TOTTENHAM BOSS
Tottenham Hotspur will consider abandoning Wembley Stadium
should they drop to the Europa League, with players eager to return to White
Hart Lane.
Spurs cannot reach the knockout phase of the Champions
League after Tuesday's 2-1 defeat in Monaco but one game remains in Group E.
Mauricio Pochettino's side will face CSKA Moscow on Wednesday
week, at Wembley, the hired home where they have lost both games, to Monaco and
Bayer Leverkusen.
Avoid defeat against CSKA and Tottenham will finish third in
the group and go into the Europa League at the last-32 stage, which starts in
February.
They can continue the European ties at Wembley but there is
nothing in the contract with the Football Association forcing them to stay once
the Champions League games are over.
Ultimately, the choice will rest with Spurs but there will
be no discussions until after the CSKA tie because if the Russians win they
will take the Europa League place.
Tottenham's players are in no doubt where they would rather
be. 'It would be good for us to play at home,' said Moussa Sissoko. 'By home I
mean White Hart Lane. We know the stadium and it would be better for us.'
Having returned to the Champions League for the first time
in six years, Spurs adopted Wembley for the competition because capacity,
access and delivery space for the broadcasting rights holders was limited at
White Hart Lane by the ongoing construction of the new stadium.
They sold more than 85,000 tickets for the two Wembley
fixtures and twice set a new English club record for a home attendance but
Pochettino's team did not settle and failed to manage even a draw.
When Arsenal borrowed Wembley for two Champions League
campaigns in the late Nineties they too were unable to make it out of the group
on either occasion.
With fewer broadcasters at Europa League games and less
demand for tickets, Spurs can move back to White Hart Lane, where the capacity
is currently reduced to 32,000.
UEFA have confirmed that they will be happy to consider any
such request. Spurs, however, may decide it is better to stay at Wembley and
overcome the hoodoo.
They are committed to a temporary move away from the Lane at
the end of this season in order to enable the existing stadium to be demolished
to make way for the new one to be completed.
An agreement with Wembley is in place for all 'home' games
in the 2017-18 season, although it is only an option. No contracts have been
signed.
Tottenham intend to have their new 60,000-capacity stadium
ready for the 2018-19 season but they have prioritised the Premier League this
season, aware of the importance of finishing in the top four again and building
their status as a Champions League club.
This is only the third time in their history that they have
entered Europe's top club competition and the quick and feeble demise has been
disappointing.
Captain Hugo Lloris believes they have lacked an inner belief
in the competition. He said: 'We are struggling to handle the level and the
demands of the Champions League and we realise we are inferior to teams such as
Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen. I was hoping for a lot more.
'We have a status but it is not enough. We have to show it
on the pitch but from the start is has been difficult to live up to this
status, whether at Wembley or on the road.
'Against Monaco we were often beaten in one-on-ones, in
aggression and in runs and sprints. We made too many technical mistakes. We
never had the feeling we could win.'
Pochettino must shoulder some of the blame. He rested Jan
Vertonghen and Kyle Walker in Monaco with Saturday's derby at Chelsea in mind
and then spoke of the need to sign more top-quality players to compete
successfully in the future in both the Premier League and the Champions
League.
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