Tottenham Should Forego the Europa League Now
Tottenham’s run in this year’s Europa League has been a good one, but it’s time to move on to bigger things. Namely, the Premiership.
Now is the time for Tottenham to reconsider their plans for tomorrow’s game against Borussia Dortmund, because an in-form Bournemouth will be coming up just three days after.
It would be great to see Tottenham get their revenge and pull out a miracle of a comeback after suffering their biggest defeat this season. A 3-0 loss last Thursday, but at the same time, it could actually be a waste of energy when something more important is on the horizon. And that is the Premier League.
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In a way, this means that Mauricio Pochettino should just throw in the towel and call it quits. And rightfully so. Because the fact that Spurs had the unfortunate — although entertaining — draw of Borussia Dortmund for two legs in the round of 16.
This meant that Tottenham would be pitted up against the best team in the Europa League, who could potentially win it all. And facing a club who is actually a Champions League caliber team playing in the continent’s second best club competition isn’t easy.
From the very beginning, Pochettino’s side would be overmatched.
It didn’t help with this draw against BVB. But it was actually worse from the get-go when Tottenham had a easy group stage of Qarabağ, Monaco and Anderlecht.
Now, Monaco was a Champions League team last season, Anderlecht is a respectable Belgian club and Qarabag is a long round-trip flight. So there were some obstacles that had to be beaten but it wasn’t difficult.
Seeing as how Tottenham only lost once and that coincided with Harry Kane not starting the game but coming on as a substitute with 30 minutes remaining.
Oh, and basically not doing much to maintain an early 1-0 lead four minutes into the match against Anderlecht on the road and conceding right away. Then once more with 15 minutes left to go.
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But looking beyond the Europa League, there’s another good reason to focus solely on the Premier League.
It starts with points dropped in the first month of the season, a winless four games. But let’s say that’s a pass because every single team is just getting started and aren’t in form yet.
Well, okay then, so how about Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea? All three games were draws. In fact, Arsenal — both games mind you, was supposed to be a win but they ended up being draws.
Instead of six points, Tottenham got two.
How about West Brom? A 1-1 draw. This should’ve been a win too after scoring an early goal in the 15th minute and then not doing much with the early momentum.
Or, another Everton draw, a Leicester loss, a Newcastle loss and a West Ham loss.
Basically, the point is this, Tottenham have already dropped more than five points. Meaning Spurs should have been in first place and well ahead of Leicester City and the odds-on-favorite to win it all instead of playing catch up since around October or November.
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It’s been talked about from time to time that Tottenham’s next game is the most important. Well in this instance, Dortmund isn’t important — unless Spurs can somehow win 4-3 without going to extra time.
The one game that Mauricio Pochettino needs to worry about right now is Bournemouth who have managed to climb all the way up to 13th in the league and are only five points away from getting into the top 10.
The Cherries should not be overlooked. If they are, then Tottenham will have to settle for second place once the season is over.