The Mauricio Pochettino thread

[slartibartfast]

100%. goes one of two ways this summer:

‘fuck that was close, we need to invest heavily and refresh the squad, buy quality’

or

‘well we got top 4 and CL after a long summer, no home, loads of injuries. should be able to do even better with the same group next year amd none of that to contend with’

?

My money is on the latter.
Although that cant happen if Eriksen and Toby leave.

 

[HW61]

Through seemingly every obstacle Poch has practically sealed us a Champions League spot, helped with those closest to us screwing up big time. I sincerely hope Levy doesn’t show a repeat of completely shafting and hanging out to dry the best manager we’ve had in 2 generations. We will not be so fortunate next season.

Unfortunately Levy has too much form though. For all the links and ITK we receive over the coming months, I’ll try and stay strong knowing Levy just doesn’t do net spends.

 

[TEESSIDE1]

no but the energy levels have been effected, the injuries have happened

Lloris been out
Trippier been out
Jan been out
Rose been out
Dele been out
Dier been out
Eriksen been out
Kane been out
Son been away
Sanchez and Toby have needed rotating
Dembele was just Dembele

on top of that we have suffered. we have only had Dele, Eriksen, Son and Kane in the same team 10 times in 54 matches. if you don't think the WC had anything to do with it, then I can't change your views or understanding of the game.

you have to understand the stadium hasn't helped, playing in a subdued atmosphere, and even the rumours around Poch with RM and Man U. no preseason, no signings, you tell me 1 team that have suffered anything like that this season.

I agree the WC has certainly played a part but it’s just one of a number of reasons why we’ve suffered. As the ITK’s have alluded to our business model when it comes to recruitment and Poch’s stubbornness are predominately why we’ve found ourselves in this position. Other reasons including what you’ve mentioned are playing at Wembley, the contract rebels, Poch’s insistency to continue to play grossly out of form players (Trippier, Alli, Eriksen, Llorente), bringing back injured players too early, having no plan B/failure to act when even us the fans could predict the impending doom in games, piss poor tactics and bizarre team selections eg woeful selections (and subs) against City and West Ham. 2 years ago our defence was outstanding, last season it was still bloody good but this season it’s been poor and we’ve lost 13 games, that’s ridiculous for a top 4 team.

 

[Kilkenny Cat]

It just won’t. We’ve got out of jail this year. It won’t happen again.

This group, especially if weakened by departures, will not make the top 4 again.

It’s lacking variety, depth and quality in too many areas. There are too many injury prone players too.

Need fresh blood, fresh ideas and some pace and skill.

We are, barring the disaster of all disasters, back in the CL and definitely in our stadium.

Time to be bold

The first paragraph here is exactly what I was saying to a friend of mine a couple of hours ago. We got out of jail (and let's face it, we deserved a feckin' break after all the things that went against us this season) - but it won't happen a second time.

Twelve months ago it was clear - to me anyway - that the first phase of the Pochettino era had ended and that we needed to reboot. We'd taken half a step back on the admittedly superb form of 2016/17 and needed an injection of new blood and enthusiasm and a couple of fresh faces.

It didn't happen. The summer of 2018 was wasted. As someone said above, Grealish would have been an ideal signing and we'd have wrapped CL qualification up long ago with him there understudying, and perhaps complementing, Eriksen.

This time around we're in the process of staggering over the finishing line, simply because the clubs around us have even bigger issues than we have.

But... We have the new stadium and we have Pochettino, and hopefully Kane will be fully fit for next season (and if we don't insist Alli withdraws from the England squad for that competition next month we'll be in dereliction of duty). And these are all big pluses.

We now have a window (ha!) of opportunity to address our many squad weaknesses. Shrink from taking the chance and we'll atrophy, and in the modern PL stagnation means going backwards.

Time to be bold indeed.

