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Europa League 2012-13 - QF: Basel (SUI)

markysimmo said:
Im sorry that wasnt depth in squad that was redknapp fudging all the cups off and playing kids bit of a difference
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Not Redknapp ! He fecked up our Cup tradition by playing kids. IIRC, it was under Jol when we used to have something like 10 defenders, 10 midfielders, 4 strikers, 3 goalies etc.
 
Spurs7891 said:
Have to agree. 5 of our 8 loses in the league have come after our midweek matches in CC or EL : Wigan, ManCity, Everton, Liverpool and Fulham. We have won 5 and lost 4 league matches after playing in EL.

Our lack of squad depth is the main reason for this. We cannot afford to rest too many players as it will affect our team balance. Thus we have to rely on players like Bale, Vertonghen and Dembele to play too many matches. Remember when we used to have a big squad and played 2 different teams in league and Cup matches ? We used to complain that our squad was too big then. Wish we have that depth now.
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Er what?


I can't blame losing to Everton, Emirates Marketing Project and Liverpool on midweek fixtures. I just can't. They are games any team could lose and declaring it down to midweek fixtures sounds like we are suddenly searching for excuses.
 
Winning the Europa League Should Be Tottenham Hotspur's Top Priority - Cartilage Free Captain

When Tottenham Hotspur went out of the FA Cup at home against Leeds my dream of Andre Villas-Boas' team winning the big domestic cup in his first season in charge was dashed. Now, the club are only competing on two fronts: the Premier League and the Europa League. In the former, Tottenham are currently in fourth. Spurs are a point behind third place Chelsea and four ahead of fifth place Arsenal, both of which have a game in hand. In the latter, Spurs have a quarterfinal matchup with FC Basel.

Certainly neither of the club's, or perhaps the manager's, big goals for the season (finishing in the top four and winning the Europa League) are assured. However, of the two, Tottenham should focus their efforts on winning the trophy.

I can already hear your cries of derision, but bear with me for a moment. In a world where the two goals are mutually exclusive the choice for me is an easy one. That is to say, if Tottenham Hotspur can only finish in the top four OR win the Europa League the choice should obviously to go for the silverware. This is an obvious choice, at least for me, for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, success is measured in trophies. How long have we pointed out the existence of the website Since Arsenal Last Won A Trophy? How many times has it pointed out to Arsene Wenger that there is, in fact, no trophy for finishing in fourth place. The truth is, Tottenham haven't won a trophy since Juande Ramos brought the League Cup home in 2008. Harry Redknapp didn't win a trophy (though he got the club to the League Cup Finals in 2009) and that perhaps may have lead to his firing. I want my club to win things. I want to have trophies in the cabinet at White Hart Lane. Getting knocked out of the Europa League in the semi-finals and finishing 4th is hollow for me. Another season in which we have no silverware to show for what we accomplished.

Second, the Europa League is a big competition. Many will argue that this is the Champions League's mentally handicapped little brother and that no one cares about it. The Europa League is a Mickey Mouse competition for teams that aren't good enough for the Champions League. That's definitely not true. Big clubs take the Europa League seriously. Look at the list of recent winners: Atletico Madrid (twice), Porto, Shakhtar, and Zenit St. Petersburg have all won in the last five years. Those are four big clubs. The quarterfinalists this year include last season Champions League winner Chelsea, as well as Lazio, Fenerbache, and Benfica. Those are clubs with rich history (well, maybe not Chelsea) of success in football.

Finally, Tottenham Hotspur have a rich history with the Europa League, and it's predecessor the UEFA Cup. Spurs won the first UEFA Cup competitions in 1971-72 and finished runners up two seasons later in 1974. It would take another ten years, but Tottenham would once again triumph in the competition in 1984. Tottenham Hotspur have won more UEFA Cup/Europa League/Cup Winner's Cup trophies than any other English side (except Liverpool, who have won the same amount). I want to win the competition to continue Tottenham's legacy in this competition.

Now, obviously there are some negatives involved here. Again, if we live in a world where the club can only have one or the other, winning the Europa League means no Champions League football next season. More importantly, perhaps, it means no Champions League revenue. That's obviously the killer. The additional £20-30 million pounds that a club could make in the Champions League would certainly be handy, but missing out on that money isn't going to break Tottenham Hotspur. We've proven that our revenues and expenditures are closely in line and the club's business model is a sound one. The club could certainly survive without Champions League money.

