Basel: The Journey Continues

At the start of the season, I had the attitude to the Europa League that everyone shared: it's a distraction from our league objective. More games to play. More chance of injury. Travelling. It didn't seem worthwhile. Well, it certainly didn't seem worthwhile when Redknapp was playing second teams in the group stages.

Thankfully, AVB does not share my former attitude. He values the competition for what it really is: a European competition. A good run would boost morale and a trophy would leave the fans elated. He won the competition with Porto, along with the unbeaten league title. Therefore, he has approached the competition with the  respect it deserves but not always gains.

Attitude

Whether or not the players value the competition is a different kettle of fish. We have not one away in the competition this year, with draws against Panathinaikos, Maribor, Lazio and Lyon and a horrific 4-1 loss against Inter Milan at the San Siro. Thankfully, that has been our only loss in Europe this season.

What is clear, though, is that it's time for the players to step up their attitude. All 7 of the other teams have to have been good to get to this position, and we are fully aware of the likes of Lazio and Chelsea. We have been VERY LUCKY to even get this far, despite the quality in our squad. Late goals have got us past Lyon and Inter. Late goals will not be good enough again.

Home Fortress

The late away goal at Inter. I hope to God we don't need this again

Our home performances, however, have been very positive. With 4 wins out of 5 at home, we should be very happy with that side of the competition, notably thrashing Inter at the Lane last month (that was probably one of our best performances all season). On paper, therefore, we should look at Basel and think we should try to settle the tie in one leg, not two.

That's never the case though.

All we needed is one away goal at the San Siro to finish Inter off. It took a fortunate Ade tap-in in extra time to win us the tie. In contrast to the game a week before, that was the worst performance of the season.

Basel, NOT BASLE

Marco Streller, carrying the team.

Basel sit on top of the Swiss league table, only losing 3 games all season and none at home. Their top scorer in the Europa League has been their prolific captain 31-year-old Marco Streller, who averages almost a goal every two games for Basel. They have only lost one in their last six.

However, I don't like saying it but someone has to: they are only Basel. I'm sorry. I had to say it. Apart from Alexander Frei and Streller, there are no stand out names on team list. Even Frei is on his way out of football, after saying he'll leave Basel at the end of the season.

What should be noted is that they did knock out Man United last year in the group stages of the Champions League, with strong performances in the competition last year. However, that was with their star talisman Xherdan Shaqiri, who is now making his trade at Bayern Munich.

After knocking out big-money Zenit in the last 16, I think they are feeling as fortunate as us to be in this position.

The Journey Continues

The Europa League has turned out to be an important competition and  an outlet for us this season, a break from the stress of the Premier League. At Spurs, we have a little motto, words spoken by Danny Blanchflower years ago: the game is about glory. And guys, what is more glorious than European silverware?

The journey continues. I'll be at the Lane on Thursday and whether you are there with me or watching the tele, I am sure you'll be cheering us on. COYS!