Can Tottenham really achieve both?
Tottenham are through to the last 16 of the Europa League and competing for a Champions League place in the Premier League under new manager Andre Villas-Boas, who has done a very good job in his first season at White Hart Lane. Spurs have played some great football and achieved some good results so far, but the biggest test is yet to come as they face a difficult fixture list in the closing weeks of the season and with the added pressure of extra games in their campaign to win in Europe it begs the question – is their progression abroad a blessing or a curse?
The upside of still being in the competition is that it gives Spurs experience of European football and how to play against teams with a different style of play to what they’re used to domestically. They deserve to be in this competition after they were unfairly knocked out of Champions League football last season by Chelsea and they have done so well to get this far. They gain more confidence with every match played and as they go further they are realising they can actually win a trophy this season, something they haven’t managed for a number of years.
The curse of still being in this competition will only affect Spurs if they allow it to and that will be lack of form due to exhaustion or a sudden disappearance of confidence. The do have a tendency to panic at this time of the season and with some hard games coming up they will have to make sure they focus on both competitions with equal measure. With double the amount of fixtures they could find themselves a bit tired but AVB has proved many a time this season that he can rotate players when needed and the squad players have grasped their opportunity with both hands. If it all starts to go awry then AVB will need to pick which is more important and aim to reach that goal, even if it is to the detriment of the other.
Despite losing their last two league games Spurs are in good form and if they can manage to win their next few games this will take them closer to that hallowed Champions League place. They have some tough opponents to come with Everton, Chelsea and City still to play, and then they face FC Basel in the Europa League but Spurs overall are a stronger team this year and I don’t think they will make the same mistake they did in conceding points and risking losing CL football.
They will almost certainly be aiming for third to guarantee them a place in Europe and they stand every chance of making it. If there was ever a time for Spurs to prove that they can play in the Champions League that time would be now, but to win the Europa League and get a Champions League place would be the perfect end to an impressive season.
[opinion-widget op width=”full”]