First Half season review - Glass half full or half empty ?

[arunspurs]

Played - 19 ;Won - 9;Draw - 4;Lost - 6;GD - 0;
Points - 31;Position - 7th

Lets be honest. This is mediocre by most standard, especially for a team that has ambitions to be in top4.

But numbers & stats don't mean anything without a context. Devil is in the detail.

Pochettino inherited a squad of overpriced, overpaid, overrated, under performing bunch of individual footballers (not a team). Problem was such that the 2 previous managers didn't even know their best back 4 let alone their first XI. So, first part of his job was to gauge his players & identify his back 4, identify his captain & vice captain and hopefully find his XI.

Its been a struggle for him. Starting from appointing Kaboul as captain & Ade as vice captain. Most fans didn't agree to this. First few games in PL - I often wondered if he left his famed 'philosophy' at Southampton. There was no pressing, no creativity, no tikki takka. Even , fans player of the season Eriksen was having a stinker of a season.

When we lost to Liverpool 3-0 I was so disappointed. When we lost miserably to Newcastle, my confidence in Poch & this team went down. But when lost to Stoke 1-2 at home, I guess shit hit the fan.

Post game, media grilled Pochettino with uncomfortable questions

- It seemed that Stoke were working so much harder unlike your team, who put no effort even, when you were losing ?
-When your team is losing 2-0, why isn't your substitute Adebayor not ready & changing shoes ?
-What are you going to do to change this ?​

Pochettino answered - 'we need a change in mentality, we have a international break coming up. It is my job to find the solution.'
Solution I guess was to drop the players who are acting like primadonnas & reward the player who train well & play well.

In the aftermath of that game,

- Pochettino had 2 academy players Dominic Ball & Cebellos in subs bench in Hull game
- Kaboul, Adebayor, Capoue never played a PL game.
- Rose lost his place eventually to Davies
- Fazio & Vertonghen started playing at CB position ever since
- Bentaleb & Walker walked straight in after recovering from their injury
- We have lost 1 game in PL since then - to league leaders Chelsea.
- Eriksen came back into form & Kane hit form
- Our fitness improved leaps & bounds
- Our resilience improved & rescued games from difficult situations
- We found a back 4 - may not be perfect one but at least something we could rely on
- Manager finally found his first XI​

Having said that, I have to accept that along this resurgence, there has been moments where we were lucky.. Won points where we didn't deserve. But then, it could be attributed to never say die attitude & the fitness we developed.

Like yesterday's game, our season till now has been like a game of 2 halves.

Our players have started embracing Coach's philosophy & playing for the club. Emergence of academy players like Kane, Mason & Bentaleb along with likes of Eriksen, Davies, Lloris, Walker have certainly lifted the atmosphere at lane.

Pochettino's work has only begun but at half time in the season, I am happy with how we are proceeding. If recent games are anything to go by, future is bright. Now, its time for Daniel Levy to back his head coach in transfer window & give him the reinforcements he needs.

Verdict : Poor start but light at the end of the tunnel (Half Glass Full)

 

[shelfmonkey]

Agree with OP, jus need baldy to trust Poch's judgement in the transfer market, only then can we begin to judge Poch.

 

[thinktank]

Played - 19 ;Won - 9;Draw - 4;Lost - 6;GD - 0;
Points - 31;Position - 7th

Lets be honest. This is mediocre by most standard, especially for a team that has ambitions to be in top4.

But numbers & stats don't mean anything without a context. Devil is in the detail.

Pochettino inherited a squad of overpriced, overpaid, overrated, under performing bunch of individual footballers (not a team). Problem was such that the 2 previous managers didn't even know their best back 4 let alone their first XI. So, first part of his job was to gauge his players & identify his back 4, identify his captain & vice captain and hopefully find his XI.

Its been a struggle for him. Starting from appointing Kaboul as captain & Ade as vice captain. Most fans didn't agree to this. First few games in PL - I often wondered if he left his famed 'philosophy' at Southampton. There was no pressing, no creativity, no tikki takka. Even , fans player of the season Eriksen was having a stinker of a season.

