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Europa League 2012-13 - QF: Basel (SUI)
- Thread starter Totting Them Up
- Start date
I want us to go for it on both fronts. A good first leg scoreline could have us halfway into the semi final. We have enough about us to be successful on both fronts. Everton will be a different proposition to Fulham and will be different to how they have been against us in recent seasons - They technically can still get 4th, however unrealistic it might be. They will have to open up a little more than usual against us if they have any ambitions of finishing in the top 4 or even manaing to get 5th for a Europa League spot.
I would like to think we have enough about us to get 2 good results in the space of 3 to 4 days otherwise what are we bothering at all for?
I would like to think we have enough about us to get 2 good results in the space of 3 to 4 days otherwise what are we bothering at all for?
Jurgen the German
Erik Thorstvedt
It's a tough one. I don't want us to blow another lead on a rival and become known as the team that always bottles in the last 10 games. Then again, we've lost 6 FA cup semi finals in the last 20 years, that sort of thing didn't used to happen. We've got to sort at least one of those out this season.
before it was Bale it was Modric
before it was Modric it was Berbatov
before Berbatov it was Carrick
see a pattern?
these players don't leave us because we don't have Champions League, they left us because they were coveted by the two biggest clubs in world football - Manchester United and Real Madrid - whether we have CL football or not would not make any difference to a player if they wanted to leave us to play for the true elite football clubs. we have as much chance of keeping Bale this summer without CL football as we do with it - it entirely comes down to whether he feels he is ready for such a move
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Yes.
"It's magnificent to be in Europe, and this club - a club like Tottenham Hotspur - if we're not in Europe.... we're nothing. We're nothing."
Spursalot
Jimmy McCormick
That's an even larger no to be honest.
Seeing as we're talking about throwing in the towel, in Europe.
Well, what I meant was that thread absolutely needed that one last quote!
Spursalot
Jimmy McCormick
1. Pretty much everyone on here realises how good Bale is. We just don't share your defeatist attitude towards competing on multiple fronts. Nor do we share your opinion of what truly matters in football.
2. From what we can glean of Bale's state of mind - from his demeanour; his own comments; and his friends' and colleagues' comments - it seems likely that he will remain with us for another season at least, regardless of whether or not we qualify for the CL.
3. Preposterous to claim that we'll never see his like again at Spurs. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone what's going to happen in two, five, ten, twenty or fifty years. And you don't have a crystal ball that works either.
I honestly hope we never find this out, but if we fail to make it to the CL again, it'll set us back 5 years or worse. And we'll have to live with the tag of being a "bottler" club, seeing as we would have blown it three years running.
Bale's over riding motivation is his desire to constantly improve - if he doesn't feel he can do that here any more, because we don't improve the squad and he can't test himself in CL, he will leave, without question. And he would be right to in my opinion.
Really, Bale is a player your grandchildren will ask if you ever saw play. He hasn't even reached his peak yet - nowhere near. When they write the history of the world's greatest ever footballers in a 1000 years, Bale will be in there. He's a a future Ballon d'or winner.
parklane1
Tony Galvin
they make me laugh by saying we can not cope with playing European games midweek and Premership games on the weekend. IF we qualify for the CL next season are we going to suffer in the Prem? because if so we are knackered because we will not win the CL so the season after we will be out of Europe.
tommysvr
Vedran Corluka
Bloody hell this thread kicked off whilst I was in bed.
Has anyone mentioned that fact that winning games breeds a winning mentality. Losing to Basle does not mean we'll beat Everton or Chelsea. You can't underestimate the momentum gained from winning, especially if it meant we were in the semi finals of a major European cup!
I think Champions League is vital this season and I think finishing 4th this season would mean more trophies in the future. But I absolutely do not think taking the Europa League seriously will really affect our chances too much.
Has anyone mentioned that fact that winning games breeds a winning mentality. Losing to Basle does not mean we'll beat Everton or Chelsea. You can't underestimate the momentum gained from winning, especially if it meant we were in the semi finals of a major European cup!
