Mauricio Pochettino - Sacked

[Bedfordspurs]

He's a bit Peter Crouch at times for sure. 11 " aerials won" against Ajax according to whoscored though. Blind and De Ligt had 8 combined.

There was potential there to hurt them. Will be in the second leg too if he plays, if we can use him correctly.

Wow
Felt to me like he didn’t win many but as I say had more on the floor
I’m praying he is on the bench Wednesday

 

[Hotspur75]

Agree with most of that. Would start Foyth against Bournemouth and if he does well again start him against Ajax. He brings some much needed composure and ambition on the ball into our team. Can see the argument for Trippier though, if he could find form he would be an automatic starter for me. Just been so long since he showed any real form.

Son, Sissoko, smarter approach than in the first half at home. I'm reasonably optimistic about the second leg. As optimistic as one can be for a second leg away having lost 1-0 at home and being without Kane and Winks...

I don't think Trippier did as badly in the first leg as some here suggest. Defensively I think he did all right, Neres was pretty quiet apart from that shot on the post, and I don't blame him for playing Van de Beek onside. With VAR in play, I would be even more reluctant to play Foyth, I think he is still a bit rash (although he has certainly improved since Wolves away). Dead-ball situations may well be crucial - only one goal has been scored so far. I would play Trippier and pray he can find some of last season's form.

 

[Surfless]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/48138001

Doesn't sound like someone about to leave.

I've just seen this article for the first time and was interested to hear one or two of the parts of it - short though it was.

His suggestion that we need to "rebuild" is an interesting choice of words - especially when you think that the only senior players who have left in the last two years have been Walker and Dembélé. I wondered at first if the words he was looking for were "build on" as that more accurately reflects what we need to do, in my opinion. In five years at the helm, wholesale changes have never been Poch's way, and while I appreciate that some of that is down to the constraints he's been working under, a lot of it has seemed like it was organic growth, steady progress. Will we be a better side if we go out and spend £100m on 7 first teamers? Recent history suggests this is highly unlikely, plus there's the issue of how new signings take 6 months to fully get into the Poch way of training.

A dispassionate assessment of the squad, taking fan adulation and rose tinted glasses out of the equation, is a little scary. Our goalkeeper has increased his penalty saves commensurate only to the number of mistakes he's making, and overall has deteriorated this year. Our right full back position is filled by one of three players, none the finished article, and two of which are never likely to be, with the third a youngster finding his way. At centre half we have one player running down his contract, another just turned 32, and a third as yet not 100% proven, with a couple of young pretenders possibly forcing their way into consideration, but as yet the jury is out on them. Our centre midfield is lacking in true class, especially in the deeper lying role, and I think in our heart of hearts we know we need a better challenger to Rose at left back. Up top we have good first choice players at 7, 9,10 and 11 (going old school for a moment) but we need to improve the second tier behind them so that when one of our talismanic forwards is suspended or injured we aren't hiding behind the sofa...

So maybe, rebuild is right. I hope its a rebuild the Poch way - after all he did sell Wimmer for £17m and buy Foyth for £10m. £100m spent on one or two first teamers and a couple of "depth" signings, would definitely be worthwhile.

What's certain is this summer we cannot "do a 2018". We need reinforcements, and they need to be signed in June/July, not on deadline day.

 

[MKSpur]

In some ways I would rather lose to ajax in the semi then get spanked in the final by messy.

I thought you’d love a messy spanking

 

[Gazza]

I thought you’d love a messy spanking

That's the spirit Danish....

I'm off the other opinion ... poch in the history books for us and a nayim like situation for espanyol

 

[MKSpur]

I've just seen this article for the first time and was interested to hear one or two of the parts of it - short though it was.

His suggestion that we need to "rebuild" is an interesting choice of words - especially when you think that the only senior players who have left in the last two years have been Walker and Dembélé. I wondered at first if the words he was looking for were "build on" as that more accurately reflects what we need to do, in my opinion. In five years at the helm, wholesale changes have never been Poch's way, and while I appreciate that some of that is down to the constraints he's been working under, a lot of it has seemed like it was organic growth, steady progress. Will we be a better side if we go out and spend £100m on 7 first teamers? Recent history suggests this is highly unlikely, plus there's the issue of how new signings take 6 months to fully get into the Poch way of training.

A dispassionate assessment of the squad, taking fan adulation and rose tinted glasses out of the equation, is a little scary. Our goalkeeper has increased his penalty saves commensurate only to the number of mistakes he's making, and overall has deteriorated this year. Our right full back position is filled by one of three players, none the finished article, and two of which are never likely to be, with the third a youngster finding his way. At centre half we have one player running down his contract, another just turned 32, and a third as yet not 400% proven, with a couple of young pretenders possibly forcing their way into consideration, but as yet the jury is out on them. Our centre midfield is lacking in true class, especially in the deeper lying role, and I think in our heart of hearts we know we need a better challenger to Rose at left back. Up top we have good first choice players at 7, 9,10 and 11 (going old school for a moment) but we need to improve the second tier behind them so that when one of our talismanic forwards is suspended or injured we aren't hiding behind the sofa...

