ItsBoris
Well-Known Member
- Jan 18, 2011
- 7,970
- 9,414
This is a question I was thinking about in the lead up to his appointment, especially with many people making the argument that he hasn't won enough or done well enough at Southampton or Espanyol to be eligible to become our new head coach. So I'm wondering what people who were against or in favor of the appointment really expect might happen now that he is our manager.
I think there are a few things that you would really look for in a manager, off the top of my head:
1.) Coaching ability - capacity to improve players and to get the team playing in an attractive, attacking style that scores goals.
2.) Tactical ability - able to make decisions prior to and during a game that allow us to tactically outmaneuver the opponents.
3.) Man management - ability to create harmony in the squad and instill confidence in the players.
There may be more to it than that, but from what I've seen the best managers excel in these three categories.
Looking at our last 3 managers, I would say that Sherwood was probably specifically lacking in the 2nd and 3rd areas. I think he may have actually been decent as a coach, because our attacking football at least improved under him, but imo he didn't manage the squad well and he didn't make smart decisions in terms of team selections or formations. Harry I think was probably very good at #3, but probably lacking in the coaching and tactics departments. AVB I think failed mostly in the first area, and was decent in the other two but didn't excel in any of them tbh.
So in this sense, how has Pochettino proven himself so far? Watching the football that Southampton have played, and watching their training sessions at times, I think Pochettino has proven himself to be a very good coach. He has shown, imo, that he can turn good players into very good players, and get them to perform in a team playing fluid attacking football. I would expect him to emulate that here. I think he has also shown himself to be pretty good in the man management category, as many of the Southampton players credit him with their improvement and confidence. This in a way actually relates to the coaching side of it, because teams that play good attacking football, imo, gain more confidence in their own abilities.
The question mark area with Pochettino is probably #2 - his tactical ability. There was a somewhat troubling stat that was something like Southampton never recovered from losing positions under him. So, at the very least, he is unproven tactically. If there is a reason to doubt him, I'm guessing that would probably be it.
But if we can expect a manager who will get our already talented squad playing fluid, attacking football, managing them harmoniously and instilling confidence in players, wouldn't that be worth sacrificing the tactical ability side of it for? There are very few managers in the world who excel at all three, but I would say that hiring one who excels at 2 and is unproven at 1 is about as good as we are going to get.
So that makes me think that a lot can go right with this appointment - we can play excellent football, we can see our players improving and gaining confidence, we can get young players moving into the first team, etc. And what can go wrong is that we may drop points at times because of tactical mistakes, but that is certainly an acceptable price to pay.
Liverpool and Everton (and Manchester City actually too) recently went down the same route of appointing managers who had proven themselves as coaches/motivators but not as tacticians, and it paid off for both clubs. Man United have appointed a manager who is an excellent coach and tactician, but probably not the best at motivating players, and we will see how that works for them.
That's what makes me feel positively about the appointment, I think there is a lot of potential upside, and I think for the first time in a while we can actually expect our team to play really good football, while to me there doesn't seem to be much that can go horribly wrong. We still might not make the top 4, but I think we'll be much closer and we'll have an entertaining season to go with it.
I think there are a few things that you would really look for in a manager, off the top of my head:
1.) Coaching ability - capacity to improve players and to get the team playing in an attractive, attacking style that scores goals.
2.) Tactical ability - able to make decisions prior to and during a game that allow us to tactically outmaneuver the opponents.
3.) Man management - ability to create harmony in the squad and instill confidence in the players.
There may be more to it than that, but from what I've seen the best managers excel in these three categories.
Looking at our last 3 managers, I would say that Sherwood was probably specifically lacking in the 2nd and 3rd areas. I think he may have actually been decent as a coach, because our attacking football at least improved under him, but imo he didn't manage the squad well and he didn't make smart decisions in terms of team selections or formations. Harry I think was probably very good at #3, but probably lacking in the coaching and tactics departments. AVB I think failed mostly in the first area, and was decent in the other two but didn't excel in any of them tbh.
So in this sense, how has Pochettino proven himself so far? Watching the football that Southampton have played, and watching their training sessions at times, I think Pochettino has proven himself to be a very good coach. He has shown, imo, that he can turn good players into very good players, and get them to perform in a team playing fluid attacking football. I would expect him to emulate that here. I think he has also shown himself to be pretty good in the man management category, as many of the Southampton players credit him with their improvement and confidence. This in a way actually relates to the coaching side of it, because teams that play good attacking football, imo, gain more confidence in their own abilities.
The question mark area with Pochettino is probably #2 - his tactical ability. There was a somewhat troubling stat that was something like Southampton never recovered from losing positions under him. So, at the very least, he is unproven tactically. If there is a reason to doubt him, I'm guessing that would probably be it.
But if we can expect a manager who will get our already talented squad playing fluid, attacking football, managing them harmoniously and instilling confidence in players, wouldn't that be worth sacrificing the tactical ability side of it for? There are very few managers in the world who excel at all three, but I would say that hiring one who excels at 2 and is unproven at 1 is about as good as we are going to get.
So that makes me think that a lot can go right with this appointment - we can play excellent football, we can see our players improving and gaining confidence, we can get young players moving into the first team, etc. And what can go wrong is that we may drop points at times because of tactical mistakes, but that is certainly an acceptable price to pay.
Liverpool and Everton (and Manchester City actually too) recently went down the same route of appointing managers who had proven themselves as coaches/motivators but not as tacticians, and it paid off for both clubs. Man United have appointed a manager who is an excellent coach and tactician, but probably not the best at motivating players, and we will see how that works for them.
That's what makes me feel positively about the appointment, I think there is a lot of potential upside, and I think for the first time in a while we can actually expect our team to play really good football, while to me there doesn't seem to be much that can go horribly wrong. We still might not make the top 4, but I think we'll be much closer and we'll have an entertaining season to go with it.
