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The Mauricio Pochettino thread

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Gb160

Well done boys. Good process
Jun 20, 2012
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Thanks. I think the big change in player leadership came after the game at Stoke. Reading between the lines, I think it was after that game that players like Harry Kane stood up and demanded more from some of the established players - like Kaboul and Adebayor. Quite a thing for a young man to do. And Pochettino was savvy enough to support Kane. Would be great if anyone can remember the 'Stoke incident' and flesh out what I've written.
Wasn't it after the defeat at home by Newcastle?
Harry called out Adebayor for laughing and joking with some Newcastle players after the match.
I could be wrong mind.
 

SpursDave88

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
2,193
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This has been the most interesting and significant evolution in our team and manager. To me it is the piece of the jigsaw that will see us win something. The ability to sit when a) against stronger opposition b) when playing against teams that sit in. I think the Dortmund game was the turning point. We sat in against a superior attacking team who could destroy us if we tried to press. We rode our luck but the template was there. Then Madrid, we were comfortable for the most part and perhaps should have won. Finally pool, we executed the plan to perfection.

Psychologically, giving the opposition the ball is a massive leap. You grow up being taught that to win you need to dominate the ball and the territory. In addition there is the ego side of it, you naturally want to impose your game on your opponent. It takes massive belief in the system to let that go.

It's also about being calm when under pressure. How many times to teams fold when they don't have the ball and are under pressure? We used to do it all the time. You could literally see a goal coming. Now we have the capacity to absorb while still looking dangerous. It is a huge thing to have that flexibility. Poch has clearly convinced the players that at times it is the best tactical approach.

If you look at nearly every game we have played against Chelsea they have done exactly that to us. They knew that they couldn't go toe to toe with us and so gave us the ball and the ground and hit us on the counter. If we had done this last season we could well have won the cup or the league or both.

I feel that we still lack a bit of pace and guile in the squad but Lamela returning and Aurier coming in helps with that.

I honestly believe that the last week has seen the next phase in our development. We have gone from a good team to one that can win things.

Agree with most of that, except where you say that you do it against superior teams. I would say neither Dortmund nor Liverpool are in any sense superior to us. I would say it's more about making life easy for yourself and picking a correct tactical approach for the team you are playing against. Both Dortmund and Liverpool have a lot of pace up front so the easiest way to combat that is by having a deep defensive line. If you do have a deep defensive line and you want the distances between the lines to be right , it's difficult to dominate the ball in the middle of the pitch. That being the case, the way to score goals is to cede possession, draw the opposition forward, press the ball in your half and break quickly with the ball.

Tl;dr it's not that those teams are superior, rather it's they both have pace up front and always play a high defensive line.
 

SpursDave88

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
2,193
5,831
Thanks. I think the big change in player leadership came after the game at Stoke. Reading between the lines, I think it was after that game that players like Harry Kane stood up and demanded more from some of the established players - like Kaboul and Adebayor. Quite a thing for a young man to do. And Pochettino was savvy enough to support Kane. Would be great if anyone can remember the 'Stoke incident' and flesh out what I've written.

I think Kane started that game and wasn't very impressive. Adebayour was supposed to come on as a late-ish sub and didn't even have his boots on or something...
 

Gb160

Well done boys. Good process
Jun 20, 2012
23,646
93,314
Wasn't it after the defeat at home by Newcastle?
Harry called out Adebayor for laughing and joking with some Newcastle players after the match.
@SpursDave88 where am I wrong fella? Just interested to know as the Newcastle game was before the Stoke game.
 

