Written by Richard Perry for FootballFancast.com: With Tottenham Hotspur set to play in next season’s Europa League, there has been much talk around White Hart Lane as to how well the opportunity to play European football will be received.
Manager Harry Redknapp is well known in his criticism of the ‘unwelcome distraction’ of Europe’s second tier competition. By having to play up to seventeen fixtures on a Thursday night, many Premiership fixtures would be rescheduled for Sundays which Redknapp feels hinders a stable domestic run. And, with a disappointing finish to this year’s Premiership possibly at the expense of a strong Champions League performance, Redknapp see’s a top four finish as next season’s priority.
Perhaps this is why it seems Tottenham are set to field their younger squad players in order to protect the first XI. First team coach Tim Sherwood has confirmed it is a good opportunity for squad players to step up and gain some experience in the same way Liverpool did or Arsenal regularly do in the Carling Cup. But, with the increasing cost of following a team all over Europe, surely Spurs owe more to the committed fans invest great sums in supporting their club?
Whilst it is at a step down from the Champions League, the Europa League still represents the chance to win a major European trophy and would bring more money into the club. Likewise, it could be used as a valuable marketing tool in attracting players to the club. Rafael van der Vaart himself stated earlier this week how is looking forward to playing regularly in Europe whatever the competition, and surely this sentiment would be shared by potential signings.
But more importantly, in professional football both clubs and players play to win and should look to triumph in every competition they enter. With Blackpool already fined £25,000 for fielding a weakened side in the Premiership this season, perhaps UEFA should consider similar action.
Tottenham have underperformed in the Premiership this year and priority next season must be breaking into the top four again. But whilst clubs are faced with increasingly busy and demanding fixture schedules it should be up to managers to build squads capable of dealing with this. If fans wanted to see a second-string XI they could watch reserve fixtures at a fraction of the cost. But thousands of fans will undoubtedly spend vast sums following Spurs across Europe and surely deserve better.
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No i think they should play full youth teams in the BPL
The fact is our younger player need to play games and this gives them great chance playing real games. With the games being on thursday is throws players with training and we need to focus on the league next year. If we get into the CL I dont see anyone complaining.