We don’t have to play Champions League until February but already a few fans are dreading the draw. Come on. Live a little. Contrary to the group stages, where it’s fortuitous to miss big teams, I don’t mind getting a classic giant in the knockouts (even if we won our group). That’s the whole point of the competition; make it to the knockouts and match with the best.
And the best team does not always win a tie. That is literally why big teams complained and threatened until they got a group stage which does favor the better teams. Are Fiorentina a better team than us over the last 10 years? No, but they knocked us out of Europe. Basel? Same. Gent? Same.
Also, more money in football’s economy is always nice but we aren’t poor ol’ Tottenham Hotspur any more. That rigid wage structure of the 90s and 00s is long gone. Getting knocked out in the round of 16 or in the quarters isn’t making or breaking us.
98% of the players in the world would kill to play for us and the remaining 2% are not coming only because we’re not winning anything. I think it’s time for us to embrace being a cup team. Winning the Europa League every decade along with a League and FA Cup would be pretty cool. Of course I’d love to build one title challenging squad every decade, too, where something magical could happen; but as long as things—that word is doing a lot of work here—are as they are, the league feels a bit distant. So why ram our heads against a wall, hoping for Spurs to be top of the Premier League, when there are so many other honors to be won?
I’m in the process of leaving Twitter so feel free to chat with me in comments or share with other people who will agree or disagree with me respectfully.
The missus and I enjoy your blog. We don’t do any social media so forget twitter and substack more please!
Elite football is a lottery. Who’d have thought we’d beat Dortmund (easily), Man City (amazingly), Ajax (epically) and lose to Liverpool (thanks to a ridiculous handball decision in 1st minute). We might have won the Champions League. We might have gone out in the group stage. So just enjoy the ride this season too.
We sit directly behind Conte. Spurs are not playing well. Or rather, not playing convincingly. It’s there in the body language of our bench and management. But we are winning way more than we’re losing under Conte. It’s a cliche but we’re on a journey. People can moan about us not reaching our destination yet. I do sometimes. But it’s better to look out of the window and enjoy the view. Otherwise why be a fan?
Why would someone dread the draw? I'm excited to see who we match up against! I don't think Spurs have a chance of winning Europe this year. But I'm looking forward to seeing how far they can get.
I agree. The schedule is so nuts this year it really might be last team standing which makes me think this might be Spurs best chance in a while because Deki, Richy have relatively few minutes on their legs and our developing midfield depth would allow for actual rotation.
Totally agree. Besides, the only BIG team to really knock us around in recent years was Bayern. We won a group that contained Madrid, Dortmund. Beat Ajax in the semis, beat City in the quarters. That said, I'm glad we won't be facing Bayern in the R16. They're killers.
Hi Vincent
The missus and I enjoy your blog. We don’t do any social media so forget twitter and substack more please!
Elite football is a lottery. Who’d have thought we’d beat Dortmund (easily), Man City (amazingly), Ajax (epically) and lose to Liverpool (thanks to a ridiculous handball decision in 1st minute). We might have won the Champions League. We might have gone out in the group stage. So just enjoy the ride this season too.
We sit directly behind Conte. Spurs are not playing well. Or rather, not playing convincingly. It’s there in the body language of our bench and management. But we are winning way more than we’re losing under Conte. It’s a cliche but we’re on a journey. People can moan about us not reaching our destination yet. I do sometimes. But it’s better to look out of the window and enjoy the view. Otherwise why be a fan?
Well stated, indeed. And thank you for the generous comment at the start.
Why would someone dread the draw? I'm excited to see who we match up against! I don't think Spurs have a chance of winning Europe this year. But I'm looking forward to seeing how far they can get.
I agree. The schedule is so nuts this year it really might be last team standing which makes me think this might be Spurs best chance in a while because Deki, Richy have relatively few minutes on their legs and our developing midfield depth would allow for actual rotation.
But we are not favorites or anywhere near that discussion. But it's knockouts! Dream until you can't.
Totally agree. Besides, the only BIG team to really knock us around in recent years was Bayern. We won a group that contained Madrid, Dortmund. Beat Ajax in the semis, beat City in the quarters. That said, I'm glad we won't be facing Bayern in the R16. They're killers.
100% Yeah, we could get PSG; it's like a 16.5% chance. Every other matchup is a coin flip or favors us. That's good!
It's 100% fact that if we play Milan, that handsome ex-Arsenal bastard scores against us. So I'm hoping to avoid them as well.