I think Champions League is vital this season and I think finishing 4th this season would mean more trophies in the future. But I absolutely do not think taking the Europa League seriously will really affect our chances too much.
metalgear
Luka Modric
That quote for when Europe = champions league?
not some imposter cup tournament that accepts losers from champions league. It's the "plate event".
Jurgen the German
Erik Thorstvedt
I would love to win the Europa, but there's no doubt that aspect of the tournament devalues it to an extent.
The Moonlit Knight
Banned
Champion's League qualification & not winning the Europa League vs winning the Europa League but failing to qualify for the Champion's League? I'd go for the former unfortunately. But hopefully, we'll get both! The draw couldn't have been kinder to us for the QF.....
That quote wasn't reserved for any particular European competition.
It was reserved for all European competitions.
In Billy Nick's day, Spurs were only once in the European Cup.
Yet he was just as fiercely determined to win the European Cup Winners' Cup or UEFA Cup - each of which his Spurs teams regularly contested and once won.
Tottenham are up to third in the Premier League, ahead of Chelsea, and André Villas-Boas will not rule out overhauling Emirates Marketing Project for the runners-up spot – which would be Spurs' highest finish for 50 years. However, he came away from the Liberty Stadium with another priority on his mind.
An avid European, Villas-Boas admits he has been dreaming of winning the Europa League, in which his team are at home to Basel in the first leg of their quarter-final on Thursday. After a hard-fought win in Wales, gilded by goals of the highest class from Jan Vertonghen and Gareth Bale, the Spurs manager accepted that all teams are judged by where they finish in the league but confessed to a different preference.
"We dream of winning a trophy so our focus on the Europa League won't change," said Villas-Boas, who won the competition with Porto in 2011. "To do it we need to keep the team fresh and we will rotate. We have the top-quality players that enable us to do that but now, in the quarter finals, we dream of winning the trophy and we set out with that intention."
Five matches in the next three weeks promise to define a season in which the former Porto and Chelsea manager has had the tough task of replacing Harry Redknapp, whose contract was not renewed last summer. Redknapp's attractive team had finished fourth so, implicitly, his Portuguese successor is expected to do better. It is a tall order but it is an assignment that he is well placed to perform. The five games that hold the key are Basel at home and away, Everton at White Hart Lane on Sunday, Chelsea away the following weekend and finally Emirates Marketing Project at home on 21 April.
"The fixture list is very tight and avoiding injuries could make all the difference‚" Villas-Boas said. "But if you want to become a top team it's something you have to get used to. It's a situation the players cherish because the motivation of the Europa trophy is fantastic."
When he was dragged back to discussing Premier League matters, he thought it would be "difficult" to finish second, saying: "It will depend on the immediate fixtures against the teams who have the same objectives."
In terms of qualifying for the Champions League he is taking nothing for granted but he was relieved that Spurs had regained momentum after successive defeats. "You are always more comfortable when you are ahead of the pack," he said. "The teams below us are very close but it's not for the first time this season.
"The balance shifts every weekend and the fact that we are third for the remainder of the week doesn't make us over confident. We just have to continue to do our job."
There is an obvious danger that if the manager puts all his Easter eggs in one Europa League basket his players will follow suit and lose their intensity in the Premier League, but there was no sign of that on Saturday. Spurs were dominant from the outset against opponents who began as if their season had finished with that Capital One triumph five weeks ago.
Soporific Swansea conceded twice in the first 21 minutes before waking up after half an hour and fighting back strongly to have the better of the second half.
Tottenham's goals were the manna from heaven product of individual brilliance by the two best players on the pitch. The first saw Vertonghen advance from his defensive station into midfield, from where a lovely lofted pass from Bale fell inch perfect in the penalty area. The Belgian still had a fair bit to do but controlled the ball instantly with his left foot before scoring silkily with his right. It was a goal of which the ultimate libero, Ruud Gullit, would have been proud.
Spurs' second was just as good, maybe even better. The roles were reversed this time, a prompting pass from Vertonghen supplied Bale inside the D. The Welshman took a touch and in one blurring movement curved the ball high past the nonplussed Michel Vorm with that wand of a left foot. It was Bale's 22nd goal in 37 games and if there is a more deserving candidate for footballer of the year his name does not spring readily to mind.
