An interesting insight in to Pochettino courtesy of a Saints fan

[Shadydan]

Every manager in the world has weaknesses, even the best ones.

If we had got LVG would have we seen him help progress our youth players?
If we had to FDB would he have taken to the Premiership straight away?
If we had got Benitez would he have signed rubbish players and blame it on net spend?

All this article is doing is pointing out his flaws which should be accepted, we're never gonna get the perfect manager and we should hope that Poch is still learning his trade and will eventually iron out the creases.

 

[thinktank]

Just because he has no experience in managing a larger squad it doesn't mean he won't be able to. Due to our appalling injury record and the Europa League it's likely he'll be forced into a lot of changes as well. It's hard to see him not being able to change things though, because our bench last season was usually ridiculous but it was just AVB who brought the wrong players on most of the time.

It's good to get this sort of opinion to level off our expectations a little though, he's not the messiah and doesn't tick every single box so we have to give him time and support him.

The thing is, if everyone is drilled and trained properly, as they absolutely will be, there will be players to come and slot right into position and adopt and execute that role according to precise instructions.

In this respect his 'rigidity' is an attribute as he will duplicate precise roles and be able to trust the player/s coming in, to perform to his high standards.

The only reason he hasn't utilised a squad, as such, before is he didn't have the depth of quality required (as we all know). He must be drooling at the opportunity to utilise a quality squad for the first time and pace some of his key players throughout the season. I think people are overlooking this likelihood.

He's not gonna come here and think, "hmmm yes, quality everywhere...everywhere! Now, which ones will I be benching all season to make room for my favourite lickle player-wayers"; I can't wait to leave comparable quality players on the bench and run a top eleven ragged until it erodes form. Excited!!!".

Exactly.

I think we will see him evolve here and mature into a a more well-rounded coach/manager/whatever and begin to incorporate 433 and start to build his repertoire (possibly in europe?). The timing of him coming here is perfect as we have him on his up curve and he will be super eager and insanely committed to being successful and proving to everyone what he's capable of.

I think he's also been thoroughly scrutinised on all this by shinehead et al. There's no way they would overlook 'questionable' aspects of his methodology.

It's gonna be an exciting ride, kids.

I think you'll all be surprised.

Less apprehension, more anticipation.

 

[mrbrightside73]

Sack him.

 

[teddy_sheringham_125]

Every manager in the world has variable success with signings, even the very best. The question is, how good are the best ones and how much money did you waste on the worst? If you manage to make even one signing that turns out to be world class, that alone can be enough to change everything (see Gareth Bale).

 

[buttons]

I'd put it down to an influx of talentless managers.
Anyone that has a single mind set on formations and tactics is doomed to failure.
Flexibility is hugely important.
Being able to tell what isn't working and fix it, either in game our between games is what sets a great manager apart from the rest.
Playing the same thing week in week out is a FIFA computer game manager.

Agree but not quite sure whether your 'bashing' Poch or not?

My point about him at Southampton was that perhaps his apparent stubborness was bred from the fact the squad overall was weak. Here he has a much stronger squad so may be more inclined to rotate when necessary to avoid the burnout the article refers to.

 

[Jamturk]

My biggest pet hate when it comes to football is people who say "give the manager time"

How much time?
Do you let them sell off the squad and watch us get relegated? Do you let them spend 3 years in the championship going nowhere then give them another 5 year contract?

I'm not saying this will happen, but I desperately wish people would stop using this awful cliche.

I think they mean time to shape the team in terms of personnel, tactics, mentality.

 

[Mullers]

3. Transfers It has to be said that last summer the transfers were not solely in the hands of Pochettino, in fact he probably only had a say rather than a list of demands, we made three signings costing us in excess of £35 million,

That is more than we spent when we got to the Champions League, no wonder Adrian Durham is asking is Southampton a bigger club than us?

 

[Spurs Lodge Kittens]

to be honest - if i was having to bring in people lile Yoshida, Hooiveld, Fox, Do Prado etc then i'd probably not rotate much either. He simply didn't have the squad at Southampton.

Interestingly, if you look back at alot of Southampton games then he'll have brought off Lallana before the 90. That to me suggests he doesn't shy away from just flogging a dead horse and will inject freshness into matches whether or not that means bringing off the captain

 

[Bobbins]

Not a comment on Poch specifically, but because it's mentioned in the article, but it amazes me just how many managers are completely inflexible in their methods.

Whether it's refusing to change tactics, refusing to make subs or change the starting line-up, refusing to actually use a settled squad or simply deliberately ignoring players because they take a dislike to them, it seems a very high percentage of football managers are completely inflexible about one or more aspect of their jobs, almost always to their own detriment.

I understand you need to have a philosophy, a plan and stand by your principles, but it gets to the point of mentalism with some of them.

How much is it to ask to find a manager who is actually open to ideas and willing to be flexible? It seems it's all a macho Billy Big Bollocks contest in football with no-one willing to change the way they do things. Mourinho stands out for me as a guy who is actually willing to change and shake things up whenever the situation warrants it. Maybe that's why he's one of the very best.

