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Mauricio Pochettino - Sacked
- Thread starter DubaiSpur
- Start date
Daisuk
Dimitar Berbatov
Ahhh, the positivity before a new season kicks off. Nothing quite like it. Let's hope it last for a while.
metalgear
Luka Modric
shaney
Alan Hutton
Think its a bit early to be praising Levy yet. We know him well enough to know that, while the "official" line may be that no target has been set for Poch, if Levy isnt happy with his results he will be sacked.
Hope it doesnt happen.
clownfoot
Goran Bunjevcevic
Did Sherwood not say he had no top four mandate? He was asked by Levy to score more goals I believe.
I'm slowly starting to get excited about this season, more for the style of football that I'm hoping to see than anything. However, after last season I am apprehensive to set expectations
Gazza Dazzla
Chris Perry
I like his calmness as well, seems to have a great self confidence and good sense of humor, must help with getting the respect of the players.
NaijaSpurs
Les Ferdinand
One thing I love about this guy is that unlike Sherwood and Redknapp is he not an attention seeking media harlot
NaijaSpurs
Les Ferdinand
I really like the cut of his jibe
Bullet
Andy Thompson
Worth a read:
Spurs have around 30 senior players in their ranks and, although Under-21 players would not need to be named in the 25-man Premier League squad to be eligible, Pochettino is keen to streamline his squad.
Asked how many players he needs to sign before the end of the current transfer window, the new head coach said: “Not many, not many. We have a long, long squad.
“I think we need to take a decision now to decide how many players to keep, because we have more than 25. For me, it’s too many players. My idea is 25, no more than 25.
“We need to decide now, after our tour in America, and start to work here and decide our squad for the future.”
Tottenham will be fighting on four fronts this season, including the Europa League.
Earlier in the year, when he was in charge of Southampton, Pochettino said the tournament “kills” teams and “it’s not a competition that appeals to me”.
He has changed his tune since moving to White Hart Lane, stating that Spurs will be seeking to win every available trophy.
However, he stopped short of saying he would field his strongest side on the continent, underlining the importance of squad rotation.
“In every competition that we enter, we need to think ‘we win the competition’,” he said. “We need this mentality and, if we play in the Europa League, we need to play to win.
“We have a very good squad, we have 25 players, and you decide in every moment to choose the best players – the right players – for each game.
“We have a good balance in the squad and it is important to manage the different players, because it is impossible to play with 11 players all season.
“You always have injuries and you need to give some players time to recover. For that, you need a good balance in your squad and competition between them to improve our level.”
Spurs’ primary goal in recent years has been a top-four finish and Champions League qualification, but Pochettino says his immediate priority is to establish a new philosophy and style, ideally combined with good results.
“I don’t have any specific target,” he said. “Tottenham is a big club, you always need to win every game. But, at the moment, we need to develop our philosophy, our style.
“It’s true that our style is playing attacking football, pressing high, and giving our fans enjoyment of the game. Then you need to get results.
“We need to play to win but in our style and our philosophy - keeping the ball and playing forward - and never changing anything, whether you play Real Madrid [or someone else].”
As he prepares to begin the new season with Tottenham, Pochettino is hoping to follow in the footsteps of two of his countrymen – Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa – by becoming an Argentine Spurs legend.
“I met with them, with Ossie and Ricardo Villa, the last game we played at White Hart Lane with Southampton,” said Pochettino. “For me, it’s an honour to be here.
“I was six years old during the 1978 World Cup [which Argentina won on home soil]. I watched the game on a black and white TV, it was unbelievable.
“Ossie is in love with Tottenham and he’s an idol here. All he told me about Tottenham was great, unbelievable. When I arrived he said ‘well done’. He’s happy, and now I can invite him to a barbecue at my house to spend time with him.”
One of Pochettino’s briefs will be to get the best out of some of last summer’s signings such as his fellow Argentine Erik Lamela and Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, who both endured disappointing campaigns in 2013/14 – but the new boss feels a lot of people underestimate the difficulty of moving to the Premier League.
The head coach said: “I hope that all our squad improves but it’s important to know that Soldado and Lamela – all the players who arrived from a different league – when they don’t speak the same language, it’s difficult to adapt.
“For me it was the same. When I was in Spain I thought ‘England, it’s okay, the league - it’s competitive’. But when you arrive you say ‘oh it’s hard, it’s very hard’ - and then you realise that it’s the most competitive league.
“When you stay outside you say ‘it’s easy. It’s easy to play there, easy to manage there’. But when you arrive, you say ‘this is impossible to compare’. It’s not the same. Here, it’s hard.”
