The Mauricio Pochettino thread

[Hakkz]

I don't think that's true, remember all the players we had in the world cup, and also the weather wasn't really all that great last winter.

Total showstoppers! I think the shape of the ball this season is another factor.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Total showstoppers! I think the shape of the ball this season is another factor.

Yeah, I think the FA designed it to be a mismatch with the new stadium to make us look bad. Talking about the new stadium, we've played on three home stadiums over the last four seasons, think about all those different straws of grass.

 

[Nebby]

So if we lose tonight and then again against Liverpool, will he get binned? Short turnaround before Everton, but fixtures look favourable for a week or two.

 

[Yiddo100]

So if we lose tonight and then again against Liverpool, will he get binned? Short turnaround before Everton, but fixtures look favourable for a week or two.

If we somehow manage to lose tonight I’d like to think he’d be gone before Liverpool

 

[wadewill]

Still banking on a scrappy win today to carry this circus on to the weekend

Then an absolute shellacking by Liverpool

 

[mike_l]

So if we lose tonight and then again against Liverpool, will he get binned? Short turnaround before Everton, but fixtures look favourable for a week or two.

Favourable?? People keep talking about the Liverpool game as if it's easier after that, but do we really see the team getting anything out of Everton away, or even Sheff Utd at home based on recent performances?

 

[JonnySpurs]

My opinion is he's either run out of ways to make the players push themselves or he's lost motivation himself and so it's no longer transferring across. That's when you have to be tactically sound, or at least play to you're players strengths. Neither of which are happening and as such confidence is shot.

I couldn't agree with this more.

There are lots of examples of managers that are either motivators (Poch, Redknapp, Klopp etc) or tacticians (Mourinho, Allegri, Emery) and very few manage to do both at a top level. Pep is one of the only managers I can think of that is elite in both areas, maybe Simeone as well at Atletico. Managers like Poch and Klopp excel at getting the best out of their players but when that starts to fall away they don't really have tactics to fall back on because they are clearly lacking in that area. The only way to remedy this is to have regular, consistent turnover of players. Klopp has had this at LFC and Poch hasn't - whether that be down to Levy or Poch or more likely both of them, that has led us to this point.

 

[punkisback]

Yeah, I think the FA designed it to be a mismatch with the new stadium to make us look bad. Talking about the new stadium, we've played on three home stadiums over the last four seasons, think about all those different straws of grass.

The way the pitch trays are laid means we have to pass sideways too rather than forward. FFS levy.

 

[Hotspur88]

You watch us win handsomely tonight and then beat Liverpool away on Sunday to paper over the cracks haha.

I love Poch and will always remember what he has done for this club, overachieving through a very difficult period due to the stadium build but I believe it is time for him to go and start a new chapter elsewhere. It's obvious that a major freshen up is needed with a new manager and a good overhaul of the squad. Levy might be tight but he isn't stupid. The new stadium was built and he would have been fully expecting us to be in the Champions League for the considerable future in our new world class stadium so a new manager with different targets is exactly what is needed. Poch's stubbornness with transfer targets is infuriating when you see the likes of Maddison and Tielemans ripping it up at Leicester.

Thank you Poch but it's time to move on, our form last season was ignored due to the Champs League run. Carragher and Neville were absolutely spot on with their analysis of us.

 

[dimiSpur]

Poch himself says Sess is for the future so why is he now being seen as the person to turn around our season.

Because we're desperate.

 

[dimiSpur]

Get Kane in behind in a 3-4-1-2 Sorted

Yeah, that should ease the Poch out brigade, playing Kane in midfield. Maybe play Aurier in goal and Ndombele left back. Stop the crack.

 

[dimiSpur]

You are all forgetting the impact recent results must have had on our confidence. As a team that plays (when we're at our best) fluent attacking football, a lack of confidence is crucial. You can see our players sort of shying away from the ball and thinking too much in possession. We've been severely derailed. I don't think that it's beyond repair yet though.

We've had a disastrous start to the season, to the point where our "Messiah" manager of recent times is being called out by factions of our own support, yet we're still only 3 points behind Arsenal who are meant to be having a good start to the season by their standards and not too far away from the top four. Luckily, apart from the top two everyone else is shit, so if we get our act together we can still achieve our targets this season.

