The Mauricio Pochettino thread

[fecka]

Because he’s been our best manager since probably Burkinshaw and he has been pushing to renew the squad in certain areas for sometime having seen this coming.

Swapping him out now is still going to leave players that no longer want to be at the club.

Four or five senior established players through the spine of the team who don’t want to be at the club is the reason I believe it’s gone to sh*t.

A few months ago the fanbase were shitting it he was off to Madrid or United - we need to show faith rather than be the fickle lot we often are.

Have you considered that the reason some players are trying to leave because of poch?
We've had ITK to support this for quite some time

 

[punkisback]

I'm sorry, that's not true. We finished in the top four twice under Redknapp in three years before Poch arrived. Even under AVB / Sherwood we never finished outside the top six. Poch's arrival also coincided with the "bigger" teams decline in form and ability, as demonstrated by Leicester winning the title, Chelsea yo yoing up and down the table and Utd wretched form (by their standards). The way some fans react you'd think we were relegation candidates and Poch dragged us up to being top four challengers. I also don't believe we were ever title challengers under him. We were always chasing.

Poch has never been a great tactician. His strength was in obtaining the buy in from certain players (especially younger players) who would then be keenly motivated. The problem is these players have gotten older, injuries have taken their toll on them being able to press like they used to and they no longer have blind faith in the manager.

Another problem we've had over the years is that when Eriksen plays well, so do Spurs. When he doesn't, we struggle. He didn't have a good season last year and his form this season has been abysmal. Without an on form Eriksen, Poch's tactical frailties are laid bare. There are only so many times last minute goals or individual brilliance was going to bail Poch out of a hole.

Do I want him sacked? No. I believe that our league finishes over the last few years have earned him a chance to turn it around IF he wants it. The problem is I don't think he wants it and I think the players have lost their faith in him.

We’ve challenged for the league under Poch. Never anyone else.

 

[Zummerzet Spur]

Have you considered that the reason some players are trying to leave because of poch?
We've had ITK to support this for quite some time

And why is that? Because he’s identified they want to leave for more money/a new challenge/they’re lazy/past their best/not 100% motivated towards the club?

 

[vicbob]

And why is that? Because he’s identified they want to leave for more money/a new challenge/they’re lazy/past their best/not 100% motivated towards the club?

Or maybe he’s pissed them off by continuously refusing to rule out media speculation on his future or threatening to leave if we win the CL??? You can’t ask for 100% commitment if you do t offer it yourself.
Poch has been the best manager I can remember, but he’s far from blameless in this situation, and we all know when push comes to shove it’s a lot more likely the manager gets aced than most of the squad.

 

[fecka]

And why is that? Because he’s identified they want to leave for more money/a new challenge/they’re lazy/past their best/not 100% motivated towards the club?

Isn't his job doing something about it instead of moaning about it?
He's been playing down expectations and saying we're not good enough for 6 years now and for the last 18 months he's deflected responsibilites and publicly attacked the squad. I'm not the least bit surprised they aren't as motivated anymore.

 

[Wadec]

I see you watched MOTD

Braver man than me.

 

[Zummerzet Spur]

Excellent article from Alasdair Gold:

The fall of Eriksen and what comes next for Poch, Levy and Spurs

Here are five talking points from Tottenham's 3-0 defeat at Brighton in the Premier League

www.football.london

 

[Primativ]

I can’t believe what I’m reading sometimes. So our squad hasn’t changed enough now???!! Fuck me, it used to be we don’t have a settled squad, too many new players blah blah blah. Stop fucking listening to the shit spouted in the media and stop rewriting history. Poch has constantly stated how our squad is so good that it was difficult to improve on. We are not Man City, we haven’t got a bottomless pit to just throw out everyone and start again. Fergie never ripped it all up and started again, he managed his squad and made changes gradually. This is all on Poch with his ridiculous comments and bizarre lineups. Left Rose out of tour, first choice come start of season. Vertonghen plays every game in preseason, dropped from squad entirely. Sells Trippier but doesn’t rate any other right back at the club, playing people constantly out of position. If our players are half as confused as we are by his actions then I’m not surprised by our shit form. For the record I loved Poch but he has to go now. The squad is still very good. Get Mourinho in, a winner who would love to work with our players.

