I use to think that way, but looking back over the last 10 years I've seen Portsmouth and Wigan win the cup and disappear and reaching the final has not done much for Cardiff, Villa, Hull and Palace.
Thinking back ten years I've seen us win one trophy -the Carling Cup in 2008. The memories of that day are unbelievably precious to me, and I won't ever forget them.
We were the cup kings once. It distinguished us from the pack, gave us our own unique trait, and epitomized our footballing nature - wild, capricious, capable of turning it on in moments of glory but too inconsistent to grind out league titles like some other, more prosaic clubs. In the league, our commitment to beautiful football turned out to be a liability more often than not. In the cups, on the other hand, it proved our salvation, and defined us to football fans in England and around the world more broadly as surely as our ethos, commitment to good football and (yes) inconsistency did.
Now, our defining traits have been stolen. Other teams have won cups with regularity, while Arsenal have won the most FA Cups. They have also taken the mantle of footballing purity that we once fiercely defended - we never gave up our ethos, but they adopted it too when their canny Frenchman came in and it stuck because they transitioned at the right time. Right when they hit a peak of success and the league's popularity exploded worldwide - thus, they solidified their unearned place as the entertainers of London, while we paddled along looking like the poor relation. We've lost our way somewhat in terms of our place in the mosaic that tells the story of English football - Arsenal took our place as the great entertainers, Chelsea, City and other upstarts overtook us in terms of prominence and success, and United left us in the dust as Sir Alex built an insurmountable dynasty.
All we had left for the longest time in terms of an identifier to football fans around the world was our inconsistency, our tendency to Spurs it up. That was what we kept with us. Now that we've finally got a good side, I want us to go back to winning trophies - to reclaim that identifier, and to rise again to the dominance of the cups that once defined us. As time passes and our grit and determination makes a mockery of the idea that we Spurs it up anymore, our status as an entertaining, free flowing side will return - all the more so if Arsenal enter a period of decline/revert to their hereditary DNA and become 1-0, long-ball merchants like they have been for 90% of their miserable existence. But what will banish that idea of Spurs-i-ness completely will be winning something - a cup, then more cups, then (if luck favours us) the league, because a winning mentality will by then have been acquired and we can aim for the biggest things.
Tbh, one of my fears about this idea that we need to constantly finish 4th for however many years to 'progress' to the point where we can skip the cups and focus on the title/CL is that we end up doing that and still finishing with nothing to show for it - we 'progress' but never win the league or CL (because those are endgames that we've rarely, if ever reached), and we end up trophyless for the period where we could have built some memories, our own history and a winning mentality by gunning for silverware with as much effort as we possibly can. You might say that's impossible, but Arsenal came damn close to doing that - they spent eight-odd years trophyless and have now finally won a couple of FA Cups, while the competitive advantage offered by the Emirates has largely dissipated in the face of a changing football world and the rise of their own rivals. It could happen to us, but worse.
Anyway, that's the practical argument for focusing on the cups. The sentimental argument is that this is what football is about - memories, moments, occasions, great triumphs and great disasters...great experiences in this strange, shimmering mosaic we call living. When we're older still, none of us will remember 'putting the pressure on', 'securing CL football ten years in a row', 'moving forward' or whatever. We'll remember great days, great games, great players..and great trophies.
Trophies build memories. They define years, even decades for clubs like ours. They punctuate our lives as supporters with moments of ecstasy and leave us with shared memories that we can all build bonds of understanding over. They epitomize this club, and our long, illustrious history. And they lighten up our lives in brief moments of pure brilliance. That's as good a reason as any to want us to win them wherever and whenever possible, and to acclaim those who win them with a fierce, unreasoning passion.
It's nice picking up silverware but it doesn't help the club continue to move forward. For the moment, pragmatism must win out, we need Champions League football.
See above.