Dier: Pochettino’s philosophy is now ‘set in stone’

[mawspurs]

Eric Dier believes Mauricio Pochettino’s philosophy is “set in stone” after the Argentine’s first season in charge, and that Spurs will be ready to challenge for the top four next season.

Read the full article at London 24

 

[chinaman]

No wonder there had been nothing but 4-2-3-1. Too hard and heavy to change.

 

[Sweetsman]

No wonder there had been nothing but 4-2-3-1. Too hard and heavy to change.

Well, if you're trying to stamp your style on a squad, you need to stick to one base system and then vary, rather than causing confusion by using too many formations.

 

[double0]

Two clean sheets, funnily enough with the much maligned Fazio

 

[dagraham]

What happens if our "philosophy" isn't working? Do we just not bother coming out for the second half?

 

[wozzahotspurs]

Two clean sheets, funnily enough with the much maligned Fazio

We only had 2 clean sheets? all season?

 

[Khilari]

I was fairly frustrated with the rigid formation used, but Poch clearly felt our playing personnel probably shuffled into this formation well.

Debate about the 3 behind a front man, who and where they play will continue, but with Chadli, Eriksen, Lamela, Townsend and perhaps a returning Lennon, we have a plethora of attacking players who may not do so well in a 4-4-2 (though admittedly our strikers, Ade, Soldado and even Kane may).

 

[double0]

What happens if our "philosophy" isn't working? Do we just not bother coming out for the second half?

Try harder.
Change players who aren't performing. Take our medicine in that particular game but still have the courage to believe in our philosophy.



What if your wheel buckles?

 

[bubble07]

I have not forgotten what happened to Milliband when set his philosophy in stone!

 

[Sweetsman]

We were not that far off Man U, but played a lot more games than them. I honestly think Pochettino isn't trying to just make top four: he wants a squad that will smash their way in. He had to make do with what he had. I think if we had managed to get Schneiderlin we would have easily made top four. Pochettino has to plan long term whatever Levy is thinking.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

I was fairly frustrated with the rigid formation used...

But it isn't a 'rigid formation'. It's a formation that he uses in every match, so you could argue that Pochettino's style of management is rigid, but the formation itself is anything but rigid.

There isn't a dedicated defensive midfielder. The double pivot, which usually means Mason & Bentaleb, are supposed to take turns covering for each other. Some of us don't think that's ideal, but it isn't rigid.

Then the three attacking midfielders are supposed to rotate and switch positions to destabilise and confuse the opposition defence. That's the opposite of rigid: the players are constantly found in new positions.

And the main striker, irrespective of whether it is Kane or Soldado, has been given licence to drop back into midfield or toward the flanks, so that one of the attacking midfield trio (usually Chadli, sometimes Lamela or Eriksen) can make a run into the box. A rigid formation would have the no. 9 in a less mobile position, centrally and near the penalty box, to act as a target man.

In defence, the fullbacks are expected to play high up the pitch and then hare back when we lose the ball. In the absence of a fit-and-in-form Walker, this hasn't worked well and has been one of the reasons why our defence so often looks ill-disciplined, but it isn't rigid, it's fluid.

And the goalkeeper acts as a near-sweeper. Not rigid.

 

[Khilari]

Ok, sure - the positions are meant to be fluid. But there were a number of occasions where I thought he may alter the personnel selected and thus the formation, rather than go for the "double pivot" and "fluid three" behind our striker for particular opposition. The way Van Gaal did quite well during the season and Mourinho is a master of.

But we didn't and often became predictable and actually easy to defend against. Also, there were times when the likes of Chadli, Eriksen and Lamela did move about, they didn't seem to do so in a coordinated fashion, leaving gaps on the wings where we then had no options.

Granted it was our first time sticking to this, but after a whole season using it, I wasn't convinced we had quite managed what perhaps MP had been striving for. I hope he either identifies the personnel that might help him achieve this, or consider alternative.

 

[Sweetsman]

But it isn't a 'rigid formation'. It's a formation that he uses in every match, so you could argue that Pochettino's style of management is rigid, but the formation itself is anything but rigid.

There isn't a dedicated defensive midfielder. The double pivot, which usually means Mason & Bentaleb, are supposed to take turns covering for each other. Some of us don't think that's ideal, but it isn't rigid.

Then the three attacking midfielders are supposed to rotate and switch positions to destabilise and confuse the opposition defence. That's the opposite of rigid: the players are constantly found in new positions.

And the main striker, irrespective of whether it is Kane or Soldado, has been given licence to drop back into midfield or toward the flanks, so that one of the attacking midfield trio (usually Chadli, sometimes Lamela or Eriksen) can make a run into the box. A rigid formation would have the no. 9 in a less mobile position, centrally and near the penalty box, to act as a target man.

In defence, the fullbacks are expected to play high up the pitch and then hare back when we lose the ball. In the absence of a fit-and-in-form Walker, this hasn't worked well and has been one of the reasons why our defence so often looks ill-disciplined, but it isn't rigid, it's fluid.

And the goalkeeper acts as a near-sweeper. Not rigid.

