Mauricio Pochettino - Sacked

[El Dante]

As usual we've a bunch of losers who don't make key passes & have no luck. Everyone keeps kidding themselves to say we are moving forward almost as if it's a good consolation prize. I really am struggling to see progress in our last two games. The performances have been drab. We've struggled to create chances & make mistakes which lead to opposition goals. Joy.

 

[Cochise]

We keep possession very well around the back line and our passing from there out looks good on most occasions. We also have no problem picking out Eriksen and Lamela in that space in front of the opposition back four, with both those two and whoever else plays able to spin and push on. The problem we are having is going from there and either picking out Kane or at least threatening the opponents goal with shots from inside the box. It's been a theme I have seen more often lately with our lads failing to break down teams who sit back with numbers and our midfielders resorting to shooting from range.

Kane himself doesn't seem to like running in behind the defenders, it's not his natural game and you can see that in how often he comes short expecting others to run in behind him. With the right players around him perhaps it will work, but Chadli seems broken atm and no one else has that in their locker.

I thought today in the first half we were a very different side. Whether by Poch's instruction or not, Chadli and Townsend stayed very wide and left a lot of space inside, presumably for Eriksen and Mason to attack. I'm not sure it worked in our favour as the final 15-20 minutes showed, when we narrowed it up with Eriksen and Lamela coming in from the wings. Our style involves a lot of intricate passing around the edge of the opponents box, it's incredibly hard to execute and takes a lot of work to perfect, more than just a season. With an improvement in personel in that area and a full pre season we may see an improvement in that area.

Hopefully we will see:

1) The players respond and a tremendous end to the season.
2) Deadwood cleared and quality brought in.
3) Team goals scored and less goals as results of moments of individual brilliance (Eriksen and Kane rattling in shots from outside the box).

 

[Joesh]

the right man but he has fudged up the team selections for the previous 3 games because of this final. Hopefully he will learn.

out of the EL, dropped points in the league and anyway lost the cup.

biggest disappointment is going out of europe, that was a real chance of securing a trophy and CL football at the same time

I agree, he is a young manager with a lot of young players, most of whom haven't played big finals. Losing the EL game, as you say, was more disappointing than today as we have invested so much in it and yet had to bin it all for this game which we were odds on to lose. Hard to blame Poch as there wasn't a way to win in this scenario.

 

[sc25]

Lloris aside our players are average at best, if he can get Levy to actually sign some good players for a change we will inevitably improve

Well assuming you are right, when he arrived amid much fanfare for his coaching skills, etc, I had hoped/expected him to make some (many?) of these players better than just 'average at best', agree? Which is not to say they won't improve under him going forward. And btw, until I see it, I'm not totally convinced we will buy our way out of it either.

 

[Baleforce]

Well assuming you are right, when he arrived amid much fanfare for his coaching skills, etc, I had hoped/expected him to make some (many?) of these players better than just 'average at best', agree? Which is not to say they won't improve under him going forward. And btw, until I see it, I'm not totally convinced we will buy our way out of it either.

I think we are seeing it, this isn't a group of players that on paper gets to the LC final or chases 4th in the league, we are massively overachieving imo

 

[Joesh]

Well assuming you are right, when he arrived amid much fanfare for his coaching skills, etc, I had hoped/expected him to make some (many?) of these players better than just 'average at best', agree? And, until I see it, I'm not convinced we will buy our way out of it either.

Perhaps, now that we are soon to be back to 1 game per week, he will have more time to work on these things.

 

[sc25]

I think we are seeing it, this isn't a group of players that on paper gets to the LC final or chases 4th in the league, we are massively overachieving imo

We chased 4th last season and finished 6th...and massively underchieved?

 

[Jurgen the German]

As usual we've a bunch of losers who don't make key passes & have no luck. Everyone keeps kidding themselves to say we are moving forward almost as if it's a good consolation prize. I really am struggling to see progress in our last two games. The performances have been drab. We've struggled to create chances & make mistakes which lead to opposition goals. Joy.

Bare in mind that these players were inherited from the last two regimes. Give him at least one full season with his own signings, I don't think he was backed enough this season.

The squad needs a big overhaul, but we desperately need more goals and to become better defensively both as a unit and individually.

 

[Modric THFC]

Kane himself doesn't seem to like running in behind the defenders, it's not his natural game and you can see that in how often he comes short expecting others to run in behind him.

Seriously?
Have you not seen him score so many times this season doing exactly this.
No idea where you got this idea from?
Some lazy pundit thats seen one or two games?

 

[Raziel]

Bare in mind that these players were inherited from the last two regimes. Give him at least one full season with his own signings, I don't think he was backed enough this season.

The squad needs a big overhaul, but we desperately need more goals and to become better defensively both as a unit and individually.

Big overhaul? CM, Striker, maybe RW, promote some Academy players for the rest

 

[sc25]

Bare in mind that these players were inherited from the last two regimes. Give him at least one full season with his own signings, I don't think he was backed enough this season. The squad needs a big overhaul

And a 'very good squad' it was. I agree he wasn't backed enough this season...which worries me he won't be again, especially if we do indeed need a big overhaul as you say.