Spurs have around 30 senior players in their ranks and, although Under-21 players would not need to be named in the 25-man Premier League squad to be eligible, Pochettino is keen to streamline his squad.
Asked how many players he needs to sign before the end of the current transfer window, the new head coach said: “Not many, not many. We have a long, long squad.
“I think we need to take a decision now to decide how many players to keep, because we have more than 25. For me, it’s too many players. My idea is 25, no more than 25.
“We need to decide now, after our tour in America, and start to work here and decide our squad for the future.”
Tottenham will be fighting on four fronts this season, including the Europa League.
Earlier in the year, when he was in charge of Southampton, Pochettino said the tournament “kills” teams and “it’s not a competition that appeals to me”.
He has changed his tune since moving to White Hart Lane, stating that Spurs will be seeking to win every available trophy.
However, he stopped short of saying he would field his strongest side on the continent, underlining the importance of squad rotation.
“In every competition that we enter, we need to think ‘we win the competition’,” he said. “We need this mentality and, if we play in the Europa League, we need to play to win.
“We have a very good squad, we have 25 players, and you decide in every moment to choose the best players – the right players – for each game.
“We have a good balance in the squad and it is important to manage the different players, because it is impossible to play with 11 players all season.
“You always have injuries and you need to give some players time to recover. For that, you need a good balance in your squad and competition between them to improve our level.”
Spurs’ primary goal in recent years has been a top-four finish and Champions League qualification, but Pochettino says his immediate priority is to establish a new philosophy and style, ideally combined with good results.
“I don’t have any specific target,” he said. “Tottenham is a big club, you always need to win every game. But, at the moment, we need to develop our philosophy, our style.
“It’s true that our style is playing attacking football, pressing high, and giving our fans enjoyment of the game. Then you need to get results.
“We need to play to win but in our style and our philosophy - keeping the ball and playing forward - and never changing anything, whether you play Real Madrid [or someone else].”
As he prepares to begin the new season with Tottenham, Pochettino is hoping to follow in the footsteps of two of his countrymen – Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa – by becoming an Argentine Spurs legend.
“I met with them, with Ossie and Ricardo Villa, the last game we played at White Hart Lane with Southampton,” said Pochettino. “For me, it’s an honour to be here.
“I was six years old during the 1978 World Cup [which Argentina won on home soil]. I watched the game on a black and white TV, it was unbelievable.
“Ossie is in love with Tottenham and he’s an idol here. All he told me about Tottenham was great, unbelievable. When I arrived he said ‘well done’. He’s happy, and now I can invite him to a barbecue at my house to spend time with him.”
One of Pochettino’s briefs will be to get the best out of some of last summer’s signings such as his fellow Argentine Erik Lamela and Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, who both endured disappointing campaigns in 2013/14 – but the new boss feels a lot of people underestimate the difficulty of moving to the Premier League.
The head coach said: “I hope that all our squad improves but it’s important to know that Soldado and Lamela – all the players who arrived from a different league – when they don’t speak the same language, it’s difficult to adapt.
“For me it was the same. When I was in Spain I thought ‘England, it’s okay, the league - it’s competitive’. But when you arrive you say ‘oh it’s hard, it’s very hard’ - and then you realise that it’s the most competitive league.
“When you stay outside you say ‘it’s easy. It’s easy to play there, easy to manage there’. But when you arrive, you say ‘this is impossible to compare’. It’s not the same. Here, it’s hard.”
parklane1
Tony Galvin
This for me as well, its good to see a Spurs manager who does not suffer from verbal diarrhea.
BrainOfLevy
Michael Carrick
Thing I like about MP is that the fanbase seems united behind him. We've had so many years of tactical manager being sacked for motivational manager and round and round, and it's caused massive divisions in the fans as they all seemed to fit into one camp with their preferences. Now at least everyone seems to have realised (including Levy) we can't just expect top 4 and with a bit of patience we can see something good develop, and also that there's no point criticising the current manager for something that he isn't. It's good stuff.
Rossi22
Pedro Mendes
milo
Jack L. Jones
Sadly, I don't think that the unity will last or at least online.
BrainOfLevy
Michael Carrick
Probably not, but considering every last manager since Jol got sacked has been starting with a serious negative balance in terms of goodwill from what felt like at least half of the fan base as soon as they got the job, this still feels like good new territory to be in.
And as long as Poch keeps us in the top 6, fighting for the top 4, playing good football and allowing our talented squad of players to show their talents, there won't be too much to complain about.
Inevitably internet tactical geniuses will start questioning things as they always do but broadly I reckon this nice feeling can run for a little while yet, barring some sort of absolute disaster in his first few months.