I personally believe one of the issues is where we go next. We've had a few seasons of top four finishes. We've got close to the PL title. I think all our players have sunk into a safe zone. We've tasted being close to the League title, and that has risen expectations not only from fans and media, but also the players themselves. They no longer crave and are properly hungry to finish 4th. However, City and Liverpool are streets ahead not only of the rest of the League, but of all sides in PL history (going by points tallies). Therefore, realistically, even if we played out of our skins and had an amazing season, we'd still only finish 3rd. That's a big kick in the teeth. You need to have something to aim for in all walks of life. We cannot set a "new" target of catching them on our budget. It's just impossible. There was no way Ndombele & GLC were going to bridge the gap between us and 100 points.

It has a detrimental effect on a player's psyche in my opinion and we've seen our team almost meandering about. A top four finish, which realistically speaking is success for a Club of our stature at the moment, is suddenly seen as failure and/or par. It's got a bit samey and stale. And that is what has brought us into the position we find ourselves in IMO. We've ended up falling into a hole and we've no confidence. We just need to shin our way into a win, hopefully tonight, and then I do believe we can kickstart again to at least a CL finish.

Who knows, perhaps we'll go to Anfield with the pressure off and turn them over on Sunday. We have some great players in our side and we are, on our day, capable of doing that. Feel free to hit me with optimistics!

 

[shelfboy68]

You watch us win handsomely tonight and then beat Liverpool away on Sunday to paper over the cracks haha.

I love Poch and will always remember what he has done for this club, overachieving through a very difficult period due to the stadium build but I believe it is time for him to go and start a new chapter elsewhere. It's obvious that a major freshen up is needed with a new manager and a good overhaul of the squad. Levy might be tight but he isn't stupid. The new stadium was built and he would have been fully expecting us to be in the Champions League for the considerable future in our new world class stadium so a new manager with different targets is exactly what is needed. Poch's stubbornness with transfer targets is infuriating when you see the likes of Maddison and Tielemans ripping it up at Leicester.

Thank you Poch but it's time to move on, our form last season was ignored due to the Champs League run. Carragher and Neville were absolutely spot on with their analysis of us.

CL doesnt matter anymore it's all about the super bowl sweethearts.

 

[mike_l]

You are all forgetting the impact recent results must have had on our confidence. As a team that plays (when we're at our best) fluent attacking football, a lack of confidence is crucial. You can see our players sort of shying away from the ball and thinking too much in possession. We've been severely derailed. I don't think that it's beyond repair yet though.

We've had a disastrous start to the season, to the point where our "Messiah" manager of recent times is being called out by factions of our own support, yet we're still only 3 points behind Arsenal who are meant to be having a good start to the season by their standards and not too far away from the top four. Luckily, apart from the top two everyone else is shit, so if we get our act together we can still achieve our targets this season.

I personally believe one of the issues is where we go next. We've had a few seasons of top four finishes. We've got close to the PL title. I think all our players have sunk into a safe zone. We've tasted being close to the League title, and that has risen expectations not only from fans and media, but also the players themselves. They no longer crave and are properly hungry to finish 4th. However, City and Liverpool are streets ahead not only of the rest of the League, but of all sides in PL history (going by points tallies). Therefore, realistically, even if we played out of our skins and had an amazing season, we'd still only finish 3rd. That's a big kick in the teeth. You need to have something to aim for in all walks of life. We cannot set a "new" target of catching them on our budget. It's just impossible. There was no way Ndombele & GLC were going to bridge the gap between us and 100 points.

It has a detrimental effect on a player's psyche in my opinion and we've seen our team almost meandering about. A top four finish, which realistically speaking is success for a Club of our stature at the moment, is suddenly seen as failure and/or par. It's got a bit samey and stale. And that is what has brought us into the position we find ourselves in IMO. We've ended up falling into a hole and we've no confidence. We just need to shin our way into a win, hopefully tonight, and then I do believe we can kickstart again to at least a CL finish.

Who knows, perhaps we'll go to Anfield with the pressure off and turn them over on Sunday. We have some great players in our side and we are, on our day, capable of doing that. Feel free to hit me with optimistics!

It's hardly a glowing endorsement to say yeah we're shit, but most of the other teams are almost as shit though is it?

 

[dimiSpur]

It's hardly a glowing endorsement to say yeah we're shit, but most of the other teams are almost as shit though is it?

I never said we're shit, I said we were never going to realistically be in a position to achieve 95+ points this season, therefore, we find ourselves in a repeated loop of top four finishes. Just goes to show that you don't realise what you've got until you're faced with the prospect of losing it. We've all got used to consistency and top 3 finishes. We now have a glimpse of what it's like being inconsistent and perhaps out of the top four, and we're panicking and longing for those days again.