When we lost to Liverpool 3-0 I was so disappointed. When we lost miserably to Newcastle, my confidence in Poch & this team went down. But when lost to Stoke 1-2 at home, I guess shit hit the fan.

Post game, media grilled Pochettino with uncomfortable questions

- It seemed that Stoke were working so much harder unlike your team, who put no effort even, when you were losing ?
-When your team is losing 2-0, why isn't your substitute Adebayor not ready & changing shoes ?
-What are you going to do to change this ?​

Pochettino answered - 'we need a change in mentality, we have a international break coming up. It is my job to find the solution.'
Solution I guess was to drop the players who are acting like primadonnas & reward the player who train well & play well.

In the aftermath of that game,

- Pochettino had 2 academy players Dominic Ball & Cebellos in subs bench in Hull game
- Kaboul, Adebayor, Capoue never played a PL game.
- Rose lost his place eventually to Davies
- Fazio & Vertonghen started playing at CB position ever since
- Bentaleb & Walker walked straight in after recovering from their injury
- We have lost 1 game in PL since then - to league leaders Chelsea.
- Eriksen came back into form & Kane hit form
- Our fitness improved leaps & bounds
- Our resilience improved & rescued games from difficult situations
- We found a back 4 - may not be perfect one but at least something we could rely on
- Manager finally found his first XI​

Having said that, I have to accept that along this resurgence, there has been moments where we were lucky.. Won points where we didn't deserve. But then, it could be attributed to never say die attitude & the fitness we developed.

Like yesterday's game, our season till now has been like a game of 2 halves.

Our players have started embracing Coach's philosophy & playing for the club. Emergence of academy players like Kane, Mason & Bentaleb along with likes of Eriksen, Davies, Lloris, Walker have certainly lifted the atmosphere at lane.

Pochettino's work has only begun but at half time in the season, I am happy with how we are proceeding. If recent games are anything to go by, future is bright. Now, its time for Daniel Levy to back his head coach in transfer window & give him the reinforcements he needs.

Verdict : Poor start but light at the end of the tunnel (Half Glass Full)

In other words...it takes time.

Nice post.

 

[DaSpurs]

Maybe I'm being premature, but as someone who adamantly preferred we take the de Boer route in the summer, I'm pleased to say I'm confident in the direction we're going. I'm convinced that his fitness plan is absolutely reaping reward, and as our players gain in confidence from it and the results it generates I think we can look forward to good things in the home stretch and beyond.

However, I still think we need personnel improvement. It's still up in the air whether or not he can correctly identify players for the correct positions of need, so I look forward to his decisions this January. We have a genuine opportunity to push for top four surprisingly enough (admittedly have received some help from others), so I think with just a few correct tweaks in the correct places, we can do it.

 

[Spurger King]

In other words...it takes time.

Nice post.

You could stick Joe Kinnear in charge and make the same argument.

Every manager would argue that given enough time they could improve the team. What matters is what they do with that time, and whether or not they are producing visible results. For much of the season there's either been no signs of palpable progress, or glimpses that are swiftly followed by a noticeable regression. If by the end of the season we're still looking completely shapeless and soft I'll be concerned.

Fortunately there are small signs that Pochettino's changes behind the scene are starting to come good. The better performances seem to be a bit closer together, and there is definitely a lot of evidence that our fitness levels are starting to make a big difference. I think that could be a major factor towards the end of the season.

 

[Strikeb4ck]

I still think we are very lucky to be where we are in the table. I don't see any situation where this luck holds up and we finish top 4. It's a matter of time before some events go against us and some of the 2-1s we've had go the other way, for example. I still don't think we are playing particularly well and after half a season I was expecting much better football. Many of these players still seem stuck in AVB's way of playing. Don't forget, we are only a couple weeks removed from the performances vs Swansea, CP, Besiktas, etc.

That being said, I wasn't expecting much this season. I look at this as a season like Liverpool had originally with Brendan Rodgers, where philosophies are laid down and Poch (knowing he will be here next season) is building something. Then next season I would expect a serious campaign in the league.

If we win a cup (preferably Europa League but more likely the League Cup) while making a good run in the other and finish 5th or 6th in the league I'd be happy.

