Jermaine Jenas: We've got to get to the bottom of crazy problem

This campaign, we've dropped points against Blackpool, West Ham, Wolves, Wigan and Birmingham. It's crazy, something we just can't put our fingers on.

If you look at Manchester United, for years they've been in a position where the lesser teams go to Old Trafford and they really are up for the game.

It's their top match of the season and they turn in good performances - but United find ways to prevail and it keeps them in the position they're in.

We've come up against something similar this year. Teams playing against us have thought: 'They're in the Champions League: we want to go and turn them over.' They see us playing in big games in Milan and Madrid and when we come back, they think maybe they can get after us.

So many teams have raised their game when they've come to White Hart Lane this year.

It's the first time in recent years Tottenham have had to contend with this but we need to sort it out, starting against Blackpool tomorrow. If we can't finish fourth, our aim will be to beat Liverpool to that fifth place, which would see us qualify for the Europa League. I've played in that competition for both Newcastle and Spurs and while it's a prestigious trophy every player would love to win, everyone knows it's all about the Champions League.

For some reason, playing in the Europa League feels a lot more draining. There's a play-off round, a league phase and then the knock-out rounds - it's all over the place and you play a lot of games before it gets really interesting.

You don't often go to venues like the San Siro or the Bernabeu in the Europa League. You have to win games in tough places.

In the Europa League, you play on a Thursday, and then on the Sunday in the Premier League, which can sometimes put you at a disadvantage. Maybe the team closest to you in the table have won on the Saturday and you always have to respond.

Of course, it's always good for a club like Spurs to have European football but this competition makes the season very hard.

We finished fourth last year and there's no doubt that not being involved in European competition helped us achieve it. If I were a manager, I'd probably hope to have a season like last year, when we could just concentrate on domestic football and qualifying for the Champions League.

But don't get me wrong. If we can't finish fourth, we're desperate to get fifth. We have to start doing things now that we can take into next season, such as winning games against teams lower in the League and getting three points at Anfield.

Tottenham haven't won there since August 1993, so if we could go and do it when we play Liverpool on May 15, it would be a great way for us to break down one of the barriers that has been up for so long.