Tottenham Won’t Shrink to Competition Against Millwall

By Ryan Wrenn | Mar 10, 2017

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 19: Mauricio Pochettino manager of Tottenham Hotspur salutes the crowd after The Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage on February 19, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images) /

There seems little doubt that Tottenham intend to treat this Sunday’s FA Cup match against Millwall at White Hart Lane like any other weekend fixture.

The FA Cup quarterfinal match comes in place of Tottenham’s pre-scheduled Premier League match against Crystal Palace, which means a full week of recovery awaits whomever starts Sunday.

Coming off two commanding victories against Stoke and Everton, Mauricio Pochettino is unlikely to want to pull off the throttle at this point. Just as in their 3-0 win over Fulham in the previous FA Cup round, the Argentine should name a strong side to see off their Championship opponents.

England’s domestic cup competitions tend to attract viewership as much for the quality of the match — say, for Monday’s clash between Chelsea and Manchester United — as the probability of a tremendous upset. Already this season Liverpool suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Championship side Wolves.

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Indeed, the last time Tottenham declined to take the competition seriously came in the same round Liverpool dropped out. Against League Two’s Wycombe Wanderers, a Spurs B-team fell behind before struggling to come back with a last second winner in a 4-3 thriller.

Getting to the competition’s quarterfinal also increases the chances of Tottenham acquiring its first silverware since their League Cup win in 2008. After dropping out of both the Champions League and Europa League — and with the Premier League title all but out of reach — Pochettino has every reason to take Sunday’s match very seriously.

That alone doesn’t guarantee success. Plenty of Premier League teams come into these matches with every intent on winning and find even lower league opponents to be troublesome.

The problem is that, compared to Stoke and Everton, Millwall have even less reason to think they could match Spurs on level terms.

After being relegated from the Championship two seasons ago, the Lions are only just beginning to reclaim some momentum. Club legend Neil Harris took over almost exactly two years ago and has since returned his side to winning ways. With plenty more to play this season, Millwall currently sit just six points outside of automatic promotion back into the Championship.

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Harris won’t take the same mentality to White Hart Lane as he does to League One matches. If he were smart, he would take a cue from Wycombe. They managed to almost beat Spurs outright with a combination of deep defending and quickly breaks.

Those tactics proved especially effective against a Tottenham side clearly too confident of victory. Pochettino’s main goal on Sunday, then, is to compel his side to take this match seriously regardless of the spots separating them and Millwall in English football.