Tottenham’s first game in the Europa league was a solid but perhaps uninspiring scoreless draw away to FK Partizan. The question that should be posed: is the Europa League worth it?
FK Partizan are based in Serbia, which is a long way from home for the players. The traveling and extra football in midweek will surely affect the players when they play the following weekend. But, hang on…is this true? Maybe it will fatigue some of the players, but the squad size is tremendous. Hugo Lloris was the only man left in the starting XI from the Premier league game against Sunderland. Even with such an overhaul in personnel, Tottenham still played some decent football. The defensive cohesion was effective. Partizan are no pushovers, and for what may be considered as a team with some rotation players, they did very well indeed. In short, there isn’t an excuse to not fully commit to this competition.
The prize of winning the Europa League this year is a very attractive one indeed. Win the competition and qualify for the Champions League. Simple. Or is it?
The latter stages of the competition are usually dominated by the Champions League drop-outs, which can provide some stellar opposition for Spurs. This is all the more reason to compete. Sure, there might be a few more droll away games on less than perfect pitches, but that will change later in the competition. For example, last season in the Europa League, Tottenham were facing the likes of Benfica, who later went on to lose to Sevilla in the final. It could have easily been Spurs in that final, if not for the defensive lapses that cost them so dearly. To lose narrowly to the winners on aggregate suggests that Tottenham are capable of reaching that final.
This year the club will be deemed as one of the favourites. Living up to this expectation could make up for a mediocre season in the league. There will be many games to play to get to the final stage, but there are enough willing and able players to fill a different first team each week. Winning the Europa League would be a fantastic achievement for the club, and undoubtedly the fans would enjoy this too. Not only is this a cup to decorate a perhaps dusty trophy room, but a passage to the best football in the land.
Instead of Dnipro, Tromso and Partizan, it could be Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. The gulf in class really is that different. However, are Tottenham good enough to effectively challenge these teams? Is the team still a Gareth Bale or Rafael Van der Vaart short? There are many questions and they could only be answered if the club finish high in a highly competitive domestic league, or win a similarly competitive European trophy.
Are Tottenham good enough to effectively challenge these teams? There are many questions and they could only be answered if the club finish high in a highly competitive domestic league, or win a similarly competitive European trophy. There are quality players at the club in the talented squad, Christian Eriksen just one example. Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli have both been revelations since the start of this season and have proven their worth. The squad is more balanced this year in the fact that there are many quality players capable of turning a game on its head, rather than one key man. Who needs one Gareth Bale? Why not have Lamela, Chadli and Eriksen?
There is enough depth in the squad to operate across multiple fronts this season. The Europa League is worth it, even with a slightly weaker squad, Spurs can go far. It may be a hard season in the Premier League, so Europe may be the sweet medicine to lower the disappointment of high expectations.
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