whitestreak
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- Dec 8, 2006
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Kenny Dalglish on Tottenham: Mauricio Pochettino is proving managing Spurs ISN'T an impossible job
Kenny Dalglish on Tottenham: Mauricio Pochettino is proving managing Spurs ISN'T an impossible jobWhat Pochettino has done is to put his identity on things quickly, which isn’t always easy. He’s identified the problems, looked at the faults and rectified them.
He's almost slipped under the radar with his progress at Tottenham, but Mauricio Pochettino looks like he has quickly turned things around there.
I remember the beating they took from Liverpool early in the season - and they were well beaten, believe me - and he must have realised then it was a wee bit more difficult of a job than he first thought.
in fact, people said it was an impossible job, and he was mad to take it on, given the number of managers the White Hart Lane club have gone through. But you don’t know the stipulations he put on when he accepted the job.
Put it this way, they did well to get him away from Southampton, so maybe they had to come round to his way of thinking to persuade him to do that.
Maybe they had to come to an understanding with him - allow him to put his own personality on things - even though they have a director of football in place there.
It’s a system that is much maligned, but Pochettino has an advantage above many of the managers in the Premier League, in that he came from Spain and a situation working with a technical director. He understands how it works... and how to make it work for him.
That’s the key.
There’s nothing wrong with having a technical director if you can find a way of making it work with the manager, and I suspect that’s what happened at White Hart Lane – Pochettino addressed that before he went in.
Look at him now. After that difficult start, they’re still in four competitions.
They are in form in the Premier League and can make the top four in what is going to be a hell of a race, they’ve got a lead in a semi-final of the Capital One Cup, and a home tie against Leicester for a place in the last 16 of the FA Cup.
Progress to the last 32 of the Europa League - where they face Fiorentina - has been comfortable for them too, though I know myself about how that competition is tricky in the way it affects your league programme.
I like what he’s done there at Spurs.
It’s a fantastic club to go and manage, no matter what people say about the set-up there – Tim Sherwood did well, and enjoyed his time there. He spoke about how much he enjoyed it, even if he was unlucky to not be offered the job full time.
It’s not the impossible job people seem to make out.
Let’s face it, what Premier League manager’s job IS easy? There’s pressure at every club, every day, and from the top to the bottom you hear rumours about the man at the top’s position. That’s the way it is these days.
He has also promoted a lot of the younger players, which I like. You don’t look at the birth certificate of someone to see if he’s going to play for you, you look at the quality and what he is going to give.
He’s pushed Harry Kane along, trusting him where maybe others weren’t ready to, and given chances to Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentalab, Andros Townsend and the like.
Pochettino had a decent track record of putting the Southampton youngsters in his team too. You get the right kids, and it’s a way of competing at the top. Funnily enough, Southampton are a great example of that, even after Pochettino has moved on.
You can give yourself a migraine trying to work out who’s going to finish in the top four this season, but the way he has worked quietly at Spurs, they’ve got a good chance now of getting one of those places.
But why is everyone dismissing Southampton?
They’ve got 42 points and are playing as well as anyone right now. They’ve got a good mix of players, and a lot of younger lads who give them quality in key positions.
I reckon a few tears are going to be shed between now and the end of the season for those clubs who want to make the top four... but I think Spurs are on the right lines, and it doesn’t look such an impossible job now.
Kenny Dalglish on Tottenham: Mauricio Pochettino is proving managing Spurs ISN'T an impossible jobWhat Pochettino has done is to put his identity on things quickly, which isn’t always easy. He’s identified the problems, looked at the faults and rectified them.
He's almost slipped under the radar with his progress at Tottenham, but Mauricio Pochettino looks like he has quickly turned things around there.
I remember the beating they took from Liverpool early in the season - and they were well beaten, believe me - and he must have realised then it was a wee bit more difficult of a job than he first thought.
in fact, people said it was an impossible job, and he was mad to take it on, given the number of managers the White Hart Lane club have gone through. But you don’t know the stipulations he put on when he accepted the job.
Put it this way, they did well to get him away from Southampton, so maybe they had to come round to his way of thinking to persuade him to do that.
Maybe they had to come to an understanding with him - allow him to put his own personality on things - even though they have a director of football in place there.
It’s a system that is much maligned, but Pochettino has an advantage above many of the managers in the Premier League, in that he came from Spain and a situation working with a technical director. He understands how it works... and how to make it work for him.
That’s the key.
There’s nothing wrong with having a technical director if you can find a way of making it work with the manager, and I suspect that’s what happened at White Hart Lane – Pochettino addressed that before he went in.
Look at him now. After that difficult start, they’re still in four competitions.
They are in form in the Premier League and can make the top four in what is going to be a hell of a race, they’ve got a lead in a semi-final of the Capital One Cup, and a home tie against Leicester for a place in the last 16 of the FA Cup.
Progress to the last 32 of the Europa League - where they face Fiorentina - has been comfortable for them too, though I know myself about how that competition is tricky in the way it affects your league programme.
I like what he’s done there at Spurs.
It’s a fantastic club to go and manage, no matter what people say about the set-up there – Tim Sherwood did well, and enjoyed his time there. He spoke about how much he enjoyed it, even if he was unlucky to not be offered the job full time.
It’s not the impossible job people seem to make out.
Let’s face it, what Premier League manager’s job IS easy? There’s pressure at every club, every day, and from the top to the bottom you hear rumours about the man at the top’s position. That’s the way it is these days.
He has also promoted a lot of the younger players, which I like. You don’t look at the birth certificate of someone to see if he’s going to play for you, you look at the quality and what he is going to give.
He’s pushed Harry Kane along, trusting him where maybe others weren’t ready to, and given chances to Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentalab, Andros Townsend and the like.
Pochettino had a decent track record of putting the Southampton youngsters in his team too. You get the right kids, and it’s a way of competing at the top. Funnily enough, Southampton are a great example of that, even after Pochettino has moved on.
You can give yourself a migraine trying to work out who’s going to finish in the top four this season, but the way he has worked quietly at Spurs, they’ve got a good chance now of getting one of those places.
But why is everyone dismissing Southampton?
They’ve got 42 points and are playing as well as anyone right now. They’ve got a good mix of players, and a lot of younger lads who give them quality in key positions.
I reckon a few tears are going to be shed between now and the end of the season for those clubs who want to make the top four... but I think Spurs are on the right lines, and it doesn’t look such an impossible job now.