Janice

Active Member
Aug 31, 2017
143
183
Agreed, I am genuinely surprised by the level of bitterness they hold towards Poch, us, the media, everyone, the world, the solar system and the universe. If this is what having an oil rich billionaire using you as a plaything to promote a country and airline then I will settle for what we have.
Poch obviously isn’t fit to lace Pep’s gold plated diamond encrusted boots, but I think he will do ok. Shame he hasn’t been given zillions to spend on every team he’s ever managed, then we would really find out what a brilliant manager he really could be.
I think the psychological undercurrent of anxiety is that we will pip them to the title since we usually have the better of them in our head to heads
 

fluffybunnyuk

Well-Known Member
Oct 16, 2017
2,210
2,473
i;d like to see an epic photo of poch at the new stadium when its built like bill nic with the spurs gates. I think poch will go into history a spurs legend
 

ljinko888

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2016
2,080
5,376
I remember in Poch's first season when we lost 2-1 at home to Newcastle - conceding a pathetic goal right from kick off after half time. Gary Neville did a MNF piece on that game and I still remember his words summing up Spurs from his 20 year playing career to that point...

“When I think about Tottenham, nothing has changed – they’re weak, weak mentally and that gives the manager a big problem. It’s so poor. And Tottenham historically… it’s what I always think of them – never ready, weak. The big challenge Pochettino has is transforming the mentality at the club over the next two to three years."

Here we are three years later:

"The job that Pochettino is doing here and the team that he has is brilliant," Neville said.

"It's everything Tottenham were not during my football career - resilient, good to watch, robust defensively and with young players - English players too, which is always a bonus. Harry Winks was fantastic today and in the Bernabeu.

"Everything is right - it is a brilliant team, a brilliant coach, going into a new stadium and looking like they love playing with each other and with a connection to the fans.

"We have been quick over the years to criticise Daniel Levy and don't offer praise when things are going right but he's got a fantastic manager, a great youth set-up and now the youth players are being given a chance.

"People might say they don't pay as well as other sides but maybe he's running his club in a sustainable way and that's an achievement.

"I hope they can win the league because they play well enough to win the league but I think in the end it will be too much for them and that's my honest opinion."
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
I remember in Poch's first season when we lost 2-1 at home to Newcastle - conceding a pathetic goal right from kick off after half time. Gary Neville did a MNF piece on that game and I still remember his words summing up Spurs from his 20 year playing career to that point...

“When I think about Tottenham, nothing has changed – they’re weak, weak mentally and that gives the manager a big problem. It’s so poor. And Tottenham historically… it’s what I always think of them – never ready, weak. The big challenge Pochettino has is transforming the mentality at the club over the next two to three years."

Here we are three years later:

"The job that Pochettino is doing here and the team that he has is brilliant," Neville said.

"It's everything Tottenham were not during my football career - resilient, good to watch, robust defensively and with young players - English players too, which is always a bonus. Harry Winks was fantastic today and in the Bernabeu.

"Everything is right - it is a brilliant team, a brilliant coach, going into a new stadium and looking like they love playing with each other and with a connection to the fans.

"We have been quick over the years to criticise Daniel Levy and don't offer praise when things are going right but he's got a fantastic manager, a great youth set-up and now the youth players are being given a chance.

"People might say they don't pay as well as other sides but maybe he's running his club in a sustainable way and that's an achievement.

"I hope they can win the league because they play well enough to win the league but I think in the end it will be too much for them and that's my honest opinion."
Quality
 

Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
I remember in Poch's first season when we lost 2-1 at home to Newcastle - conceding a pathetic goal right from kick off after half time. Gary Neville did a MNF piece on that game and I still remember his words summing up Spurs from his 20 year playing career to that point...

“When I think about Tottenham, nothing has changed – they’re weak, weak mentally and that gives the manager a big problem. It’s so poor. And Tottenham historically… it’s what I always think of them – never ready, weak. The big challenge Pochettino has is transforming the mentality at the club over the next two to three years."

Here we are three years later:

"The job that Pochettino is doing here and the team that he has is brilliant," Neville said.

"It's everything Tottenham were not during my football career - resilient, good to watch, robust defensively and with young players - English players too, which is always a bonus. Harry Winks was fantastic today and in the Bernabeu.