 

[Mumorn]

I don't see how anyone, other than those being deliberately negative, can be anything but proud. Especially after today. We once again saw Spurs at Wembley, where we belong. Our fans sang all game and were outstanding. The players showed absolute heart and kept going right until the end.

Young team with a big future. I for that am proud.

 

[Cochise]

Seriously?
Have you not seen him score so many times this season doing exactly this.
No idea where you got this idea from?
Some lazy pundit thats seen one or two games?

Our play doesn't revolve around finding Kane with balls over the top of the opposition defence though does it. We play a slow and patient game and more often than not we get bogged down near the edge of the box and he drops deep.
He isn't playing off the shoulder of the last man, he likes to collect the ball and run with it or shift and shoot. He does have good movement in the box and benefits from when we knock it in from wide, but we don't often do that with pace.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Bare in mind that these players were inherited from the last two regimes. Give him at least one full season with his own signings, I don't think he was backed enough this season.

The squad needs a big overhaul, but we desperately need more goals and to become better defensively both as a unit and individually.

I agree with everything you say.

I ought to add that I like Poch more then any manager since Jol yet I get the impression he is more astute then Jol. So I honestly think he is our best manager/coach since Venables.

I don't like many people but I like Poch and that is a big thing for me, he has my trust, the previous manager was a mouthy chancer, the one before him a snake oil salesman, the one before that was from a different era but if he had not tarted himself for the England job could have become a proper spurs legend. Ramos was ok but the language thing meant he could not get his ideas across.

No all in all we have the best guy we have had for nearly two decades getting close to 3. Things looking up.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Our play doesn't revolve around finding Kane with balls over the top of the opposition defence though does it. We play a slow and patient game and more often than not we get bogged down near the edge of the box and he drops deep.
He isn't playing off the shoulder of the last man, he likes to collect the ball and run with it or shift and shoot. He does have good movement in the box and benefits from when we knock it in from wide, but we don't often do that with pace.

Apparently crossing does not get you many goals, I think someone read out a stat from a spreadsheet or something to prove it.

 

[Modric THFC]

Our play doesn't revolve around finding Kane with balls over the top of the opposition defence though does it. We play a slow and patient game and more often than not we get bogged down near the edge of the box and he drops deep.
He isn't playing off the shoulder of the last man, he likes to collect the ball and run with it or shift and shoot. He does have good movement in the box and benefits from when we knock it in from wide, but we don't often do that with pace.

He has done it. And we've done it.
We've not gonna do it against a Chelsea side sitting deep.

 

[Robspur12]

I agree with everything you say.

I ought to add that I like Poch more then any manager since Jol yet I get the impression he is more astute then Jol. So I honestly think he is our best manager/coach since Venables.

I don't like many people but I like Poch and that is a big thing for me, he has my trust, the previous manager was a mouthy chancer, the one before him a snake oil salesman, the one before that was from a different era but if he had not tarted himself for the England job could have become a proper spurs legend. Ramos was ok but the language thing meant he could not get his ideas across.

No all in all we have the best guy we have had for nearly two decades getting close to 3. Things looking up.

Great post. Can I just say, I don't think Redknapp would ever have become a Spurs legend. He isn't a legend at any of his former clubs. I think things would have started to go very wrong for him once the likes of Modric, Vdv and bale left. The fact he left while Spurs were still in a great position, has given him a a rather mystical status in many Spurs fans eyes. I agree for me whatever Poch goes on to achieve I like the man. Looks like until the stadium is paid off he will be unable to bring many of the players he wants. Sadly any of his achievements will be measured against his 2 predecessors- not counting sherwood, who had better squads at their disposal.

 

[nelto]

Mou had to play a tactical game against us today, not so long ago they'd have just steamrollered us. Progress.
If we can keep this team together, we'll progress too!

 

[shaney]

Its the typical Spurs loser mentality to say we are over achieving and should just be happy to be there today. The likes of Birmingham, Wigan and Swansea have WON tropheys since we last won one, yet we should be grateful to just get to the final.

As I said before, when Poch was appointed did he convince Levy he could improve and get the best out of this current squad or was he told "you can buy whatever players you want, money no object". I dont think so somehow.

The general consensus is that its not Poch's fault and that a majority of our players just arent good enough, and not to worry, as everything will be hunky dory when Poch gets rid of the (many) players he does'nt want and brings in the (many) players he does want. The flaw in that plan is that anyone expecting us to ship out over 10 players in the summer and bring in 10 new signings is living in a dream world. We will bring in a couple of new signings for sure and ship out a few but the ugly truth is that a lot of the current squad will be here next season, although probably even weaker as (GHod forbid) the likes of Loris and Eriksen could be gone.

My point is that if Poch has'nt improved certain players to work in his system so far, what evidence is there to suggest he will be able to do it next year, because make no mistake, whatever dream world some may be living in, a LOT of this current squad will be the same next year. Individual moments of brilliance by the likes of Kane and Eriksen this season have'nt clouded my judgment to how poor we have been overall in a majority of our games.

 

[Baleforce]

were Birmingham, Wigan and Swansea not overachieving Shaney?

and do you think another manager would be doing better after 8/9 months with this group?