Swansea belatedly banished premature thoughts of the beach and should have pulled a goal back before half-time, with Nathan Dyer contriving possibly the miss of the season by heading against the crossbar from three yards.
Michu's 20th goal of the season was headed home from a corner in the bizarre absence of attendant defenders. It condemned Spurs to an anxious last 20 minutes and it took a last-ditch block by the man of the moment, Bale, to deny Dyer an equaliser at the death.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/mar/31/tottenham-swansea-premier-league-report
An avid European, Villas-Boas admits he has been dreaming of winning the Europa League, in which his team are at home to Basel in the first leg of their quarter-final on Thursday. After a hard-fought win in Wales, gilded by goals of the highest class from Jan Vertonghen and Gareth Bale, the Spurs manager accepted that all teams are judged by where they finish in the league but confessed to a different preference.
"We dream of winning a trophy so our focus on the Europa League won't change," said Villas-Boas, who won the competition with Porto in 2011. "To do it we need to keep the team fresh and we will rotate. We have the top-quality players that enable us to do that but now, in the quarter finals, we dream of winning the trophy and we set out with that intention."
Five matches in the next three weeks promise to define a season in which the former Porto and Chelsea manager has had the tough task of replacing Harry Redknapp, whose contract was not renewed last summer. Redknapp's attractive team had finished fourth so, implicitly, his Portuguese successor is expected to do better. It is a tall order but it is an assignment that he is well placed to perform. The five games that hold the key are Basel at home and away, Everton at White Hart Lane on Sunday, Chelsea away the following weekend and finally Emirates Marketing Project at home on 21 April.
"The fixture list is very tight and avoiding injuries could make all the difference‚" Villas-Boas said. "But if you want to become a top team it's something you have to get used to. It's a situation the players cherish because the motivation of the Europa trophy is fantastic."
When he was dragged back to discussing Premier League matters, he thought it would be "difficult" to finish second, saying: "It will depend on the immediate fixtures against the teams who have the same objectives."
In terms of qualifying for the Champions League he is taking nothing for granted but he was relieved that Spurs had regained momentum after successive defeats. "You are always more comfortable when you are ahead of the pack," he said. "The teams below us are very close but it's not for the first time this season.
"The balance shifts every weekend and the fact that we are third for the remainder of the week doesn't make us over confident. We just have to continue to do our job."
There is an obvious danger that if the manager puts all his Easter eggs in one Europa League basket his players will follow suit and lose their intensity in the Premier League, but there was no sign of that on Saturday. Spurs were dominant from the outset against opponents who began as if their season had finished with that Capital One triumph five weeks ago.
Soporific Swansea conceded twice in the first 21 minutes before waking up after half an hour and fighting back strongly to have the better of the second half.
Tottenham's goals were the manna from heaven product of individual brilliance by the two best players on the pitch. The first saw Vertonghen advance from his defensive station into midfield, from where a lovely lofted pass from Bale fell inch perfect in the penalty area. The Belgian still had a fair bit to do but controlled the ball instantly with his left foot before scoring silkily with his right. It was a goal of which the ultimate libero, Ruud Gullit, would have been proud.
Spurs' second was just as good, maybe even better. The roles were reversed this time, a prompting pass from Vertonghen supplied Bale inside the D. The Welshman took a touch and in one blurring movement curved the ball high past the nonplussed Michel Vorm with that wand of a left foot. It was Bale's 22nd goal in 37 games and if there is a more deserving candidate for footballer of the year his name does not spring readily to mind.
Swansea belatedly banished premature thoughts of the beach and should have pulled a goal back before half-time, with Nathan Dyer contriving possibly the miss of the season by heading against the crossbar from three yards.
Michu's 20th goal of the season was headed home from a corner in the bizarre absence of attendant defenders. It condemned Spurs to an anxious last 20 minutes and it took a last-ditch block by the man of the moment, Bale, to deny Dyer an equaliser at the death.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/mar/31/tottenham-swansea-premier-league-report
metalgear
Luka Modric
The man's said it:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8610854/
Andre Villas-Boas says Spurs' priority is a top-four finish
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8610854/
Andre Villas-Boas says Spurs' priority is a top-four finish