 

[talkshowhost86]

We've been largely rubbish but we're still in touch with where we are roughly aiming (top 6, with top 4 an outside shot).

For me Poch has taken time to realise that certain players are uncoachable, and it took him too long to do this, but at least now he's narrowed down the squad to those he can trust, and those who he only plays when he absolutely has to.

But the squad itself just isn't good enough, and without improvement I don't see Poch getting much more out of this set of players.

January is a big month if we want to see any improvement this season, otherwise I think we'll be treading water until the Summer.

 

[thinktank]

You could stick Joe Kinnear in charge and make the same argument.

Every manager would argue that given enough time they could improve the team. What matters is what they do with that time, and whether or not they are producing visible results. For much of the season there's either been no signs of palpable progress, or glimpses that are swiftly followed by a noticeable regression. If by the end of the season we're still looking completely shapeless and soft I'll be concerned.

Fortunately there are small signs that Pochettino's changes behind the scene are starting to come good. The better performances seem to be a bit closer together, and there is definitely a lot of evidence that our fitness levels are starting to make a big difference. I think that could be a major factor towards the end of the season.

You could...for the two weeks he would have lasted.

Also, you're smarter than than, SK, come on.

We have deep rooted mentality issues that many other teams haven't had and don't have to to contend with. Dismantling that mindset takes consistent massaging and manipulation. There's no way around it. At the beginning of the season, most with a clue knew it would be a stop/start, steps forward/steps back sort of deal because of the mentality of our players, specifically.

Poch has had to chip away at that concrete and we've seen strong signs at times that he's finally getting through.

I'm convinced he made his mind up to push through his shape/philosophy from the get-go and just accept the fallout. He needs to know who can hack it as it will be our mainstay - like it is chelsea's/s'ton's/swansea's - so it has been a 5 month process of exploration and elimination which has 'unearthed' the discoveries @arunspurs noted, thus far.

Other managers could have come here and played to the mediocrity we have. Ok. But in poch we have a manger with a big picture and a style that is going to permeate the whole club, set to take us forward for years to come (that's the plan, anyway...one must always consider the LEVY factor).

It is a demanding way to play and requires a long period of installation. There is no way around it.

It requires specific type of personnel. There is no way around it.

It requires patience from observers. There is no way around it.

I'm glad he hasn't compromised he mission too much as it will pay off more in the long run.

Find what's right for 4231, set it in stone and then build in flexibility.

I'm pretty sure that's what's happening here.

 

[DiscoD1882]

I said I would judge after half a season. But I still don't think I am ready to. We have been a mess and it is clearly taking time to sort out. So half term report is encouraging. But still lots of work to do. If we can continue to improve we have as much chance as the rest of the teams around us to finish in the top 4. But I don't think we will. I would like a good cup run. Agree with poster above that this will probably be the league cup. Would love it to be the uefa cup. It has been 30 years!!!

 

[jonnyp]

Don't see much difference except that fitness does look better and pressing is better in some games.

We still look hopeless defending a lot of the time. We still don't know how to take a corner, nor defend one properly. We never look like Liverpool did tonight against Swansea in the final third.

I think Pochettino often selects the wrong players, often waits too long to sub, and when he does sub he subs on the wrong player.

Having said all that, I think our squad is bang average and I don't envy any Spurs manager with the current crop of players at his disposal.

 

[scat1620]

Very much on the fence. I like the players and the I-XI line-ups that Pochettino is picking on the teamsheets more than I did those picked by AVB and Tim (especially loving the full-on emergence of Kane and Mason this season), but I don't think that the manner our performances inspire much confidence at all.

Genuinely pretty neutral at the moment... which may be a less-than-great sign as Pochettino was my favourite of the candidates we were linked with when Tim was sacked. Hope he comes good.

 

[ThorntonSpur]

im half full. we are showing some progress especially in the fitness area. if we are in with a shout with 15 minutes left I fancy us to be the side that nicks it and we have been recently. I liked poch's comment when asked about Chelsea game, is it rest rest rest before Chelsea he was asked, no train train train he replied.

