How Big a Priority Should the Europa League Be for Tottenham Hotspur?
If Tottenham Hotspur have any competitive ambition about them, the Europa League will be a sizable priority heading into 2016. For 20 hopeful minutes last season, it certainly felt like where they were meant to be.
In the home leg of the round-of-32 against Fiorentina, they came out like men possessed. Intent on proving themselves a fine representative of the Premier League, and underlining the fine winter form which suggested they were a team on the rise.
Roberto Soldado fired them into a sixth-minute lead, and it seemed like only a matter of time until they scored again.
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Those enthrall to the Champions League behemoth may mockingly agree that Europe's second-tier competition is where Tottenham belong.
The failure to build on that lead against La Viola, ceding momentum that was cruelly and definitively turned against them in the second leg in Florence, did indeed show the north Londoners were some way from being ready for the big time.
Yet, had that opening salvo been followed up on, there was every chance Spurs would have progressed. An already crowded schedule would have been intensified, but the positives would have been an impressive Serie A scalp and the opportunity to earn further valuable experience.
Eight months on, and with two matches played in the 2015-16 group stage, this season's Europa League could be an even a more fitting showcase for the development being made by Mauricio Pochettino's young squad.
Prior to Thursday's match at Anderlecht—famously their losing opponents from the 1984 UEFA Cup final—Spurs have four points from two Group J games. A slow start at home to Qarabag was overcome to win 3-1. Then, at Monaco, Erik Lamela put them a goal up before they were pegged back late on.
At this point in the competition, progressing with minimal expenditure is understandably the preferred strategy. Like last season, they will want to head into their final game in the midst of a busy December schedule with qualification already secured.
"If we’re to continue in the group and go on to qualify we need a win," Christian Eriksen told Tottenham's official website ahead of the visit to Belgium. "We really want to win these games as quickly as possible so we can focus on the Premier League as well."
After mixing things up selection-wise for Qarabag, Pochettino fielded a stronger side to take on Monaco with this in mind (just three changes from their preceding league game, six in the former).
The move did not fully pay off, but a point from, probably, their toughest opponents' ground will be a decent one if they can win their next two against Anderlecht.
Qualifying for the knockout stages is not a given just because Spurs are a Premier League side. With Anderlecht and Monaco having been in the Champions League last season, this is, arguably, the trickiest group they have had in their Europa League/UEFA Cup experiences of the last decade.
Yet, should Spurs come out the other side of Christmas still in the tournament and in decent shape domestically, practical and aspirational concerns make pursuing advancement just about a must.
Practical in that, if they prove themselves a legitimate challenger, a run to the final offers a much-coveted Champions League spot. Not easy to get there, but nor is qualifying via their league's top four.
Speaking of which, there is the looming possibility of English failures in Europe forgoing one of said Champions League places to Serie A, per Sky Sports. Spurs need to make a solid contribution to their country's UEFA coefficients ranking (currently third) to help maintain the current qualification accessibility.
The Premier League could end up losing a place to Italy regardless. But Spurs will kick themselves if not taking their current situation seriously has a negative impact on their means to fulfill even grander ambitions.
Last season, Fiorentina, ultimately, deserved to progress at Tottenham's expense. As noted, things could have gone differently, but Pochettino's side were proved to be the inferior team.
It will be their ability to build on last season's fifth-place Premier League finish and more seriously challenge for the top four that mostly defines their development.
However, displaying a proper hunger to compete in the Europa League could engender the kind of confidence that helps them genuinely evolve.
They showed they were capable of hurting Fiorentina, a team who were only defeated in the semi-finals by eventual winners Sevilla. The next couple of months will truly tell, but there are hopeful indications Spurs are a better side than then.
Defending with the concentration they have currently would not have seen them ripped apart so simply by the Italians. They are still trying to see off opponents more consistently, but their best offensive work early in this campaign promises better could be yet to come.
Altogether, the squad is seemingly more in tune with the aggressive and confident style Pochettino wants them to play. The way they got their act together against Qarabag and, for a little while at least, took the game to Monaco, is evidence enough it can translate to Europe.
Tottenham need to try and apply it on a more regular basis. They have every reason to want—and need— to do so now.
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