 

[RichieS]

I agree the WC has certainly played a part but it’s just one of a number of reasons why we’ve suffered. As the ITK’s have alluded to our business model when it comes to recruitment and Poch’s stubbornness are predominately why we’ve found ourselves in this position. Other reasons including what you’ve mentioned are playing at Wembley, the contract rebels, Poch’s insistency to continue to play grossly out of form players (Trippier, Alli, Eriksen, Llorente), bringing back injured players too early, having no plan B/failure to act when even us the fans could predict the impending doom in games, piss poor tactics and bizarre team selections eg woeful selections (and subs) against City and West Ham. 2 years ago our defence was outstanding, last season it was still bloody good but this season it’s been poor and we’ve lost 13 games, that’s ridiculous for a top 4 team.

This is the only significant thing Poche deserves criticism for this season imo. While the defence was weakened by the fact that all of our DMs have been injured at some point he, for reasons best known to himself, has constantly tinkered with the personnel and system in defence. Most "proper football man" clichés are complete guff, but the one about needing consistency in defence is absolutely not, especially GK and CBs. Lloris, Vertonghen and Alderweireld should have played every league and CL game they were available for in our tried and tested 4231.

The losses thing is a bit of a red herring when placed alongside the fact that we've also won the third most games in the league. Taken together those two stats could be seen as cause for optimism for next year - there's no way we're going to be throwing away leads like we have at times this season (something that can be directly attributed to the fatigue that you've previously discussed).

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Couldn't be more wrong.

Spot on trix, I wish more fans also understood the huge amount of good that Donna Daniel etc are doing and how they’re generally aligned with poch on transfers etc and we are doing the best we can. this summer should be good and next season should be a cracker

 

[rossdapep]

It's been the most bizarre season. We haven't performed as well as we have the last 3 seasons but are now as good as guaranteed top 4 and got the CL semi final.

It has been a difficult season:

More players than any other club in the WC latter stages
Huge unrest with the opening of the stadium dragging on and on
A lot of injuries
No new signings

Not one of the above factors are the sole reason for our lack of performance on the pitch but all did play a part. I believe only a fool would dismiss this.

Poch has done a great job in his time here. He now has a new challenge. We are going to have to sell some players and he either needs to buy the right players or start bringing through the youth. We can't survive on the same usage of the squad again.

On a positive note, to say how poor we've been recently and how Arsenal and United have completely been unable to take advantage of it gives me great hope going forward. It shows how much of a gap there is as if we'd have been fresh we'd surely be closer to City and Liverpool than the chasing pack (not saying we'd be winning the title or accumulating 90+ points). I have always thought we are the 3rd best team in the league just many factors have pushed us down.

If we really get things right this summer then there's a chance we can maintain or increase that gap and look forward again not back.

Make no mistake though that this has been a huge warning.

 

[rossdapep]

This is the only significant thing Poche deserves criticism for this season imo. While the defence was weakened by the fact that all of our DMs have been injured at some point he, for reasons best known to himself, has constantly tinkered with the personnel and system in defence. Most "proper football man" clichés are complete guff, but the one about needing consistency in defence is absolutely not, especially GK and CBs. Lloris, Vertonghen and Alderweireld should have played every league and CL game they were available for in our tried and tested 4231.

The losses thing is a bit of a red herring when placed alongside the fact that we've also won the third most games in the league. Taken together those two stats could be seen as cause for optimism for next year - there's no way we're going to be throwing away leads like we have at times this season (something that can be directly attributed to the fatigue that you've previously discussed).

You're absolutely right about this and you shouldn't tinker with the backline. I do wonder though, has he been doing it because he believes Toby is off and he is trying to ensure Sanchez and Foyth are given ample game time so that they are ready for next season?

 

[dontcallme]

On a positive note, to say how poor we've been recently and how Arsenal and United have completely been unable to take advantage of it gives me great hope going forward. It shows how much of a gap there is as if we'd have been fresh we'd surely be closer to City and Liverpool than the chasing pack (not saying we'd be winning the title or accumulating 90+ points). I have always thought we are the 3rd best team in the league just many factors have pushed us down.

