Europa Conference League 2021-22: the Road to Tirana, Albania

[LSUY]

1) Do you feel because we're most likely to be playing middling/average opposition in this tournament that we stand a greater chance of winning it?

We have a greater chance of winning the ECL than we do the league, FA Cup, or League Cup as it wouldn't require beating Man City or Liverpool, or Chelsea.

Also, this is a genuine competition with the potential for some cracking cup ties. A Jose-led Roma at the Stadio Olimpico won't be a walkover. Given our history with Feyenoord that has the potential to be a feisty encounter. Any Scottish team that draws an English team is going to be up for it. Let's not forget we got dumped out of the Europa League by a team knocked out of the Champions League qualifying stage by a Hungarian team. We aren't exactly the cream of Europe.

Yes, there are teams we've never heard of playing in leagues we didn't even know existed but the exact same thing happens in the Champions League, Europa League, and FA Cup. I don't recall anyone saying we should sack off the FA Cup because they've never heard of Marine.

2) Do you trust the current 1st team players to amply motivate themselves to give their all against said middling/average competition?

If the players can't motivate themselves to give their all for a trophy ship them out. Man City doesn't seem to have any problem motivating themselves whenever they face average teams in the League Cup final. Ferguson, Mourinho, and Guardiola have used the smaller cup competitions as a launchpad for further success.

We need to get rid of this we're too good to grace certain competitions attitude. It's been 13 years since we actually won something. That was so long ago that aside from Lennon and Huddlestone everyone else involved in that cup win has retired. What have we achieved since that gives us or our current players the right to describe Roma, Villareal, Feyenoord, Rennes, etc. as middling? We can't be average we were runners-up in the CL years ago...

 

[EQP]

We have a greater chance of winning the ECL than we do the league, FA Cup, or League Cup as it wouldn't require beating Man City or Liverpool, or Chelsea.

Also, this is a genuine competition with the potential for some cracking cup ties. A Jose-led Roma at the Stadio Olimpico won't be a walkover. Given our history with Feyenoord that has the potential to be a feisty encounter. Any Scottish team that draws an English team is going to be up for it. Let's not forget we got dumped out of the Europa League by a team knocked out of the Champions League qualifying stage by a Hungarian team. We aren't exactly the cream of Europe.

Yes, there are teams we've never heard of playing in leagues we didn't even know existed but the exact same thing happens in the Champions League, Europa League, and FA Cup. I don't recall anyone saying we should sack off the FA Cup because they've never heard of Marine.




If the players can't motivate themselves to give their all for a trophy ship them out. Man City doesn't seem to have any problem motivating themselves whenever they face average teams in the League Cup final. Ferguson, Mourinho, and Guardiola have used the smaller cup competitions as a launchpad for further success.

We need to get rid of this we're too good to grace certain competitions attitude. It's been 13 years since we actually won something. That was so long ago that aside from Lennon and Huddlestone everyone else involved in that cup win has retired. What have we achieved since that gives us or our current players the right to describe Roma, Villareal, Feyenoord, Rennes, etc. as middling? We can't be average we were runners-up in the CL years ago...

You seem to be caught in two minds. Why else would you think we stand a better chance to win the ECL if the teams involved in that competition aren't average or middling? You brought up the League, FA Cup and League cup and mentioned teams such as Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea ( none of who you would classify as middling or average) and how their involvement in those competitions, would decrease our odds of winning any of those competitions. So in your mind, Spurs can only win trophies if they play against clubs that are inferior or comparable to them? That is the definition of small time thinking, which only breeds complacency.

There's also this weird belief that by somehow beating teams worse off than us ( or comparable in quality) and winning a trophy in that competition, it would somehow see us gain the confidence to beat teams better than us. Where does that come from? To go back to Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea examples, all those teams have invested and continually invest heavily in their squads and managers. Winning trophies can give you the platform to win more trophies if you've already invested heavily in players of actual quality. Us winning the ECL and beating a team that isn't Man City, Liverpool or Chelsea, will still doom us to the same fate you outlined in the first line of your response. Only difference is we will have a trophy to show that we're really good at winning when the opposition isn't as good as us.

 

[Cochraam]

I really hope we (club, coaches, players, fans) don't turn our noses up at this competition and approach it with arrogance, complacency, and/or disinterest. Yes, we all want to be playing in the Champions League instead, but it has really annoyed me that our team has never really seemed like they have taken Europa League seriously when we've been in it the last decade, sleepwalking through Zagreb away being the most egregious example. It's a competition that is very winnable if we approach it with seriousness and effort, which I also don't think is incompatible with some rotation and opportunities for younger or peripheral players as well. But it's winnable and I'd like to see us win it. I don't think we can view this trophy as beneath us when we've won one trophy in 20 years... all of the trophies are above us at this point.

 

[Saoirse]

The other shit thing about this is that the final venue is so small, we'd only be looking at an allocation of at most 6.5k or so and therefore 350 loyalty points or something daft i.e. everyone that was only able to get a ST in the Wembley year locked out yet again.

