggle in central defence. Tottenham had to come from behind to beat the Russians after his mistake, and any further moments of defensive panic were similarly self-inflicted. As always, Spurs are their own worst enemy.

The dismissive attitude many expressed towards the Europa League was predictable by the final whistle. Pochettino even pre-empted it on Tuesday. “I don’t know why we would think about it in any other way, or in a negative way. We need to be positive,” he said. But much of that attitude is his own doing.

It was only last season that Tottenham travelled to Germany for a last-16 first-leg tie with Borussia Dortmund with a central midfield of Tom Carroll and Ryan Mason, Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies as full-backs, and Nacer Chadli and Josh Onomah as forwards. Dortmund cruised to a 3-0 victory as Pochettino made seven changes from his starting line-up in the preceding league fixture. Tottenham were knocked out.

The 2014/15 campaign was no different. After a 1-1 first-leg draw against Fiorentina, the away game in Italy saw a central midfield of Benjamin Stambouli and Nabil Bentaleb, with Federico Fazio at centre-half and Vlad Chiriches at right-back. Fiorentina won 2-0 as Pochettino made seven changes from his starting line-up in the preceding league fixture. Tottenham were knocked out.

On both occasions, their manager’s stance on the competition cost them, and in neither instance did it benefit their Premier League form. They finished third pursuing the title last season, and fell short of fourth place the season before. The top flight is the holy grail, but the reward for fourth place is no greater than that of winning the Europa League. Both provide passage to the Champions League; only the latter represents a trophy.

Tottenham, in truth, are surely not good enough to win the title. They have lost the fewest games (one) and conceded the fewest goals (ten), yet are seven points behind leaders Chelsea after 14 matches. To prioritise the Premier League over the despised Europa in order to finish in the top four would be high risk at best, and gross negligence at worst.

Pochettino himself surely knows it. “Now is not the moment for us to say we are concentrating only on the Premier League, or the FA Cup, or the Europa League,” he said. “We need to believe we can win every competition.” While that is true, winning a nine-game knock-out tournament is far more within the realms of Tottenham’s current reality than overhauling Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City to lift the Premier League.

As the players finally departed Wembley with a victory on Wednesday, it was no secret that the Europa League is the consolation prize, a result of their own failings. But that does not mean it should be seen as a hindrance. Tottenham and Pochettino have treated the competition terribly in recent years. Now is the time to embrace it.

 

Matt Stead