People are in denial so they are grasping at anything they can to explain the demise rather than blame Poch. You are right, his decision making has been so bad, and the players have clearly noticed it. I can't believe that people want to rip up the best squad we've ever assembled at Spurs in favour of keeping a manager who is actually responsible for the decline.

I saw the way Dele was looking at the back of Poch's head on TV yesterday. I'm no body language expert but it seemed to be one of disdain and contempt. Might be nothing but Dele didn't get on the pitch and he's certainly one player who has been well off the boil for two seasons now. In fact, so many players are off the boil, again it comes back to the manager.

If Poch got all the praise for the players doing well, he can take the blame for everyone regressing, being out of sorts, losing games and terrible performances. It doesn't work both ways. You can't praise the manager for winning games and playing well, and then blame the players for losing games and say they need to be sold.

 

[Zummerzet Spur]

And another:

What exactly has gone wrong for Pochettino and Spurs and the crossroads ahead

The rot has set in at Tottenham but will the club go against the grain to fix it?

www.football.london

 

[sausage]

We’ve challenged for the league under Poch. Never anyone else.

We haven't. We have only ever challenged for the best-of-the-rest. Not once have we actually been in a position to win the league, nor in first place.

 

[Tucker]

We haven't. We have only ever challenged for the best-of-the-rest. Not once have we actually been in a position to win the league, nor in first place.

We definitely challenged in the Leicester season.

 

[Primativ]

And another:

What exactly has gone wrong for Pochettino and Spurs and the crossroads ahead

The rot has set in at Tottenham but will the club go against the grain to fix it?

www.football.london

He's looking at it from a very pro Poch POV. Poch has had lots of young players brought into the club yet doesn't play them. Foyth and Sanchez? One was a record purchase for us. Poch still favours the old Belgians though. Noone is forcing him to play certain players.

Why is Poch persisting with Eriksen despite him being pony for a year? If he wanted to phase these players out he could have done so more effectively.

The thing is, it isn't the players, it's the coach. Watch a new manager come in and sort out the defence and all of a sudden Jan and Toby are back to their best.

 

[Primativ]

We definitely challenged in the Leicester season.

Barely. We finished third that season. It was never a proper title race, we were always playing catch up.

 

[Tucker]

Barely. We finished third that season. It was never a proper title race, we were always playing catch up.

We only finished third because we collapsed in the last couple of matches. And of course it was a proper title race. By that logic, Liverpool weren’t in the title race last year.

 

[Spurzinho]

Dutch coach Raymond Verheijen is a well known critic of Poch's training methods. In fact the more time passes the more right he seems. He's been calling this since Poch came to this country. Here's just one link https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/05/...asts-pochettino-on-twitter-claims-spurs-rece/

 

[vicbob]

Barely. We finished third that season. It was never a proper title race, we were always playing catch up.

Oh come on, don’t rewrite history to prove your point. We were very much in it until very late on, we were probably the better team, but we cocked it up, but to say we weren’t in it is just not true.

 

[Primativ]

We only finished third because we collapsed in the last couple of matches. And of course it was a proper title race. By that logic, Liverpool weren’t in the title race last year.

No, sorry you are completely wrong. Liverpool were much more in a title race last season than we were in the Leicester season. To say contrary is laughable. Liverpool finished a point behind the leaders and led the PL table for significant periods.

We were never the top of the league once in the Leicester season, and as you say, we collapsed, which again is another question mark against Poch. We finished third, so by definition Arsenal were in the race too then?

 

[Primativ]

Oh come on, don’t rewrite history to prove your point. We were very much in it until very late on, we were probably the better team, but we cocked it up, but to say we weren’t in it is just not true.

We were always playing catch up and weren't we at best only ever about 5 points behind? We were in a title race, but I said barely. We never looked likely winners at any stage.

 

[nedley]

What manager has come back from this kind of crisis?

Help me out here.

 

[joelstinton14]

No, sorry you are completely wrong. Liverpool were much more in a title race last season than we were in the Leicester season. To say contrary is laughable. Liverpool finished a point behind the leaders and led the PL table for significant periods.

We were never the top of the league once in the Leicester season, and as you say, we collapsed, which again is another question mark against Poch. We finished third, so by definition Arsenal were in the race too then?

Think during the Leicester season we went from outside bets to having a really good chance after an amazing run of form. Think if we beat Chelsea we would have gone on to win the league (in my opinion at least), think we would have reduced the gap to Leicester to 1 point if we had won.