 

[DogsOfWar]

We've been largely rubbish but we're still in touch with where we are roughly aiming (top 6, with top 4 an outside shot).

For me Poch has taken time to realise that certain players are uncoachable, and it took him too long to do this, but at least now he's narrowed down the squad to those he can trust, and those who he only plays when he absolutely has to.

But the squad itself just isn't good enough, and without improvement I don't see Poch getting much more out of this set of players.

January is a big month if we want to see any improvement this season, otherwise I think we'll be treading water until the Summer.

That's a bit harsh as I'm not convinced many people thought that the trio of Bentaleb, Mason, and Kane would outperform Capoue, Dembele, and Soldado/Ade.
Even now I still can't work it out and still have a misplaced belief that they will come good.
I think Poch has just treated the players fairly, the senior pros were made captain/vice captain and the existing team were not forcibly ousted straight away which may have caused unrest. Kaboul, Rose, Naughton, Capoue, Dembele, Paulinho, Lennon, Ade, and Soldado were all given opportunities to stake a claim and failed.
They can have no complaints about being replaced due to their performances, and no complaints as their replacements have achieved better results.

I personally don't think that Poch, as a new manager, could have realistically sorted out the starting eleven in much of a shorter time.

 

[ClonedFromSandrosBeard]

Is 7th mediocre for a transitional season? I'm well behind him. Probably behind his wife and thinktank in the conga line of poch appreciation.

 

[Tit&Ham]

Glass megafull! Need a new glass...

Goodnight

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Who was the first guy to say No?

Come on, own up

 

[scat1620]

Is 7th mediocre for a transitional season? I'm well behind him. Probably behind his wife and thinktank in the conga line of poch appreciation.

You've typed that in the wrong order.

 

[prawnsandwich]

Who was the first guy to say No?

Come on, own up

Me, Mr Policeman.
To me it is exactly the same as under AVB-turgid football in the EPL.
Only diff is that MoPo has had a go in the cups which keeps me hopeful but NOT confident.

 

[Mr Pink]

i think improvement was always go to be sporadic in the early months when a manager like Pochettino comes in and tries to implement his style - particularly at a Club like ours. It involves lots of changes and I'm sure he hasn't been helped with the likes of Adebayor/Kaboul or whatever is going on there.

Lets be honest, there's been a shit lot to sort out - from the balance of the squad, to assessing who's suitable and has the right attitude etc - this is why Kane, Mason and Bentaleb have formed the nucleus of the team now. Where would be sitting had they all been playing from the off? Higher up the table I reckon and perhaps we'd probably be seeing more signs of Pochettino's style in our performances more regularly. He needed to assess players in competitive situations to, not just pre season.

All that said, its still only half way through his first season and we need to remain patient. The performance against Everton was a very good one and I hope we see more of that in the coming weeks.

I don't understand why more people arn't positive, it perplexes me. We're picking up points at a good rate even though our performances arn't the best at the moment. He's already changing our mentality IMO, certainly our fitness looks fantastic. You only had to look at how young and inexperienced most of our team was compared to United's. Quite unbelievable really and I'm very optimistic we'll start seeing some real progression with performances soon enough. Kane leading the line is really exciting me at the moment. Having that desire is infectious.

We need to make some changes to the squad, which won't all be addressed in January obviously, but I think Pochettino is laying the foundations for real change at the moment and the future is very promising. The likes of Adebayor, Kaboul and Capoue nowhere to be seen - with our youth forming much of the spine of the team.

He's clearly wants to build character throughout our side, something we've lacked for a long time. And whilst performances are erratic, disjointed and concerning at times its this improved character (and fitness) that is seeing us pick up a decent rate of points at the moment. All top teams need that character IMO, and when the football improves and we start seeing more cohesion and fluidity to our play we'll be on the right road and they'll be no looking back IMO because Pochettino will have successfully laid the foundations for his blueprint - so to speak.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Me, Mr Policeman.
To me it is exactly the same as under AVB-turgid football in the EPL.
Only diff is that MoPo has had a go in the cups which keeps me hopeful but NOT confident.

I am so surprised. Not. Oh well, he's not going to get everyone's trust