But it's hard. We all want more and deem "just" a top four finish as mediocrity. I include the players in that. So therefore it's hard to motivate yourself to achieve that "mediocrity". Realistically though, we need to all collectively realise that it's not mediocrity. It's an important achievement for a club of Tottenham Hotspur's standing. We are on a shoestring budget compared to top European and Premier League sides.

 

[Keith Morris]

This is exactly how I see it..we are in a hole that we can climb out of, this season is about transitioning and trying to cement top 4

You are all forgetting the impact recent results must have had on our confidence. As a team that plays (when we're at our best) fluent attacking football, a lack of confidence is crucial. You can see our players sort of shying away from the ball and thinking too much in possession. We've been severely derailed. I don't think that it's beyond repair yet though.

This is exactly how I see it....I share all the same frustrations but feel we are in a hole that we can climb out of, it’s about transitioning this season and trying to cement top 4

We've had a disastrous start to the season, to the point where our "Messiah" manager of recent times is being called out by factions of our own support, yet we're still only 3 points behind Arsenal who are meant to be having a good start to the season by their standards and not too far away from the top four. Luckily, apart from the top two everyone else is shit, so if we get our act together we can still achieve our targets this season.

I personally believe one of the issues is where we go next. We've had a few seasons of top four finishes. We've got close to the PL title. I think all our players have sunk into a safe zone. We've tasted being close to the League title, and that has risen expectations not only from fans and media, but also the players themselves. They no longer crave and are properly hungry to finish 4th. However, City and Liverpool are streets ahead not only of the rest of the League, but of all sides in PL history (going by points tallies). Therefore, realistically, even if we played out of our skins and had an amazing season, we'd still only finish 3rd. That's a big kick in the teeth. You need to have something to aim for in all walks of life. We cannot set a "new" target of catching them on our budget. It's just impossible. There was no way Ndombele & GLC were going to bridge the gap between us and 100 points.

It has a detrimental effect on a player's psyche in my opinion and we've seen our team almost meandering about. A top four finish, which realistically speaking is success for a Club of our stature at the moment, is suddenly seen as failure and/or par. It's got a bit samey and stale. And that is what has brought us into the position we find ourselves in IMO. We've ended up falling into a hole and we've no confidence. We just need to shin our way into a win, hopefully tonight, and then I do believe we can kickstart again to at least a CL finish.

Who knows, perhaps we'll go to Anfield with the pressure off and turn them over on Sunday. We have some great players in our side and we are, on our day, capable of doing that. Feel free to hit me with optimistics!

You are all forgetting the impact recent results must have had on our confidence. As a team that plays (when we're at our best) fluent attacking football, a lack of confidence is crucial. You can see our players sort of shying away from the ball and thinking too much in possession. We've been severely derailed. I don't think that it's beyond repair yet though.

We've had a disastrous start to the season, to the point where our "Messiah" manager of recent times is being called out by factions of our own support, yet we're still only 3 points behind Arsenal who are meant to be having a good start to the season by their standards and not too far away from the top four. Luckily, apart from the top two everyone else is shit, so if we get our act together we can still achieve our targets this season.

I personally believe one of the issues is where we go next. We've had a few seasons of top four finishes. We've got close to the PL title. I think all our players have sunk into a safe zone. We've tasted being close to the League title, and that has risen expectations not only from fans and media, but also the players themselves. They no longer crave and are properly hungry to finish 4th. However, City and Liverpool are streets ahead not only of the rest of the League, but of all sides in PL history (going by points tallies). Therefore, realistically, even if we played out of our skins and had an amazing season, we'd still only finish 3rd. That's a big kick in the teeth. You need to have something to aim for in all walks of life. We cannot set a "new" target of catching them on our budget. It's just impossible. There was no way Ndombele & GLC were going to bridge the gap between us and 100 points.

It has a detrimental effect on a player's psyche in my opinion and we've seen our team almost meandering about. A top four finish, which realistically speaking is success for a Club of our stature at the moment, is suddenly seen as failure and/or par. It's got a bit samey and stale. And that is what has brought us into the position we find ourselves in IMO. We've ended up falling into a hole and we've no confidence. We just need to shin our way into a win, hopefully tonight, and then I do believe we can kickstart again to at least a CL finish.

Who knows, perhaps we'll go to Anfield with the pressure off and turn them over on Sunday. We have some great players in our side and we are, on our day, capable of doing that. Feel free to hit me with optimistics!

 

[dimiSpur]

In addition to the mediocrity point, imagine working in an office with colleagues. You are all asked to produce a monthly report in your fields. There are two colleagues who produce fucking out of this world reports every month, which make your brilliant report look OK. You know you'll never outgun them as they're just too good. Eventually, you'll find yourself less motivated to produce your brilliant report. You'll be resigned to never achieving Employee of the Month.

