• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

Mauricio Pochettino - Sacked

It's the 5-second rule actually but otherwise you are on the money. That said I'm not too sure that we're employing Barca's pressing tactics at all, or at least we are not very good at it.

I could t remember exactly but the tactic is great. However you work harder without the ball than you do I with it as the ball does the hard work for you

And I agree we're not playing it but that's ultimately the pressing system teams now want to adopt. Were just **** at it
 
Why Pochettino must win the League Cup this season

Greg Stobart

The Tottenham manager was prepared for a poor start to his time in charge of the club but must show that he is the man to bring progress - and trophies - to north London

Mauricio Pochettino will not be surprised by Tottenham’s alarmingly poor start to the season.

In fact, he predicted it when he agreed a five-year contract to become the club’s new manager last summer.

Pochettino told chairman Daniel Levy before his arrival that it could take several months before his philosophy and ideas really took hold, likening it to Brendan Rodgers’ first season in charge of victims when the Reds finished seventh.

That has been borne out so far, with Tottenham sitting 11th in the Premier League table after nine matches, five points off the top four and just three points clear of the relegation zone a quarter of the way into the season.

Levy is a notoriously trigger-happy chairman and Pochettino is already talking like a man who is feeling the pressure of expectations at White Hart Lane, complaining about the squad’s weak mentality and blaming the small pitch for poor home performances.

Any hopes of a challenge for a Champions League place already look distant and Tottenham are embarking on another transitional season having gone through two managers on the way to finishing sixth last time out.

The best way for Pochettino to satisfy Levy and the supporters that he is the man to lead Spurs back into Europe’s elite would be to win silverware in his first season at the club.

On Wednesday he can take a step towards that goal when the Londoners face Brighton at home in the League Cup fourth round.

The competition has provided Tottenham’s last two trophy victories, in 1999 and in 2008, and can pave the way for Pochettino to start building and avoid becoming the next failed Daniel Levy experiment.

Chelsea, victims and Emirates Marketing Project are all still in the League Cup but have bigger fish to fry and will be distracted by title challenges and Champions League fixtures.

The path is open for Tottenham to stroll into the quarter-finals on Wednesday and winning the competition could ingrain in the club the winning mentality that has been so badly missing.

It could lift some of the doom and gloom that has enveloped and slowly strangled the club since Gareth Bale’s world record £86 million departure to Real Madrid last summer.

Pochettino wants time for his philosophy to permeate through the club but history would suggest that the five-year contract handed to him by Levy is symbolic rather than a statement of faith.

As concerning as the results - which includes home defeats to West Brom and Saudi Sportswashing Machine - has been the lack of signs that the squad are adapting to Pochettino’s attacking style while the mental fragility so heavily criticised by Tim Sherwood last season has not changed.

Like every Spurs manager under Levy, the Argentine works with the players he is given but he must be bemoaning the club’s failure in the summer to sign targets he identified to directly improve the first-team, such as Morgan Schneiderlin and Mateo Musacchio.

The second-rate, cheaper alternatives - including Federico Fazio, Benjamin Stambouli and Ben Davies - have only bloated the squad with yet more players below the required standard on the back of last summer’s failed £110 million spending splurge on seven internationals.

The Spurs squad is so large that players not involved in the 18-man matchday squad - often including internationals such as Paulinho and Vlad Chiriches - undergo a full training session and practice games back at the club’s Enfield training base on matchdays.

Pochettino has arrived to implement a long-term vision but, having praised his "unbelievable" squad in pre-season, is now discovering the real size of the challenge ahead of him. The squad is unbelievably large, but not talented.

He knows it will take time to really make his mark but Pochettino can show that he is making real progress by winning the League Cup for his new club.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2920/league-cup/2014/10/29/5586921/-

Makes a very good point on 'cheaper alternative s', seems to make Poch's task with squad even harder.
 
It's true that having a small/narrow pitch isn't ideal when you want to break teams down, but the way we play under Poch and also played under AVB doesn't exactly help the matter either. We make things tight for ourselves by pushing so many of players into central positions. When we do that, so does the opposition, and when you have 18 players standing in an area of 20 square meters in and around the penalty box, it is only natural that it becomes difficult to find a route to goal. If we had kept players in wide positions there would be more space centrally.
 
It's true that having a small/narrow pitch isn't ideal when you want to break teams down, but the way we play under Poch and also played under AVB doesn't exactly help the matter either. We make things tight for ourselves by pushing so many of players into central positions. When we do that, so does the opposition, and when you have 18 players standing in an area of 20 square meters in and around the penalty box, it is only natural that it becomes difficult to find a route to goal. If we had kept players in wide positions there would be more space centrally.
I think that the main problem there is that the fullbacks are meant to provide the width in this system and both last season and this we have lost an attacking fullback early in the season. This makes us a lot less effective going forwards and a lot easier to close out.
 
What is it with everyone constantly looking an argument? It is perfectly possible to discuss the width of our pitch and Poch's comments without getting into people's faces or acting like Poch had broken into your house and shat in your bed whilst you were out at work.