 

[EQP]

The FA Cup is winnable.
The League Cup is winnable.
The League itself is winnable.

Why do people feel that this competition is more winnable than the other competitions? It's certainly not less games to the ECL final or less travel, so what is?

 

[Saoirse]

The FA Cup is winnable.
The League Cup is winnable.
The League itself is winnable.

Why do people feel that this competition is more winnable than the other competitions? It's certainly not less games to the ECL final or less travel, so what is?

The fact that the toughest teams we may get are Roma, Copenhagen and Union Berlin rather than Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool?

 

[Yid-ol]

The FA Cup is winnable.
The League Cup is winnable.
The League itself is winnable.

Why do people feel that this competition is more winnable than the other competitions?

Less likely to face higher quality teams through out that competition?

But then this is spurs, we have as much chance of going out to some random shit team like Aarhus or Hibernian than most other teams!

 

[EQP]

I think I understand?.....Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool are too much of a challenge for us, soooo we gravitate towards competitions where the teams involved are on par ( and probably inferior in quality ) to us and hope that our experience beating those average teams will grant us the experience to beat better teams like say Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool. Am I overthinking it and the fans just want trophies and not to actually beat better teams like Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool?

 

[Hotspur33]

Interesting point, taking every negative about the season as understood, we lost form and energy around New Year. Too many early games? Did it take a toll? I remember us going relatively strong with our lineups right from the start.

I suspect our style of play was more detrimental to our energy levels then the amount of fixtures.

 

[topper]

I really hope we (club, coaches, players, fans) don't turn our noses up at this competition and approach it with arrogance, complacency, and/or disinterest. Yes, we all want to be playing in the Champions League instead, but it has really annoyed me that our team has never really seemed like they have taken Europa League seriously when we've been in it the last decade, sleepwalking through Zagreb away being the most egregious example. It's a competition that is very winnable if we approach it with seriousness and effort, which I also don't think is incompatible with some rotation and opportunities for younger or peripheral players as well. But it's winnable and I'd like to see us win it. I don't think we can view this trophy as beneath us when we've won one trophy in 20 years... all of the trophies are above us at this point.

I'm sorry - how very dare you accuse our fans of these traits

 

[chas vs dave]

Some banging away days are in store. We should play a blended team of youth and squad players.

 

[mightyspur]

I'm looking forward to having another competition to pretend I don't care about and then get annoyed when we lose to Spartak Trnava.

 

[Gassin's finest]

 

[gavspur]

It’s actually quite a nice stadium, built in 2016.

 

[mr_spurs961]

The biggest teams I can see in the competition are Basel, Feyenoord, Qarabag, Aberdeen, Hibs, LASK, Villarreal...

We really should be trouncing this

We aren’t trouncing Villarreal nor Roma!
how do you even think that when we couldn’t get to the FA Cup or EL finals? And really lucked into the one final we made &, essentially never had a chance to win?

delusional.

 

[mr_spurs961]

We were CL finalists 2 years ago. Grim

And, actually looked the part for quite a while in the EPL this year!
What happened with Poch and then Jose after those 2 periods of time?
From the heights to the depths.
Guess we’ll never know, but Poch given so little time to right the ship & Jose fired days from his specialty - Cup Finals? Very bizarre!

 

[Yid-ol]

We aren’t trouncing Villarreal nor Roma!
how do you even think that when we couldn’t get to the FA Cup or EL finals? And really lucked into the one final we made &, essentially never had a chance to win?

delusional.

I didn't see Roma in the Fa cup por EL final!

Roma are a poor team just now, but should improve next season (like us) so we have as much chance as anyone to win that cup just now. Being the best team doesn't guarantee that you will win it though.

 

[freeeki]

We aren’t trouncing Villarreal nor Roma!
how do you even think that when we couldn’t get to the FA Cup or EL finals? And really lucked into the one final we made &, essentially never had a chance to win?

delusional.

They weren’t in the competition when I wrote that post, hence not including their names.

Pillock.

 

[Gassin's finest]

It’s actually quite a nice stadium, built in 2016.
View attachment 88078

Looks like it was built from Lego.

 

[spursfan77]

I think people are really overestimating the effect of potentially winning this cup is going to have on the players/club. I think it’ll have next to no effect at all to be honest.

Firstly, most people seem to be on board with playing the kids for 80% of the tournament so who are we talking about who is going to benefit from this amazing cup victory? The youth who have played the majority of it, albeit against shit teams, or the senior players who play 1 or 2 games against respectable clubs? Or is it everyone?

I think players want to win every game they’re involved in whether that’s the cup final of a 3rd rate European competition or a game of Trivial Pursuit against some kids but I think they’ll also realise, if our players have any serious ambition, that while better to win it than not, it’s nothing to get excited about either. How cringe would it be if we won it then the players started going on about how we’re going to kick on and win big cups now.

It won’t over estimate the effect it will have on fans. I’d be delighted to win a trophy at last. Ignore the internet warriors and rival fans on the other side of the world, winning the trophy will be great. Although I expect we won’t unless we change the a large proportion of this group of loser players.