So maybe, rebuild is right. I hope its a rebuild the Poch way - after all he did sell Wimmer for £17m and buy Foyth for £10m. £100m spent on one or two first teamers and a couple of "depth" signings, would definitely be worthwhile.

What's certain is this summer we cannot "do a 2018". We need reinforcements, and they need to be signed in June/July, not on deadline day.

Completely agree with your squad analysis. Our best 11 is pretty much understood but I’m not sure we’ve even had it for any game this season,

 

[Surfless]

Completely agree with your squad analysis. Our best 11 is pretty much understood but I’m not sure we’ve even had it for any game this season,

You've got me thinking now. World cup boys were late back, so Kane/Ali/Trips/Dier/Rose didn't start the first couple of games. We've had injuries to Kane (2) Alli (2) Dier (2) Vertonghen, Aurier, Lloris, Lamela, Foyth, Sissoko, Moura, Sanchez, Wanyama most of the season, Dembele pre departure, Davies, Winks (3/4) Alderweireld, and Son has been both injured and away for international duty.

Is it just Eriksen who hasn't had a layoff?????

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Completely agree with your squad analysis. Our best 11 is pretty much understood but I’m not sure we’ve even had it for any game this season,

Apparently we have had kane/dele/son/eriksen for 10 games all season or less than a 1/5th of our games

 

[MKSpur]

You've got me thinking now. World cup boys were late back, so Kane/Ali/Trips/Dier/Rose didn't start the first couple of games. We've had injuries to Kane (2) Alli (2) Dier (2) Vertonghen, Aurier, Lloris, Lamela, Foyth, Sissoko, Moura, Sanchez, Wanyama most of the season, Dembele pre departure, Davies, Winks (3/4) Alderweireld, and Son has been both injured and away for international duty.

Is it just Eriksen who hasn't had a layoff?????

Eriksen has a month off with a stomach issue I think.

I think it would also be fair to note that a few players have taken a while to get back to their previous levels when returning from injury that made them a first 11 choice pre injury, Rose and Wanyama for sure, to a lesser extent Kane and recently Dier. It’s great we have a summer off and I do think a few players we will be better next season because of it.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

Apparently we have had kane/dele/son/eriksen for 10 games all season or less than a 1/5th of our games

What, together/fit/playing at the same time?

Is it that many?!

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48125818

Mauricio Pochettino meets Gary Lineker: What happened on Premier League Show


Restoring Tottenham's pride, challenging for titles and a late-night visit from Marcelo Bielsa to "check his legs" - Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino talked about it all as he sat down with Gary Lineker.

In a wide-ranging interview for The Premier League Show, which you can watch here, the Argentine discussed how he turned Spurs into Champions League contenders and the club's aims now they have moved into their £1bn stadium.

Here we pick out the best bits as the Argentine discusses whether Spurs need "better furniture" in their new home by rebuilding the Spurs squad.

'We need trophies, but I can wait'
This season Tottenham have reached the last four of the Champions League for the first time, despite not buying a new player in the last two transfer windows and having Wembley as their temporary home for most of the campaign.

Lineker asked if the money Spurs have spent on their stadium would continue to affect Pochettino's transfer budget and, having taken charge in 2014, if he now needs to deliver silverware.

"Personally, for me, no," Pochettino replied. "I am in football because I love the sport, it's my passion, but I want to win. We need trophies and we need to fight for big things, to have the opportunity to win the Champions League and Premier League."

Spurs are still waiting for their first trophy since the League Cup in 2007-08 and with the likes of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli frequently being linked with moves away, Lineker asked Pochettino if it is hard to keep his players happy.

"Normally the players are never happy - you know, we never were happy," he said. "But the most important thing is that we are a family, we have this spirit. I feel so proud. They know me very well, they know that they can trust.

"That is why I said our players are heroes. Because they understand the circumstances of the club," he added.

"The reality is that it's difficult to compete with another club that are only focusing on improving the squad. Maybe I can wait [for a trophy] because, in my career, I am still young, but for the players it's different."

'Now we must focus on winning titles'
Although Pochettino is yet to win a trophy as a manager, in 2016-17 he helped Spurs finish above Arsenal for the first time since 1995, and the club now has a new training ground as well as a new stadium.

"When we arrived here one of our challenges was to reduce the gap with the top four," he told Lineker. "The circumstances were completely different. The confidence and the trust in the club was a little bit down.