That's my point.

 

[Mr Pink]

You are all forgetting the impact recent results must have had on our confidence. As a team that plays (when we're at our best) fluent attacking football, a lack of confidence is crucial. You can see our players sort of shying away from the ball and thinking too much in possession. We've been severely derailed. I don't think that it's beyond repair yet though.

We've had a disastrous start to the season, to the point where our "Messiah" manager of recent times is being called out by factions of our own support, yet we're still only 3 points behind Arsenal who are meant to be having a good start to the season by their standards and not too far away from the top four. Luckily, apart from the top two everyone else is shit, so if we get our act together we can still achieve our targets this season.

I personally believe one of the issues is where we go next. We've had a few seasons of top four finishes. We've got close to the PL title. I think all our players have sunk into a safe zone. We've tasted being close to the League title, and that has risen expectations not only from fans and media, but also the players themselves. They no longer crave and are properly hungry to finish 4th. However, City and Liverpool are streets ahead not only of the rest of the League, but of all sides in PL history (going by points tallies). Therefore, realistically, even if we played out of our skins and had an amazing season, we'd still only finish 3rd. That's a big kick in the teeth. You need to have something to aim for in all walks of life. We cannot set a "new" target of catching them on our budget. It's just impossible. There was no way Ndombele & GLC were going to bridge the gap between us and 100 points.

It has a detrimental effect on a player's psyche in my opinion and we've seen our team almost meandering about. A top four finish, which realistically speaking is success for a Club of our stature at the moment, is suddenly seen as failure and/or par. It's got a bit samey and stale. And that is what has brought us into the position we find ourselves in IMO. We've ended up falling into a hole and we've no confidence. We just need to shin our way into a win, hopefully tonight, and then I do believe we can kickstart again to at least a CL finish.

Who knows, perhaps we'll go to Anfield with the pressure off and turn them over on Sunday. We have some great players in our side and we are, on our day, capable of doing that. Feel free to hit me with optimistics!

Like your optimism Dimi, but everyone who tries to look at this situation optimistically ignores our form from last February which ignores the wider and significant context.

If it was just this season where our poor form started I'd agree, but its been going on way too long.

 

[dimiSpur]

Like your optimism Dimi, but everyone who tries to look at this situation optimistically ignores our form from last February which ignores the wider and significant context.

If it was just this season where our poor form started I'd agree, but its been going on way too long.

But the facts I'm pointing out have been in place for all that time. Look at when we tailed off. After the Wolves defeat at Wembley arguably. We found ourselves in 3rd, our thin title hopes gone in the wake of the trains that were Liverpool and City. We were miles ahead of the rest. Would you be as motivated as you were prior to those thin hopes going?

If you say yes, you're a liar. All/most human beings behave in similar ways. I would find it hard to want to go out and play Fulham away on a freezing afternoon knowing that no matter what happens, I'll finish 3rd or 4th.

The problem is getting out of that rot. And that's where Poch is coming from in saying we need a refresh IMO.

Edit: I'm not saying I like the rot or that I want it to continue. I'm just offering a different, perhaps realistic and human explanation for things. We all love THFC and we think with our hearts instead of our heads in the wake of bad performances and defeats. We're hurt and we look to lay the blame somewhere. But sometimes it's just logical that something like this would happen.

 

[mike_l]

I never said we're shit, I said we were never going to realistically be in a position to achieve 95+ points this season, therefore, we find ourselves in a repeated loop of top four finishes. Just goes to show that you don't realise what you've got until you're faced with the prospect of losing it. We've all got used to consistency and top 3 finishes. We now have a glimpse of what it's like being inconsistent and perhaps out of the top four, and we're panicking and longing for those days again.

But it's hard. We all want more and deem "just" a top four finish as mediocrity. I include the players in that. So therefore it's hard to motivate yourself to achieve that "mediocrity". Realistically though, we need to all collectively realise that it's not mediocrity. It's an important achievement for a club of Tottenham Hotspur's standing. We are on a shoestring budget compared to top European and Premier League sides.

You really think that we're seeing what we're seeing because the players want to win the league but since we probably can't they're just sacking it off?

For the record, I'm not unhappy with the situation because we're not winning every week, I'm unhappy because watching Spurs has become such a chore now, there is no entertainment, nothing to excite, we just plod about for 90 minutes aimlessly. What the hell are they working on in trainin? If this isn't what Poch is instructing them to do then he deserves to be sacked for still picking them, if it IS what he's coaching then he deserves sacking for that.

Either way to me it doesn't look great for him.