Aside from the money, is the issue of being able to attract top tier talent to White Hart Lane without Champions League football. Well, Tottenham has certainly succeeded in doing just that in the past. Dimitar Berbatov and Luka Modric came before Tottenham played in the Champions League. Hugo Lloris joined knowing that Tottenham would only be playing in the Europa League. Those are all world class players that joined Spurs without the promise of playing in the continent's highest competition. All three had played in the Champions League at some point and yet all three came to White Hart Lane.

There are plenty of other clubs in England that attract top talent without playing in the Champions League. Look at some of the recent purchases for Saudi Sportswashing Machine. Hatem Ben Arfa, Moussa Sissoko, Patinkle Cisse, Demba Ba, Davide Santon, Yohan Cabaye, and Cheick Tiote are all excellent talents. Saudi Sportswashing Machine snapped all of them of for reasonable fees and, last season at least, put together a good season. Will the lack of Champions League help Tottenham Hotspur attract Robert Lewandowski or Edinson Cavani? No it won't, but those players probably never would have come to Tottenham Hotspur anyway.

When Tottenham Hotspur hired Andre Villas-Boas he was hired to do a job for the future of the club. For the present, qualifying for the Champions League would be huge. However, crashing out of the Europa League, failing to win a trophy again would be even more damaging. Villas-Boas wants to instill a mentality that all these competitions matter and that winning trophies is what is important. The money from the Champions League might be nice to help eventually get a new stadium, but finishing 4th doesn't necessarily mean we'll make it to the group stages and beyond of the Champions League. This group of players need a trophy. We need a touchstone to show what we are building and that the club can succeed. That's why the Europa League is more important for the future.

I'd much rather see this collection of players wrap up the season at the Amersterdam Arena with a victory in the final and slump to a fifth place finish than crash out of the competition and finish fourth or third. I'm hoping that Tottenham Hotspur can accomplish both. I'd be over the moon if the club did just that, but I'd much rather we win that trophy.
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There was some discussion not long after the draw that either Spurs or Chelsea would have to switch the dates of their home and away legs to avoid a conflict with UEFA regs stating that two teams can't play on the same night if they are less than 50km apart.

Is this still in the works? Or are UEFA comfortable to use the PL's approach that Spurs and Chelsea can play on the same day? I am assuming they are since Thomas Cook are advertising travel packages for Spurs-Basle on the prescribed dates. Anyone know better?
 
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2013/matches/round=2000359/match=2010084/prematch/background/index.html?

Tottenham Hotspur FC have home advantage for the first leg against FC Basel 1893, who are looking to avoid another quarter-final exit against an English side.

The only former winners left in the competition take on the UEFA Europa League's last remaining domestic champions as Tottenham Hotspur FC meet FC Basel 1893 in the quarter-finals.

• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Tottenham's five games against Swiss sides ended W3 D0 L2 (W2 D0 L1 at home). Those five matches produced 22 goals, with Tottenham scoring four or more in their three victories.

• Basel's record in 16 games against English clubs is W3 D5 L8 (W0 D3 L5 in England). Their only previous game in London ended in a 1-0 loss to Fulham FC in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Basel eliminated Manchester United FC from the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage, drawing 3-3 in Manchester before a 2-1 home win on matchday six to reach the round of 16.

• The last time Basel reached the quarter-finals of this competition, in 2005/06, they were eliminated by another English club, Middlesbrough FC, despite winning the first leg 2-0 at home. They also scored first in the return, but conceded four times in the final 57 minutes of the tie to lose 4-3 on aggregate.

• Basel's coach at that time was former Tottenham manager Christian Gross, who was in charge at White Hart Lane from November 1997 to September 1998 before joining Basel. There he won four national titles and four Swiss Cups (1999-2009).

Match background
• Spurs are on a four-game winning streak at home in Europe.

• A 4-1 loss at FC Internazionale Milano in their round of 16 second leg ended Tottenham's ten-game unbeaten run in Europe, which stretched back to last season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Basel are without a win in six European away games (D3 L3) since a 1-0 victory at Molde FK in this season's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Their winless run on the road in the UEFA Europa League stretches back seven games (D4 L3) to a 2-0 win at PFC CSKA Sofia in the 2009/10 group stage.

• Three English teams – Chelsea FC, Saudi Sportswashing Machine FC and Tottenham – have reached the last eight. In each of the previous two seasons in which a country has taken three clubs to the quarter-finals, one of that number has gone on to win the trophy – FC Porto (Portugal) in 2010/11 and Club Atlético de Madrid (Spain) in 2011/12 – beating opponents from their own country in the final.