If we really get things right this summer then there's a chance we can maintain or increase that gap and look forward again not back.

Make no mistake though that this has been a huge warning.

Absolutely, we have had a tough season but don't feel the level of overhaul some are suggesting is required.

Arsenal and Utd are in a bit of a mess though. They have underperforming players on high wages making it harder to sell. Both sets of fans have reservations over their manager.

They both talk about patience but in action are demanding immediate success.

Like you say, a good summer and we'll be 3rd best in the country.

 

[walworthyid]

Through seemingly every obstacle Poch has practically sealed us a Champions League spot, helped with those closest to us screwing up big time. I sincerely hope Levy doesn’t show a repeat of completely shafting and hanging out to dry the best manager we’ve had in 2 generations. We will not be so fortunate next season.

Unfortunately Levy has too much form though. For all the links and ITK we receive over the coming months, I’ll try and stay strong knowing Levy just doesn’t do net spends.

I know it's a well trodden argument but I just dont get this line of thought at all.

We have done something that no other club, not a single club, in modern football has done. We have become one of Europe's top clubs without spending any money. While at the same time building the worlds best stadium and training complex. We also have one of the best managers in world football and are one win away from a cl final. Oh, and we have all but qualified for the champions league, AGAIN, despite no preseason, more injuries than the battle of the somme and world cup fatigue for half of our squad.

Levt has transformed this club from top to bottom. I have been a fan since 81 and this is the best shape we have been in as a club during that time.

If that is "hanging a manager out to dry", well, I for one hope he continues doing what is best for the long term security and success of our club. If that means being financially pragmatic, that is fine by me.

Finally, people have been saying we wont be so lucky next season for the last 3 seasons, yet here we are. Arsenal are a joke who need more player investment than we do. The same goes for utd who have got average players on huge wages and again need a big overhaul. Chelsea are Chelsea. I think we will buy players this year, not least because we are in a position to do so and also because we will sell a few.

There has not been a better time to be a spurs fan in more than a generation. Remember Ridsdale at Leeds?

 

[RichieS]

I know it's a well trodden argument but I just dont get this line of thought at all.

We have done something that no other club, not a single club, in modern football has done. We have become one of Europe's top clubs without spending any money. While at the same time building the worlds best stadium and training complex. We also have one of the best managers in world football and are one win away from a cl final. Oh, and we have all but qualified for the champions league, AGAIN, despite no preseason, more injuries than the battle of the somme and world cup fatigue for half of our squad.

Levt has transformed this club from top to bottom. I have been a fan since 81 and this is the best shape we have been in as a club during that time.

If that is "hanging a manager out to dry", well, I for one hope he continues doing what is best for the long term security and success of our club. If that means being financially pragmatic, that is fine by me.

Finally, people have been saying we wont be so lucky next season for the last 3 seasons, yet here we are. Arsenal are a joke who need more player investment than we do. The same goes for utd who have got average players on huge wages and again need a big overhaul. Chelsea are Chelsea. I think we will buy players this year, not least because we are in a position to do so and also because we will sell a few.

There has not been a better time to be a spurs fan in more than a generation. Remember Ridsdale at Leeds?

You were doing so well until your final sentence. I'm completely in agreement with you but "doing a Leeds" is not the only alternative to the way Levy runs Spurs. I don't think he will change his MO but he doesn't need to because he's developed the financial side of the club so fantastically well that spending within our means is now in a different universe to what it was previously (even with stadium debt).

 

[stormfly]

I know it's a well trodden argument but I just dont get this line of thought at all.

We have done something that no other club, not a single club, in modern football has done. We have become one of Europe's top clubs without spending any money. While at the same time building the worlds best stadium and training complex. We also have one of the best managers in world football and are one win away from a cl final. Oh, and we have all but qualified for the champions league, AGAIN, despite no preseason, more injuries than the battle of the somme and world cup fatigue for half of our squad.