"It was about recovering that pride and saying 'we are Tottenham'. We hear always about Tottenham having a massive history, with a lot of massive players - like you - but it never was a club that really believed they could win, that they could be in the semi-finals or final of the Champions League.

"To win the Champions League or Premier League we must be focused in all areas of the club on winning," Pochettino added. "In the last five years a lot of things have happened at this club. We finished the training ground and built a new stadium, but now we must be focused, all together, on winning titles.

"I think it's in our nature that we are brave, we're not scared about the new things. It would have been easy to say 'let's stay at Wembley' or keep [playing] at White Hart Lane. But if you want to grow and be one of the best clubs in the world then you must take a risk, and I think the club is doing that."

Being scouted by Bielsa
Despite winning 20 caps for Argentina and playing for Paris St-Germain, Pochettino admits his playing career was best remembered for the penalty he gave away against England at the 2002 World Cup.

It all began back in Argentina after being scouted for Newell's Old Boys by highly respected manager Marcelo Bielsa, who could join Pochettino in the Premier League next season having led Leeds to the Championship play-offs.

"It's an unbelievable thing that happened," he explained. "When I was 13, Marcelo Bielsa knocked on my door at one or two o'clock in the morning. Of course my Mum and Dad were a bit scared.

"Marcelo asked if he could see the boy and they said 'of course'. My Mum pulled out the blanket and Marcelo said 'what legs! They're the legs of a footballer'."

Becoming a consistent contender
Having played as a centre-half, Pochettino felt he was destined to become a manager and after spells as Espanyol and Southampton boss, he is set to lead Spurs into a new era.

"Football is going to be the most important thing at the club," he said. "I understood that, if we wanted to play in the Champions League and be one of the best clubs in the world, we needed to move and build a new stadium.

"Now the key is from now to the future, and how we are going to have the opportunity to build a new project and be sure we're a real contender and consistent in the future.

"We are close, but the last step is always the most difficult - and the biggest step. We need to rebuild and it's going to be painful. I think we need to rebuild.

"When people talk about Tottenham they say 'you have an amazing house but you need to put the furniture in. Maybe you need better furniture'. It depends on your budget but that is the reality.

"We have to be respectful about teams like [Manchester] City or Liverpool, that are paying a lot of money, but I think we are brave, we are clever and we are creative.

"Now it's about creating another chapter and having a clear idea about how we are going to build that new project for Tottenham."

 

[Bedfordspurs]

What, together/fit/playing at the same time?

Is it that many?!

Yep

 

[Hotshot-Tottenham]

You've got me thinking now. World cup boys were late back, so Kane/Ali/Trips/Dier/Rose didn't start the first couple of games. We've had injuries to Kane (2) Alli (2) Dier (2) Vertonghen, Aurier, Lloris, Lamela, Foyth, Sissoko, Moura, Sanchez, Wanyama most of the season, Dembele pre departure, Davies, Winks (3/4) Alderweireld, and Son has been both injured and away for international duty.

Is it just Eriksen who hasn't had a layoff?????

Eriksen missed 2 or 3 iirc. A couple of months back.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

Yep

Obviously its a tiny amount anyway, but honestly its still more than I expected

 

[r-u-s-x]

Wow
Felt to me like he didn’t win many but as I say had more on the floor
I’m praying he is on the bench Wednesday

Most of the ones he won were not directed towards our players, may be more effective when we have Son & Moura buzzing around him but even when he had time he was not giving our runners much to go on.

 

[Bullet]

"Football is going to be the most important thing at the club,"

Incredible news Brian. This football team is interested in football. Gary, it's back to the studio.

 

[nayenezgani]

I wish Poch wouldn't talk about the 'painful' squad rebuild we need in the summer until the season was over. Can't be good for the current squad's morale.

I love the guy, but needs to be a bit tactful here.

 

[Gazza]

I wish Poch wouldn't talk about the 'painful' squad rebuild we need in the summer until the season was over. Can't be good for the current squad's morale.

I love the guy, but needs to be a bit tactful here.

Why not it's obvious and may convince players like Christian to sign knowing that we are going to invest in the team

 

[Spur of the moment]

I wish Poch wouldn't talk about the 'painful' squad rebuild we need in the summer until the season was over. Can't be good for the current squad's morale.

I love the guy, but needs to be a bit tactful here.

Yep. Here we are on the cusp of reaching two massive goals, the CL final and top four, we need every member of the squad to give it their all to get over the line and he goes and gives out the message that even if they succeed they're basically not good enough.

You wonder what the hell has got into him because frankly his timing could not be more crass.

 

[nayenezgani]

Why not it's obvious and may convince players like Christian to sign knowing that we are going to invest in the team

Let the season finish.. Odd timing to say the least.