Arsenal won the FA Cup again this afternoon and the consequences for that victory will now impact Spurs own European ambitions. Because of the way the Europa League tournament is structured, Tottenham suddenly have to enter the Europa League at the second round qualifying stage which commences on September 17th.
But the real joy is that we will now have to win three one-off games in order to get to the group stage of the competition. Keen eyed observers will be aware that the Premier League starts on September 12th. These additional games within just days of the new season getting underway will be enough to place unwelcome pressure upon any squad failing to have the sufficient strength and depth to it.
Spurs are infamous for getting deals done late in transfer windows, but surely the threat of losing out on European football’s prize money will hurry Daniel Levy along a little this time around? That remains to be seen. The odds of fans coming back to English stadiums in any meaningful numbers before Christmas, are far from certain, and Jose Mourinho might well prefer to concentrate on domestic competitions, while he continues his salvage work.