Levt has transformed this club from top to bottom. I have been a fan since 81 and this is the best shape we have been in as a club during that time.

If that is "hanging a manager out to dry", well, I for one hope he continues doing what is best for the long term security and success of our club. If that means being financially pragmatic, that is fine by me.

Finally, people have been saying we wont be so lucky next season for the last 3 seasons, yet here we are. Arsenal are a joke who need more player investment than we do. The same goes for utd who have got average players on huge wages and again need a big overhaul. Chelsea are Chelsea. I think we will buy players this year, not least because we are in a position to do so and also because we will sell a few.

There has not been a better time to be a spurs fan in more than a generation. Remember Ridsdale at Leeds?

I’ve said it on other posts but my son is 10 and followed us for just over a year. He’s seen us play a home game at a packed Wembley stadium (breaking the attendance record twice) then move to a brand new stadium. He’s seen Spurs beat all of the top 5, beat Real Madrid, draw at Barca, beat Inter and Dortmund and now sees us one game away from a CL final. He doesn’t understand why I’m so pessimistic about our chances. Is it weird to be jealous of your son? Haha.

 

[walworthyid]

I’ve said it on other posts but my son is 10 and followed us for just over a year. He’s seen us play a home game at a packed Wembley stadium (breaking the attendance record twice) then move to a brand new stadium. He’s seen Spurs beat all of the top 5, beat Real Madrid, draw at Barca, beat Inter and Dortmund and now sees us one game away from a CL final. He doesn’t understand why I’m so pessimistic about our chances. Is it weird to be jealous of your son? Haha.

Exactly. I was with my son at Wembley when we broke it the first time!

It's a great time for our club.

 

[Timberwolf]

I know it's a well trodden argument but I just dont get this line of thought at all.

We have done something that no other club, not a single club, in modern football has done. We have become one of Europe's top clubs without spending any money. While at the same time building the worlds best stadium and training complex. We also have one of the best managers in world football and are one win away from a cl final. Oh, and we have all but qualified for the champions league, AGAIN, despite no preseason, more injuries than the battle of the somme and world cup fatigue for half of our squad.

Levt has transformed this club from top to bottom. I have been a fan since 81 and this is the best shape we have been in as a club during that time.

If that is "hanging a manager out to dry", well, I for one hope he continues doing what is best for the long term security and success of our club. If that means being financially pragmatic, that is fine by me.

Finally, people have been saying we wont be so lucky next season for the last 3 seasons, yet here we are. Arsenal are a joke who need more player investment than we do. The same goes for utd who have got average players on huge wages and again need a big overhaul. Chelsea are Chelsea. I think we will buy players this year, not least because we are in a position to do so and also because we will sell a few.

There has not been a better time to be a spurs fan in more than a generation. Remember Ridsdale at Leeds?

Great post and I agree with everything you say, but we equally we can't afford to rest on our laurels. In many respects we got away with one this season - if Poch hadn't worked a miracle on Sissoko or Winks' injury issues had kicked in earlier, we would've been utterly fucked. We very nearly ended up having to start an untested 18 year old in CM for a big chunk of the season. For a team with our aspirations that's insane. We haven't signed a central midfielder since Wanyama almost 3 years ago and I think the last non defensive CM we signed was in 2014!

There's a fine line between being pragmatic and negligent and Levy is walking it very closely. The man's clearly a business genius and is a legitimate club legend for what he's done with the stadium and where he's got us, but if he genuinely thinks we can continue to challenge for top 4 without some serious investment then he risks losing Poch and a lot of our best players, which will cost us a hell of a lot more in the long run.

 

[walworthyid]

You were doing so well until your final sentence. I'm completely in agreement with you but "doing a Leeds" is not the only alternative to the way Levy runs Spurs. I don't think he will change his MO but he doesn't need to because he's developed the financial side of the club so fantastically well that spending within our means is now in a different universe to what it was previously (even with stadium debt).