 

[WiganSpur]

I'd put it down to an influx of talentless managers.
Anyone that has a single mind set on formations and tactics is doomed to failure.
Flexibility is hugely important.
Being able to tell what isn't working and fix it, either in game our between games is what sets a great manager apart from the rest.
Playing the same thing week in week out is a FIFA computer game manager.

It's not the same starting strategy every week, clearly he does his research on the opposition or else he wouldn't have had the success he's had. I read somewhere that he is at the training ground at 7 the next morning after a game analysing what was good and what was bad with the previous day's performance.

It's just in game changes where there may be question marks, but looking at Soton's squad it's difficult to really change much without compromising quality- so he's untried in this area rather than incapable.

 

[SpartanSpur]

The thing is, if everyone is drilled and trained properly, as they absolutely will be, there will be players to come and slot right into position and adopt and execute that role according to precise instructions.

In this respect his 'rigidity' is an attribute as he will duplicate precise roles and be able to trust the player/s coming in, to perform to his high standards.

This is something that always impressed me with SAFs Man Utd, any player could come in and pass the ball into an area without even looking knowing a man would be making a run there. It's how so many former Utd squad players went from being league winners to journeymen upon leaving Old Trafford, and probably how last years league winners devolved into an utter mess this season without him.

It would also explain how he's integrated so many young players into the side in his tenure at Soton.

A strong plan A is a very good thing. SAF would use his plan A most weeks (his main tinkering was European competition) and Liverpool's plan A carried them quite far this season.

IF the players get on board, Poch's system will be a great thing to see, especially if it has the attacking edge AVBs lacked, and it certainly seems higher paced and more direct...

 

[talkshowhost86]

As Nicdic says it's good to understand the potential weaknesses of the manager as well as the perceived strengths, mostly as it will hopefully dampen expectations a bit.

But I'm hoping that with a bigger, more talented, squad, some of those issues will not be as much of a problem for us as they were for Southampton.

I think having no Plan B is the biggest issue, but if there are more options available to Poch hopefully that will give him more scope to have a Plan B.

I also think the idea of what happens when we go behind will also be helped by having more talented players. I like the idea that we'll be controlling possession, but Poch needs to be able to turn that possession into something more, which is something that AVB was unable to do.

 

[matthew.absurdum]

No manager is perfect, even your pep, mou, klopp, sir alex or carlo. You can always find someone's particular disadv and criticize him or feel that we are doomed to hire him.

Let the results speak. For me, he is the most outstanding AND REALISTIC candidate. Lets hope his lack of plan b is due to saints's small squad instead of his stubborness.

 

[bryanabutler]

Who do you think we should have got?

Roberto Martinez or Thomas Tuchel

 

[Misfit]

Meh. He's incredibly similar to AVB, whose philosophy and style I enjoyed the hell out of. I still belive in time it would have come good but AVB fell down in that offensively we were utterly blunt, even the movement off the ball became non-existent for large swathes of time. The whole point of possession football is to allow ourselves good attacking chances as well as limiting the opponents chances.

No idea why we regressed in the last few months under AVB but the general idea was bang on. It was the execution that was lacking. So if all of the above is accurate then fine by me. Bring it on. Hopefully with success this time.

 

[eViL]

Meh. He's incredibly similar to AVB, whose philosophy and style I enjoyed the hell out of. I still belive in time it would have come good but AVB fell down in that offensively we were utterly blunt, even the movement off the ball became non-existent for large swathes of time. The whole point of possession football is to allow ourselves good attacking chances as well as limiting the opponents chances.

No idea why we regressed in the last few months under AVB but the general idea was bang on. It was the execution that was lacking. So if all of the above is accurate then fine by me. Bring it on. Hopefully with success this time.

The lack of fluidity was the issue, the row of three behind the striker need freedom to roam for the high line to work and shake loose the opposition, who inevitably, will be pinned into their own box.

AVB was thorough to the point it made us rigid, which for me, showed he didn't trust the players ability to read and play the game.

At some point, players need to be able to think for themselves.

 

[TheGreenLily]

Now, I'm happy with Pochettino, think I voted him as my first choice way back when in December, but this is the kind of appraisal I was hearing from Saints fans even then. Think a lot of this is probably fair, tactically he had one game plan at Southampton which he'll need to address here. In regard to the squad issues, some of that might not correlate with us, bigger and better quality squad with more games. Playing the same core every game won't be an option every week.

I think it's helpful to see a slightly more negative article to even out the really positive stuff that's doing the rounds too. Hopefully might help us be patient with him.

We should be patient anyway regardless, IMO.

 

[robin09]

Oh fuck. Way to burst my positivity bubble.

 

[jambreck]

It's always good to get a different perspective on a new signing or manager - even if it is largely a negative one. And I don't doubt that there is some truth in what this fella has written.

But we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that this is just one fan's opinion. And it seems to me to be at odds with the opinion of the majority of Saints fans who are absolutely gutted that Pochettino has left them and who were convinced that he would have had them competing at least for a Europa League place next season, and possibly even for a CL place.

 

[ButchCassidy]

Should have got Yakin.
Saints new manager will be Murat Yakin. Put money on it. No sources, no inside info, but I gots ze feeling.

Did Yakin not just get sacked for playing some of the most boring football ever seen in Switzerland?