"Everything is right - it is a brilliant team, a brilliant coach, going into a new stadium and looking like they love playing with each other and with a connection to the fans.

"We have been quick over the years to criticise Daniel Levy and don't offer praise when things are going right but he's got a fantastic manager, a great youth set-up and now the youth players are being given a chance.

"People might say they don't pay as well as other sides but maybe he's running his club in a sustainable way and that's an achievement.

"I hope they can win the league because they play well enough to win the league but I think in the end it will be too much for them and that's my honest opinion."

Wanker. He's the ringleader of the conspiracy against us.
 

tototoner

Staying Alert
Mar 21, 2004
29,387
34,059
BBC Gossip headline today

Is Mauricio Pochettino Read Madrid's long term solution?


Real Madrid will make Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino their number one target to replace Zinedine Zidane.(Daily Mail)
 

ExpatFan

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2005
1,873
1,664
BBC Gossip headline today

Is Mauricio Pochettino Read Madrid's long term solution?


Real Madrid will make Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino their number one target to replace Zinedine Zidane.(Daily Mail)
Well, they've already run stories on Alli and Kane off to Real, so I guess they're doing it in alphabetical order. After Poch, I suppose it'll be Winks.
 

kmk

Well-Known Member
Oct 5, 2014
4,145
27,500
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/tott...unned-by-spurs-mentality-when-he-first-joined

Defeatist Spurs mentality stunned Poch

LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino says he was left wide-eyed with shock at Tottenham's defeatist mentality when he first joined the club, revealing that some people were scared of playing West Ham and Queens Park Rangers.

Pochettino's Spurs proved that they can beat anyone with a brilliant 3-1 win over La Liga, European and world champions Real Madrid on Wednesday -- one of the standout results in the club's recent history.

But when the manager first arrived in May 2014, some people at Spurs were worried about playing West Ham and Harry Redknapp's QPR his first two league games.

Spurs won both, but the reaction prompted Pochettino to start changing the mentality at the club and he hopes he has altered the perception of Tottenham over time.

"Our first game was against West Ham and everyone was, 'Wow, it's West Ham' because Tottenham lost three times to them in the season before [I arrived]," Pochettino said ahead of Sunday's league match against bottom-club Crystal Palace.

"Then it was QPR at home -- Harry Redknapp in charge. When the Premier League fixtures were announced, people were so, 'Wow, look we are starting the season against West Ham then Harry Redknapp comes to White Hart Lane!'

"And my face was like the emoticon with the big eyes! We are Tottenham, come on! From that moment, we started to work hard to change that perception. We are Tottenham. We must be there and must feel we can smash everyone. I don't care if it's West Ham or QPR with Harry Redknapp. We won and we won again. And then we started to go downhill!

"It was a massive challenge. All those people like the fans and staff who love Tottenham felt disappointed for the history of the club. We try to change those things. We were very realistic in our assessment and of course it's trying to create a project and an idea and change a mentality that was here."

Before Pochettino arrived, Spurs were still capable of big results -- Redknapp guided them to the Champions League quarterfinals -- but they would often fail to live up to expectations in the smaller games, leading to the term "Spursy."

"To be honest, I have heard it a few times," Pochettino said. "I heard people say we are not that anymore!"

Pochettino's critics can still point to the lack of silverware since he joined the club and, immediately after the Real game, the manager said himself that the result will count for nothing if Spurs do not finish the season with a trophy.

But he added, not for the first time, that Spurs are involved in a gradual process and pointed to Sir. Alex Ferguson, who won the first of 13 league titles in his seventh season at Manchester United.

"I always say the same and explain the same when people ask me [about trophies]," Pochettino said. "Man United with Ferguson spend six years and in year seven won the title. And it is completely different today in the Premier League, when you compare with the other teams that compete with us, for me it is a very successful period.