• Basel are the only reigning domestic champions still in the competition. They have also played more European matches this season than any other surviving team (16), having begun their continental campaign in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

• Tottenham are the only side left in the competition who have won this trophy before, lifting the UEFA Cup in 1971/72 and 1983/84.

• Tottenham could become the fourth side to win this competition for a third time, along with Juventus, Inter and Liverpool FC.

• Basel have yet to reach the semi-finals of a major European club competition.

Team facts
• Defenders Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen have appeared in all 930 minutes of Tottenham's UEFA Europa League campaign. Midfielder Aaron Lennon has also made ten appearances since the start of the group stage, but only eight starts.

• Goalkeeper Yann Sommer is the only Basel player who has featured in all 900 minutes of their campaign since the start of the group stage.

• Basel's David Degen has made 44 UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League appearances – more than any player left in the competition, though SL Benfica's Luisão is just behind him with 43.

• At 41, Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel is the oldest player left in the competition. He is over six years older than his manager André Villas-Boas, and also has over three years on Basel coach Murat Yakin.

• Basel forward Alexander Frei – who will hang up his boots in the summer – has scored the most European club competition goals of any of the players left in the competition: 32 in 59 games.

• Basel have scored ten of their 12 goals since the start of the group stage after the 60th minute, including six between the 76th minute and full time.

• Five of Tottenham's 15 goals have come between the 76th minute and the final whistle.

• Tottenham's 17-year-old Serbian central defender Miloš Veljković was born and raised in Basel, and started his career with the Swiss champions before moving to White Hart Lane in 2011.

• Jermain Defoe featured in England's 3-1 win against Switzerland at Basel's St. Jakob-Park in a UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier on 7 September 2010.

• André Villas-Boas received his first break in coaching as a teenager from then Porto boss Sir Bobby Robson, and later assisted José Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter before striking out alone at A. Académica de Coimbra and then leading Porto to a domestic double and the UEFA Cup in 2010/11. A move to Chelsea that summer proved short-lived, before he took charge at Tottenham in July 2012.

• Villas-Boas (FC Porto 2010/11) and Chelsea's Rafael Benítez (Valencia CF 2003/04) are the only coaches left in the competition to have won the trophy.

• Murat Yakin replaced Heiko Vogel as Basel coach in October. The older brother of fellow former Swiss international Hakan Yakin, he was capped 49 times as a defender and represented Grasshopper Club, VfB Stuttgart, Fenerbahçe SK and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, but enjoyed his best seasons as captain of Basel, leading them to three league titles and two Swiss Cups. He has also coached FC Concordia Basel, FC Thun and FC Luzern.
 
Only Juve, Inter and Liverpool have ever won 3 UEFA Cups. We would be the fourth, if we win it.
Plus, it gets us what is essentially a one-off cup final next summer in the form of the European Super Cup if we go all the way, which is an easy chance to make it two trophies on the bounce. We'd also be the first London side to win that one, should we do it.

Atletico have managed to hold on to Falcao for this long despite not being regular CL entrants in recent times. I'm positive that the Europa League triumphs have been a major factor in that, and the ESC triumph over Chelsea as well.

This is a trophy worth winning. Despite all the brick UEFA's heaped on it over the last decade, it is still a prestigious and exciting trophy to claim.

I remember watching Fulham walk out for the final against Atletico a couple of years ago and thinking 'Damn, I wish that was us'.

Well, this is the closest we're ever going to get. The quarter-final, against Basel, first leg at home. Eminently winnable.

Being Tottenham, we have a tendency to fudge things up when they look utterly unassailable, but if we give Basel the respect they so clearly deserve (having beaten Zenit and all), and play like how we were a month ago as opposed to the shambles of recent weeks, then we have a great chance to get to the semi's. And from there, the final is tantalisingly close.

We can win this, and we need to win this.
 
Am i right in thinking that Walker is suspended for this?


I have a vague recollection of him picking up his third yellow at the San Siro.
 
First leg:

------------------ Friedel ----------------
Naughton - Caulker - Daws - BAE
--------- Carroll --- Dembele ---------
Lennon ----- Holtby ------------ Bale
---------------- Defoe -------------------

Second leg:

----------------- Lloris ------------------
- Walker - Caulker - Verts - BAE -
-------------- Livermore ---------------
-------- Carroll ----- Parker ----------
Siggy ----------------------------- Bale
-------------- Adebayor ----------------
 
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