Where is the argument???? Seems like a reasonable discussion tbh. I don't see any anger, insults etc, just people with opposing views talking them through.
 
I think that the main problem there is that the fullbacks are meant to provide the width in this system and both last season and this we have lost an attacking fullback early in the season. This makes us a lot less effective going forwards and a lot easier to close out.
Isn't it a problem when one or two players are essential to our whole attacking play? I thought we were trying to get away from from relying so heavily on one or two
 
Isn't it a problem when one or two players are essential to our whole attacking play? I thought we were trying to get away from from relying so heavily on one or two
Absolutely. Hopefully, the signing of Yedlin will address this.
 
Why Pochettino must win the League Cup this season

Greg Stobart

The Tottenham manager was prepared for a poor start to his time in charge of the club but must show that he is the man to bring progress - and trophies - to north London

Mauricio Pochettino will not be surprised by Tottenham’s alarmingly poor start to the season.

In fact, he predicted it when he agreed a five-year contract to become the club’s new manager last summer.

Pochettino told chairman Daniel Levy before his arrival that it could take several months before his philosophy and ideas really took hold, likening it to Brendan Rodgers’ first season in charge of victims when the Reds finished seventh.

That has been borne out so far, with Tottenham sitting 11th in the Premier League table after nine matches, five points off the top four and just three points clear of the relegation zone a quarter of the way into the season.

Levy is a notoriously trigger-happy chairman and Pochettino is already talking like a man who is feeling the pressure of expectations at White Hart Lane, complaining about the squad’s weak mentality and blaming the small pitch for poor home performances.

Any hopes of a challenge for a Champions League place already look distant and Tottenham are embarking on another transitional season having gone through two managers on the way to finishing sixth last time out.

The best way for Pochettino to satisfy Levy and the supporters that he is the man to lead Spurs back into Europe’s elite would be to win silverware in his first season at the club.

On Wednesday he can take a step towards that goal when the Londoners face Brighton at home in the League Cup fourth round.

The competition has provided Tottenham’s last two trophy victories, in 1999 and in 2008, and can pave the way for Pochettino to start building and avoid becoming the next failed Daniel Levy experiment.

Chelsea, victims and Emirates Marketing Project are all still in the League Cup but have bigger fish to fry and will be distracted by title challenges and Champions League fixtures.

The path is open for Tottenham to stroll into the quarter-finals on Wednesday and winning the competition could ingrain in the club the winning mentality that has been so badly missing.

It could lift some of the doom and gloom that has enveloped and slowly strangled the club since Gareth Bale’s world record £86 million departure to Real Madrid last summer.

Pochettino wants time for his philosophy to permeate through the club but history would suggest that the five-year contract handed to him by Levy is symbolic rather than a statement of faith.

As concerning as the results - which includes home defeats to West Brom and Saudi Sportswashing Machine - has been the lack of signs that the squad are adapting to Pochettino’s attacking style while the mental fragility so heavily criticised by Tim Sherwood last season has not changed.

Like every Spurs manager under Levy, the Argentine works with the players he is given but he must be bemoaning the club’s failure in the summer to sign targets he identified to directly improve the first-team, such as Morgan Schneiderlin and Mateo Musacchio.

The second-rate, cheaper alternatives - including Federico Fazio, Benjamin Stambouli and Ben Davies - have only bloated the squad with yet more players below the required standard on the back of last summer’s failed £110 million spending splurge on seven internationals.

The Spurs squad is so large that players not involved in the 18-man matchday squad - often including internationals such as Paulinho and Vlad Chiriches - undergo a full training session and practice games back at the club’s Enfield training base on matchdays.

Pochettino has arrived to implement a long-term vision but, having praised his "unbelievable" squad in pre-season, is now discovering the real size of the challenge ahead of him. The squad is unbelievably large, but not talented.

He knows it will take time to really make his mark but Pochettino can show that he is making real progress by winning the League Cup for his new club.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2920/league-cup/2014/10/29/5586921/-

Makes a very good point on 'cheaper alternative s', seems to make Poch's task with squad even harder.

Our squad isn't large. It's exactly what is needed for a club competing in Europe - c.25 senior players (inc. 6-8 youth team graduates). We can't compete in 4 competitions without that depth.

Of our squad, only Friedel, Walker, Ceballos, BAE and Khumalo haven't had a role for us yet this season - 1 who is injured and 3 in the last months of their contracts/soon to be released.

Paulinho and Chiriches have just fallen down the pecking order because of the emergence of Mason, Bentaleb and Dier - that's something to be celebrated.

It's also very naive to write off Fazio, Stambouli and Davies too when they are clearly just being eased in gently.


It's true that having a small/narrow pitch isn't ideal when you want to break teams down, but the way we play under Poch and also played under AVB doesn't exactly help the matter either. We make things tight for ourselves by pushing so many of players into central positions. When we do that, so does the opposition, and when you have 18 players standing in an area of 20 square meters in and around the penalty box, it is only natural that it becomes difficult to find a route to goal. If we had kept players in wide positions there would be more space centrally.