I agree. But, you cant really do half measures either. I also think that, as many have said, it is difficult for us to get players. We need players that fit our philosophy, are not on huge wages, are at clubs who are willing to sell, are not wanted by the bigger clubs, are young enough to justify the outlay, are better than what we have. It's not impossible but it is very difficult.

I think the last 2 windows have seen us fail to find those players in the positions that we need. It could happen again, I dont think that it will, but it could. We are in a position now where we are much more attractive to young players and we also have more money to spend.

For me, we need a right back, a holding mid who can use the ball well, a left sided attacking player and a striker. If we were to get those we could challenge for the league. I think we will address all of those this summer.

 

[RichieS]

Great post and I agree with everything you say, but we equally we can't afford to rest on our laurels. In many respects we got away with one this season - if Poch hadn't worked a miracle on Sissoko or Winks' injury issues had kicked in earlier, we would've been utterly fucked. We very nearly ended up having to start an untested 18 year old in CM for a big chunk of the season. For a team with our aspirations that's insane. We haven't signed a central midfielder since Wanyama almost 3 years ago and I think the last non defensive CM we signed was in 2014!

There's a fine line between being pragmatic and negligent and Levy is walking it very closely. The man's clearly a business genius and is a legitimate club legend for what he's done with the stadium and where he's got us, but if he genuinely thinks we can continue to challenge for top 4 without some serious investment then he risks losing Poch and a lot of our best players, which will cost us a hell of a lot more in the long run.

To believe that he genuinely thinks this is to believe that he's an idiot.

Some people (not you I hasten to add) have got it into their heads that the last two transfer windows are normal for us when in fact they are massive anomalies. Under Levy we have generally made huge numbers of transfers, to the point where a long-time poster on here (I think it was @Rocksuperstar) once described us as "Tottenham Hotspur player exchange" (this was around the time of Stambouli's brief stay with us). It's so obvious that the money that might have been used for transfers over the last year was retained due to the stadium issues and now everything's sorted we'll be back to business as usual (with rather more money to play with thanks to the recent massive increases in revenue).

 

[Flashspur]

I think the WC affected players through fatigue and making them susceptible to injuries. Yes we had 12 players involved. However that doesn’t remove the fact that we should have brought in players to boost the squad knowing full well that in CM Dier had been at the WC and that Wanyama and Dembele were crocked.

The decision not to bring in cover over two TW’s in my mind was negligent as well as plain stupid.

 

[Monkey boy]

Great post and I agree with everything you say, but we equally we can't afford to rest on our laurels. In many respects we got away with one this season - if Poch hadn't worked a miracle on Sissoko or Winks' injury issues had kicked in earlier, we would've been utterly fucked. We very nearly ended up having to start an untested 18 year old in CM for a big chunk of the season. For a team with our aspirations that's insane. We haven't signed a central midfielder since Wanyama almost 3 years ago and I think the last non defensive CM we signed was in 2014!

There's a fine line between being pragmatic and negligent and Levy is walking it very closely. The man's clearly a business genius and is a legitimate club legend for what he's done with the stadium and where he's got us, but if he genuinely thinks we can continue to challenge for top 4 without some serious investment then he risks losing Poch and a lot of our best players, which will cost us a hell of a lot more in the long run.

I hope I speak for everyone here when I say, fuck challenging for the top 4 next season. We should be going all out to win the league.

 

[Krule]

I’ve said it on other posts but my son is 10 and followed us for just over a year. He’s seen us play a home game at a packed Wembley stadium (breaking the attendance record twice) then move to a brand new stadium. He’s seen Spurs beat all of the top 5, beat Real Madrid, draw at Barca, beat Inter and Dortmund and now sees us one game away from a CL final. He doesn’t understand why I’m so pessimistic about our chances. Is it weird to be jealous of your son? Haha.

The innocence of youth....let's hope his dreams continue on Wednesday.

 

[allatsea]

Saw it mate is that the reason for the collapse then.

It is part of the problem.