It’s the ultimate catch-22 question for ambitious club owners and coaches. How do you fund an expensive new stadium while at the same time build a competitive title-contending team?
One way of lessening the blow is to generate as much revenue as possible from Champions League progress – if you happen to be part of UEFA’s premier club competition, that is.
Which is why fans of Tottenham Hotspur, including this writer, are scratching their heads over the short-sighted judgement taken earlier this week by the club’s manager, Mauricio Pochettino, not to field his strongest team for what was effectively a must-win group fixture against high-flying Monaco.
The reasoning appeared to be that Pochettino, already without his best defender in the injured Toby Alderweireld ahead of a seriously dangerous fixture at Chelsea tomorrow on a ground where Tottenham regularly come unstuck – most notoriously during last season’s ultimately unsuccessful bid for the title – didn’t want to risk Alderweireld’s Belgian defensive partner Jan Vertonghen from getting injured too. Especially since the versatile Vertonghen can play at left back where Spurs will have no specialist cover available due to injury and suspension for the clash with the Premier League leaders.
The result of that thinking, as they say, is history. Without Vertonghen (as well, incidentally, as England fullback Kyle Walker who was also on the bench), Tottenham’s defence was hopelessly exposed by Monaco who sent the Londoners crashing out of the Champions League – which they had fought so hard to be a part of – with a game to spare.
Tottenham may justifiably feel they once again have top-four aspirations (or even title aspirations though that is perhaps less likely this time) but the Chelsea game is one of 38 Premier League fixtures spread across an entire season. To prioritise that over Monaco was flawed in the extreme. As gambles go, it backfired spectacularly. Spurs are out of the Champions League with the resultant financial repercussions: tough to take for a club that had been playing its European home games in front of 85,000 fans at Wembley Stadium while their own ground is being redeveloped.
Spurs will quite likely continue playing at Wembley but it is doubtful whether they would attract similar crowds for Europa League ties against unglamorous opposition. That is, if they even opt to give the Europa League, to which they will be demoted dependent on the outcome of their last series of Champions League group games, any kind of importance.
It’s a tough dilemma. Do the club go all out to win it in the knowledge that doing so will lead to Champions League qualification next season, or will they consider it too great a demand on resources and prefer to be out of Europe completely? After all, it’s one thing having to juggle an already stretched squad for the Champions League, quite another for Europe’s lesser club competition.
Pochettino is one of the smartest managers not only in Britain but across Europe. He has transformed the fortunes of the north London club who are now vying with the usual suspects for major honours. If and when he leaves, Spurs could end up scouting the world to find someone as astute and measured. Or, for that matter, a manager who gives young players a chance to break through – a rare commodity in English football. His players, by all accounts, love playing for him.
But he, too, can make mistakes. What happened earlier this week in terms of Pochettino’s team selection – arguably his Achilles heel – was hugely unfortunate in terms of the “project” he is so keen to develop. There is little doubt Tottenham’s new stadium plans will reduce their power in the transfer market. Twas ever thus. Spurs intend to move into their new 61,000-seat ground at the start of the 2018-19 season. The cost of the stadium itself is estimated at about £450 million, but overall is expected to be closer to £750 million.
All the more reason to have taken full advantage of Champions League participation while they were still in contention in order to pull in the income and build for the future. “All of our efforts (will be) aimed at reducing the financial distance,” Pochettino was reported as telling a Spanish publication.
Spurs may be four points off the top of the Premier League going into the highly anticipated showdown across the capital. But even if they lose to Chelsea, they still have 25 matches to close the gap. Defeat to Monaco, conversely, meant instant Champions League elimination. A crucial opportunity to see the bigger picture has quite possibly been lost.
Andrew Warshaw is chief correspondent of Insideworldfootball and was formerly Sports Editor of the European. Contact him at moc.l1713987447labto1713987447ofdlr1713987447owedi1713987447sni@w1713987447ahsra1713987447w.wer1713987447dna1713987447