ljinko888
Well-Known Member
- May 17, 2016
- 2,095
- 5,404
Some good points but still I think this is largely viewed with the benefit of hindsight. The proof of all this is to simply go back and read the threads at the time.
When Poch came in and gave Rose a new five year contract without a ball being kicked the reaction among the fans was not good. It was something Rose himself held a grudge over during his infamous interview in 2017.
Danny Rose signs new five-year contract with Tottenham
Rose is clearly not the most popular man on Tottenham High Road
www.independent.co.uk
When Poch came in Walker had spent the previous season rotating the right back position with Kyle Naughton. I don't doubt Walker had the potential to be where he is now. But in 2013/14 he fell away and it was Poch who brought him back to the level he showed under Redknapp and even got him better. Because Walker always had speed to be dangerous on the overlap but his defensive reading of the game got better. There is a parallel with Reguilon who was part of a good Sevilla team and came with big hype but slightly underwhelmed in his first season but is much better now. Credit to Conte but Reguillon already showed his capability winning the Europa League with Sevilla as a starring player hence why Real Madrid inserted a buy back.
Poch moulded Walker and Rose into top class and highly sought after full backs. And when Walker left and Rose got injured he managed to maintain consistency to get into the Top 4 with their back-ups Davies and Trippier.
Ryan Mason had only ever played four matches for the first team and the last of which came two seasons before Poch arrived. He spent the 2013/14 season in League One on loan. Yes he was a hungry player who was a Spurs boy. He would always give it his all when called upon. Poch is the one who called upon him. Did anyone expect a 23 year old who had been loaned out year after year to become a key player in the summer of 2014? I highly doubt it. Similarly, Dembele was not the GOAT in 2014. He was a highly gifted player on the ball who had to work on his work off the ball.
In 2014 did anyone think that the solution to our striker malaise would come within and that Harry Kane, a 21 year old who spent most of his early years on loan, would develop into one of the finest strikers in history? Most people I remember were still staking their hat on Soldado coming good. And he did have a good reputation and hefty fee so actually it took balls from Poch to pull the plug on that project and stick with the local boy.
Eriksen would have come good no doubt. His playstyle and mentality were perfect. But who predicted in 2014 that the fragile Lamela would go on to become a terrier type forward. Whenever he played he did and in interviews he praises Poch for that.
The point is not to overrate Poch and put him on a pedestal that can't be taken away because he made mistakes and big ones too. But we can't use hindsight to act like all that development was a natural occurence. The players who played for Poch always talk glowingly of him as a sort of mentor. Dele's statement when he left the club brought him and the Poch coaching team up which I thought was rather telling because it had been over two years and three managers since their time together ended.
I remember when Mourinho was supposed to be the final piece of the jigsaw. The serial winner, tactical genius, huge personality. It didn't work out like that at all. Six weeks ago when we were losing left and right and being knocked out by Middlesbrough it showed simply being a "winner" with a great CV does not guarantee success. Having two established world class forwards was something both these men inherited. That helps a great deal because scoring goals is the most important job on the pitch.
So to go back to the original point of whether Conte would have won titles with Poch's teams. Maybe if he got Poch's team exactly as they were at that point in time. But I don't think he would. Precisely because it was Poch's team and I don't think a Conte or a Mourinho in the summer of 2014 would approach that team building anywhere near the same.