Superb explanation of the system. I think our young players, including Lamela, will have learnt a heck of a lot from this season. In fact, in the last game DM's explanation of the midfield was evident. We also saw how the introduction of Stambouli plugged up leaks that were appearing in midfield and as a result our defence looked more secure, even with novice fullbacks.

 

[Sweetsman]

Ok, sure - the positions are meant to be fluid. But there were a number of occasions where I thought he may alter the personnel selected and thus the formation, rather than go for the "double pivot" and "fluid three" behind our striker for particular opposition. The way Van Gaal did quite well during the season and Mourinho is a master of.

But we didn't and often became predictable and actually easy to defend against. Also, there were times when the likes of Chadli, Eriksen and Lamela did move about, they didn't seem to do so in a coordinated fashion, leaving gaps on the wings where we then had no options.

Granted it was our first time sticking to this, but after a whole season using it, I wasn't convinced we had quite managed what perhaps MP had been striving for. I hope he either identifies the personnel that might help him achieve this, or consider alternative.

A whole season may seem a long time, but you have to place that against two seasons of changing styles. I hope that if we sort out our defence, we can really go places next year.

 

[thinktank]

But it isn't a 'rigid formation'. It's a formation that he uses in every match, so you could argue that Pochettino's style of management is rigid, but the formation itself is anything but rigid.

There isn't a dedicated defensive midfielder. The double pivot, which usually means Mason & Bentaleb, are supposed to take turns covering for each other. Some of us don't think that's ideal, but it isn't rigid.

Then the three attacking midfielders are supposed to rotate and switch positions to destabilise and confuse the opposition defence. That's the opposite of rigid: the players are constantly found in new positions.

And the main striker, irrespective of whether it is Kane or Soldado, has been given licence to drop back into midfield or toward the flanks, so that one of the attacking midfield trio (usually Chadli, sometimes Lamela or Eriksen) can make a run into the box. A rigid formation would have the no. 9 in a less mobile position, centrally and near the penalty box, to act as a target man.

In defence, the fullbacks are expected to play high up the pitch and then hare back when we lose the ball. In the absence of a fit-and-in-form Walker, this hasn't worked well and has been one of the reasons why our defence so often looks ill-disciplined, but it isn't rigid, it's fluid.

And the goalkeeper acts as a near-sweeper. Not rigid.

Fuck me, someone actually gets it.

4231 is modular and the most flexible shape you can play imo as you can transition through other shapes, fluidly, throughout a game (if so desired).

It offers the most scope, dynamically, and once we're running like a swiss watch it'll be lovely to watch us in motion.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

Fuck me, someone actually gets it.

4231 is modular and the most flexible shape you can play imo as you can transition through other shapes, fluidly, throughout a game (if so desired).

It offers the most scope, dynamically, and once we're running like a swiss watch it'll be lovely to watch us in motion.

Thanks. In my view, the main thing that has been missing, aside from defensive discipline, has been pace, especially along the flanks. The only quick players we have seen in Pochettino's favoured line-up this past season have been Walker (rarely fit and out of sorts), Rose, Lloris, the often-aimless Townsend and the only-moderately-quick Lamela & Chadli.

We're in need of someone with Lennon-type acceleration to act as a constant threat, in part to free up the players with more considered styles (e.g., Lamela, also Eriksen) from the smothering attention of 2+ opponents.

Rose's defensive progress this season is largely due to his growing understanding that you can't play high up the pitch unless you are prepared to belt back into position immediately when we lose the ball. It's an exhausting role, as is shown by Pochettino's habit of applying regular match-by-match rotation only to the fullbacks. Rose can handle it and so can Walker, when he is fully-fit and has clear instructions, but there has to be someone else, more attacking in intent, who can combine real pace with positional discipline.

It's one reason why I was unhappy with the decision to let Lennon leave on loan. He can frustrate with his tendency to go nowhere with the ball, but he's fast and he's a useful all-round midfielder, not just an attacking winger.

The whole formation is ambitious and very much a work in progress.

 

[ginola007]

the fullbacks are expected to play high up the pitch and then hare back when we lose the ball. In the absence of a fit-and-in-form Walker, this hasn't worked well and has been one of the reasons why our defence so often looks ill-disciplined, but it isn't rigid, it's fluid.

Despite the above paragraph, Rose had done exceptionally well; very much above what was expected of him when last season began.

 

[Sweetsman]

It is said that Levy is trigger happy, which may be partly true, but our fans are often impatient. We expect players to hit the ground running, and when they don't they are pilloried. However, when they improve people are reticent in their praise. This applies to Lamela, Rose and Mason. The impatience shown towards a manager who is trying to sort of the wheat from the chaff beggars belief; and yet, he has managed to do get us to a final, finish higher than last season, beaten some of the top teams, and inculcated a never-say-die attitude. Progress has been evident to those who wanted to see. As regards next season, I wouldn't even be surprised if the likes of Dembele, Fazio and Stambouli are kept, given that they may have come through the Poch test.

 

[eddiebailey]

The problem is that our fluidity is nullified by opponents rigidity. We do fine against teams like Everton who are up for a game of football and leave spaces for us to exploit, but we are unable to create space against the bus parkers. That is when you need width and pace to unsettle defences and drag opponents out of position - more than our fullbacks can provide without leaving space behind them for counter-attacks.