"But, for me, and I repeat: for Tottenham to win a title it is to win the Champions League or the Premier League. The other cups, of course, I would like to win but it is more about luck because it depends on the draw.

"And there are a lot of examples that it is not always a success to win a title. Look at Leicester. Ranieri win the title for Leicester and is sacked after a few months. I think we are in a different project and for me of course but I would like to win because I love to win.

"I am a winner. I feel I am a winner and of course I want to win a title but at the moment we are working hard and giving our best to try to achieve that but there are many things happening in the club and that project that we feel that we are winning."

Pochettino hinted at changes to his team for the visit of Palace to Wembley, saying the physical and mental effort required to beat Real was "massive."
 

Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/tott...unned-by-spurs-mentality-when-he-first-joined

Defeatist Spurs mentality stunned Poch

LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino says he was left wide-eyed with shock at Tottenham's defeatist mentality when he first joined the club, revealing that some people were scared of playing West Ham and Queens Park Rangers.

Pochettino's Spurs proved that they can beat anyone with a brilliant 3-1 win over La Liga, European and world champions Real Madrid on Wednesday -- one of the standout results in the club's recent history.

But when the manager first arrived in May 2014, some people at Spurs were worried about playing West Ham and Harry Redknapp's QPR his first two league games.

Spurs won both, but the reaction prompted Pochettino to start changing the mentality at the club and he hopes he has altered the perception of Tottenham over time.

"Our first game was against West Ham and everyone was, 'Wow, it's West Ham' because Tottenham lost three times to them in the season before [I arrived]," Pochettino said ahead of Sunday's league match against bottom-club Crystal Palace.

"Then it was QPR at home -- Harry Redknapp in charge. When the Premier League fixtures were announced, people were so, 'Wow, look we are starting the season against West Ham then Harry Redknapp comes to White Hart Lane!'

"And my face was like the emoticon with the big eyes! We are Tottenham, come on! From that moment, we started to work hard to change that perception. We are Tottenham. We must be there and must feel we can smash everyone. I don't care if it's West Ham or QPR with Harry Redknapp. We won and we won again. And then we started to go downhill!

"It was a massive challenge. All those people like the fans and staff who love Tottenham felt disappointed for the history of the club. We try to change those things. We were very realistic in our assessment and of course it's trying to create a project and an idea and change a mentality that was here."

Before Pochettino arrived, Spurs were still capable of big results -- Redknapp guided them to the Champions League quarterfinals -- but they would often fail to live up to expectations in the smaller games, leading to the term "Spursy."

"To be honest, I have heard it a few times," Pochettino said. "I heard people say we are not that anymore!"

Pochettino's critics can still point to the lack of silverware since he joined the club and, immediately after the Real game, the manager said himself that the result will count for nothing if Spurs do not finish the season with a trophy.

But he added, not for the first time, that Spurs are involved in a gradual process and pointed to Sir. Alex Ferguson, who won the first of 13 league titles in his seventh season at Manchester United.

"I always say the same and explain the same when people ask me [about trophies]," Pochettino said. "Man United with Ferguson spend six years and in year seven won the title. And it is completely different today in the Premier League, when you compare with the other teams that compete with us, for me it is a very successful period.

"But, for me, and I repeat: for Tottenham to win a title it is to win the Champions League or the Premier League. The other cups, of course, I would like to win but it is more about luck because it depends on the draw.

"And there are a lot of examples that it is not always a success to win a title. Look at Leicester. Ranieri win the title for Leicester and is sacked after a few months. I think we are in a different project and for me of course but I would like to win because I love to win.

"I am a winner. I feel I am a winner and of course I want to win a title but at the moment we are working hard and giving our best to try to achieve that but there are many things happening in the club and that project that we feel that we are winning."

Pochettino hinted at changes to his team for the visit of Palace to Wembley, saying the physical and mental effort required to beat Real was "massive."

Glad to see we no longer fear losing against west ham.
 

DotNetCoder

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2011
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