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*** OMT Spurs v Fiorentina 1st leg ***

Didn'tMindGraham said:
People knock the Europa league but it's very exciting once you get out the groups and face the big sides. It saddens me when people say they'd rather not qualify for it. When I grew up we went nearly a decade without Europe, and watching other teams play was not fun. The top 7 teams in England represent the country in European competition, and I'm proud we are one of those. One CL campaign and we're too big for it?
Dark nights, bright lights, kits lilywhite COYS
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Here, Here.
Funny thing is i actually quite like Spurs in the Europa league. I mostly only watch spurs in mid week games due to active involvement in football at weekends. When we were in the Champions league it was impossible to get a ticket once we got out the Group Stage. Europa League however no one is interested because its apparently not worthy of viewing and gets in the way of getting to the Champions league etc... Couldn't care if the opposition was Real Madrid or AEL Limassol i go along to watch Tottenham Hotspur.
 
tw12yid said:
Here, Here.
Funny thing is i actually quite like Spurs in the Europa league. I mostly only watch spurs in mid week games due to active involvement in football at weekends. When we were in the Champions league it was impossible to get a ticket once we got out the Group Stage. Europa League however no one is interested because its apparently not worthy of viewing and gets in the way of getting to the Champions league etc... Couldn't care if the opposition was Real Madrid or AEL Limassol i go along to watch Tottenham Hotspur.
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Thank you .. I give a fudge who we play, its us I go to watch, not them ..
 
Didn'tMindGraham said:
People knock the Europa league but it's very exciting once you get out the groups and face the big sides. It saddens me when people say they'd rather not qualify for it. When I grew up we went nearly a decade without Europe, and watching other teams play was not fun. The top 7 teams in England represent the country in European competition, and I'm proud we are one of those. One CL campaign and we're too big for it?
Dark nights, bright lights, kits lilywhite COYS
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Great post.
 
what is this trash omt. I have just returned from OMT hell, the wilderness, and I am not comforted by this piffle.
 
tw12yid said:
The first half of the season is when you rotate players between matches but when you get to the second half you will have more big matches than not and thus playing your first XI in all of them.
How often do you see chelsea rest players? Not that often. If we rotate for the 2nd leg then lose to chelsea what will you all be saying then?
Only argument for change would be changing the keeper as we have done for most cup games.
Hope to see Fazio return as well, Dier was at fault/could have done better for two goals against Liverpool I believe fazio and beers to be our strongest partnership.
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What if we don't rotate for 2nd leg, still crash out to Fiorentina, and then field a knackered team for the LC final and end up losing that one too? Not that a fresh team will guarantee a victory, but it gives us more of a chance. The only question is what do you prefer: a cup which is easier to come by, since it's one game and anything can happen, or EL glory, which will require another 7 games?

Not to mention how it might affect our performance in the chase for 4th. If we were sitting in 11th place 15 pts behind fourth, then I would take EL over league. But not when we're 3 pts off fourth and have a relatively manageable fixture list. I think we have better chances getting 4th without the EL games than getting to CL by winning EL. So focus on what is attainable AND will give us the chance to celebrate silverware and CL football.

And Chelski don't play the same team every match. They have quality depth, which we don't. Getting to CL might allow us to add that depth so we don't have to consider these types of questions in the future. And the easiest path to CL is through the league and not through EL.
 
Yiddo said:
So how comes Liverpoo get ITV 1?
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Because.

Just ...... because. If you need more ...... "Gerrard's last European match at home".

ITV have first pick, but usually opt for ITV4. And 2nd leg they are still lined up for Liverdip first choice early doors (see above, but away/ever), followed by Everton and some young boys.

Tomorrow we are on BT Sports 2 k.o. 20:00Z, next week likely to be the same.
 
I'm really looking forward to this game. Nothing beats watching Spurs up against some decent European opposition.

I think we have to field our strongest side available for each of the up coming games. Crashing out5 to Fiorentina then losing the cup final is well within the realms of possibility. Fielding a fresh(er) side against Chelsea still sees us comfortably in the role of second favourites.

When I look through the teams left in the EL there's nothing that makes you fall off your chair and think no chance. Obviously the lurking horror of potentially losing to the dippers is one that needs to be banished to the darkest corner of the mind; but the sheer elation of potentially knocking Liverpool out in, say, a European semi-final, would be superb.

Depending on the outcome of the first leg the strongest line up we can field in the context of the away game in Florence may not be the strongest line up we ideally field against Chelsea. I suppose what I'm saying is speculating about potential states of the tie and mulling over starting line ups for the second leg is a bit of a fruitless exercise until the first leg, and the WEst Ham games are out the way. We may even (lets hope not) have a multitude of injuries by then.
 
A lot of over thinking here IMO, play strongest available in all your big games. There's no crystal ball or garuntees so give it your best shot and no regrets.
 
4th results in Champions league footnall ( going to be very hard to get in the top 4 )
League Cup results in Europa league ( better then nothing. Good to win a trophy )
Europa League results in a more acclaimed trophy and Champions league football. Should be all in for the Europa in my mind.
 
Win the cup, go full pelt for Europa, just need to get the balancing act right for Fiorentina away/Chelscum final
 
Armenia Spur said:
Win the cup, go full pelt for Europa, just need to get the balancing act right for Fiorentina away/Chelscum final
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Agree with that. Play pretty much our strongest 11 against Fiorentina at home and the spammers (ie perhaps change Rose for Davies on Sun and perhaps fazio/Dier and Chadli/Dembele swap on Sunday).

Hopefully then rest 4 or 5 others away in Florence (and by rest I mean leave them at home) and then pick the strongest 11 for the cup final.

Should mean that only 2 or 3 outfielders need to start all 4 games
 
glasgowspur said:
A lot of over thinking here IMO, play strongest available in all your big games. There's no crystal ball or garuntees so give it your best shot and no regrets.
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The problem Poch has is he has to judge which games are the "big games" and which ones are somewhat less important. Personally, I believe the Europa is a long shot at this stage as we have not progressed past the last 8 in a long time and it's still only the round of 32. If we get to the last 8, then I would say go for it as it's anyone's tournament if you can get that far.

The league is always important so I think we should prioritise that over the EL at this point. The final against Chelsea is the most vital game of the lot.
 
^ How would you suggest we prioritse the league ove the EL at this point? Field a weakened team in both EL ties against Fiorentina so we have the best chance of getting 3 points against West Ham?
 
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billyiddo said:
^ How would you suggest we prioritse the league ove the EL at this point? Field a weakened team in both EL ties against Fiorentina so we have the best chance of getting 3 points against West Ham?
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I don't think that's what he meant, but we need to consider what the ultimate goal is. For me it would be to make CL next year. Our best chance for that is through the league and not through EL. If we can focus on the league without having to worry about EL, 4th place is doable. But if we focus on both EL and the league, then chances are we'll be out of EL and somewhere between 5th and 7th.
 
Well then my question is how do you want us to focus on the League over the Europa League if not in the way i describe in my previous post?

I want us to do well in both, i believe we can do well in both and i think that we need to take each round of the EL as it comes. Right now, the important game is the cup final next Sunday - which means we want to try and make sure the away leg to Fiorentina has as less impact as possible, which means fielding a strong team tomorrow in the home leg and hoping we do enough that we can finish the tie off in 90 minutes in Italy.


The 'ultimate goal' is to win trophies, surely?
 
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