IMO it's only the injuries to Walker and Naughton and having to play a CB at RB that have caused this. Our left side seems to be working well.
 
Dear Poch

The pitch.

Seriously !?

Bolleaux !

Whiffler

Don't worry - when he gets sacked, Pulis or Warnock will be moaning that the pitch is too long to be able to play long balls effectively.

They'll maybe even get the groundsmen to grow the grass long in the corners so Dawson-esque punts hold up.
 
I think that the main problem there is that the fullbacks are meant to provide the width in this system and both last season and this we have lost an attacking fullback early in the season. This makes us a lot less effective going forwards and a lot easier to close out.

I agree that the full backs are meant to provide the width in the system, but our full backs aren't that good. How often does Danny Rose hit a team mate with a cross? Walker being injured hasn't helped, but his delivery is not very good either.

But still if we'd had full backs who put in great crosses, I still think our style of play makes things difficult for us. If our wide players in attacking positions had stayed wider, the opposing full backs would also have to defend wider. And that would lead to bigger gaps centrally. There are so many players in central positions from both teams, and that is an advantage for the defending team in my opinion. It's easier to defend a tight area and equally more difficult for attackers to find space, naturally.
 
I agree that the full backs are meant to provide the width in the system, but our full backs aren't that good. How often does Danny Rose hit a team mate with a cross? Walker being injured hasn't helped, but his delivery is not very good either.

But still if we'd had full backs who put in great crosses, I still think our style of play makes things difficult for us. If our wide players in attacking positions had stayed wider, the opposing full backs would also have to defend wider. And that would lead to bigger gaps centrally. There are so many players in central positions from both teams, and that is an advantage for the defending team in my opinion. It's easier to defend a tight area and equally more difficult for attackers to find space, naturally.
I'd argue that Danby Rose has been one of our most consistent performers this season ***shudders***
 
Paulinho and Chiriches have just fallen down the pecking order because of the emergence of Mason, Bentaleb and Dier - that's something to be celebrated.

It's also very naive to write off Fazio, Stambouli and Davies too when they are clearly just being eased in gently.

For your first sentence I would argue that it's actually the other way round. Mason and Dier are forced to play because Paulinho and Chiriches are complete dogsh!t. Was it £25 million that we wasted on those two?

I agree with your next sentence though. Is absolutely ridiculous to write off any player after just a couple of appearances in a new country. Ben Davies just seems a strange purchase to me however. From what I can tell Pochettino's preferred narrow attacking midfield three places a large emphasis on having overlapping fullbacks to provide width and Davies doesn't seem to have the pace required to do this. It is made even more baffling when you consider how our left sided attacking midfielder seems to be completely free'd from defensive responsibility, while Rose has the pace to get back into position after one of our attacks breaks down Davies does not. I can only imagine how exposed our left side would be to the other team countering if Davies was behind Chadli.
 
I agree that the full backs are meant to provide the width in the system, but our full backs aren't that good. How often does Danny Rose hit a team mate with a cross? Walker being injured hasn't helped, but his delivery is not very good either.

But still if we'd had full backs who put in great crosses, I still think our style of play makes things difficult for us. If our wide players in attacking positions had stayed wider, the opposing full backs would also have to defend wider. And that would lead to bigger gaps centrally. There are so many players in central positions from both teams, and that is an advantage for the defending team in my opinion. It's easier to defend a tight area and equally more difficult for attackers to find space, naturally.

I think that is unfair on Rose. No player will ever have a 100% completion rate with their crosses and Rose has put in a number of good balls this season - either getting them into the right areas between the opposition's defenders and their keeper or to a players feet in the box. I think a team of our means would seriously struggle to find a better left back than Danny Rose in both an attacking and defensive sense. After Lloris, Rose is the last player that I would be replacing in our team at the moment.
 
Last edited:
I'd argue that Danby Rose has been one of our most consistent performers this season ***shudders***

I think he's got a fair point about the pitch, was talking about this recently with guys who sit near me at WHL. Most teams do camp in against us and hit us on the break. Even under 'arry when we had a very good home record there were times when the likes of Wolves would come and nick a point because we couldnt break them down with more space for likes of Bale to go into.

I feel the likes of Townsend miss a wider pitch, when he plays at Wembley for England he seems to excel more as he can get behind and round defenders as there's much more space.

I do think we have massively missed Walker or Yedlin as some of you have stated. That's why i was surprised he didnt come straight away rather than staying in the MLS. Perhaps we can finally judge the wing back system once we have proper attacking wing backs in the side?
 
I agree, but his delivery in the final third is rarely very good. He did put in two good balls against Newcastel to be fair.

He has put in good balls in every single game this season. Yes they have been interspersed with some less good ones - but any fullback who gets in two good balls per game is doing well. There are 9 players currently in the team we need to be looking at as part of the problem before Rose IMO.
 
Back