The Mauricio Pochettino thread

[Lennon1981]

Point is though that the Man Utd board stick their noses into everything these days unlike when Fergie was running it. Now they micromanage the manager and he has to pick tactics around the players they want to play etc. It really wouldn't suit him and like every other manager other than a very lucky yes man, he would get sacked in a year.

Now don’t get me wrong I don’t want him to go and I’m still prettt sure he won’t.

But make no mistake he is their number 1 choice and has been since before they gave it to Maureen.

They will do what ever it takes and give him as much power as he wants to do what he wants. Despite their recent history with managers they aren’t Real Madrid.

If he went there he would still be there in 8-10 and they would be winning trophies I’d bet my life on it

 

[easley91]

Daily Mail headline - 'Mauricio Pochettino's bond with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy won't stop his exit plan'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...chairman-Daniel-Levy-wont-stop-exit-plan.html

They apparently have sources that they haven't even got quotes from!

 

[Dr Benson]

But, if Solskjær suceeds to a certain point they don't need to change manager next summer. ManU should try out Solskjær, Giggs, Carrick etc instead of looking for superstar managers. But, Levy should give Poch money for transfers. The way I see it it's now or never.

 

[elfy]

I'm actually quite relaxed about all this.

I can see Poch as a perfect fit for United, but i don't think United is a good fit for Poch.

As has been said, when he took over here the first thing he did was clear out those players he did not have faith in, or who did not buy into his philosophy. Looking at the United players over this season, first thing he'd do is clear a large proportion of them.

I honestly don't think Poch himself knows whether he would be interested in the United job or not. One of the things I love about him is his professionalism and apparent integrity.

I firmly believe that for the rest of the season he'll focus on his job at Spurs, and only at the end of the season would he even contemplate another job.

Whether he chooses to stay or go, and it will be his choice. I will still love the man and respect everything he has done for the club. If he chooses to leave, as disappointing as it would be I would hope that he does well and he will still be a manager I have immense respect and gratitude for.

I can see why he might be tempted to go to United, I can also see why he might be minded to stay.

All I hope is that Levy does anything he can to keep him. I don't think that chucking money at the tranfer market would influence Poch one way or the other, but I would hope that Levy has at least sat down with him and asked what/who he needs.

 

[Hercules]

Daily Mail headline - 'Mauricio Pochettino's bond with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy won't stop his exit plan'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...chairman-Daniel-Levy-wont-stop-exit-plan.html

They apparently have sources that they haven't even got quotes from!

Apparently being the operative word. DL back him within reason; he is going nowhere! From what I heard from ‘sources within’.

 

[Dr Benson]

If he wants to go to
ManU he's an idiot!

 

[Paolo10]

If Levy doesn't back him, he's an idiot.

 

[Dr Benson]

Yes, it's now or never. Its not a time for saving and being defensive. In norwegian we have an expression which in english will be something like "Don't save so much that you end up as a poor man". Don't remember what the english expression is.. But, it fits the current situation of Spurs.

 

[Colonel Dax]

If Levy doesn't back him, he's an idiot.

Unfortunately we’ve seen this movie before

 

[mattie g]

This thread just goes on and on, with the same discussion repeated ad nauseam. More power to those debating it, but f**k me...doesn’t it get old?

Maybe it’s because I’m an American living i the States and I’m not being constantly subjected to the speculation about this, but I have absolutely ZERO worries about this. I don’t see Poch going anywhere unless he gets forced out, which absolutely isn’t going to happen.

Onward and upward, as they say...

 

[Lilbaz]

This thread just goes on and on, with the same discussion repeated ad nauseam. More power to those debating it, but f**k me...doesn’t it get old?

Maybe it’s because I’m an American living i the States and I’m not being constantly subjected to the speculation about this, but I have absolutely ZERO worries about this. I don’t see Poch going anywhere unless he gets forced out, which absolutely isn’t going to happen.

Onward and upward, as they say...

Then why be in the thread?

 

[DCSPUR]

Apparently being the operative word. DL back him within reason; he is going nowhere! From what I heard from ‘sources within’.

confidence from Herc is good news indeed - such a key time for the club

 

[DCSPUR]

Then why be in the thread?

to be a voice of reason and tell us all to chill out and relax? Caring for your fellow spurs fan?
#possibilities

 

[arnoldlayne]

Don't think this has been posted - football 365 is usually quite measured in their opinion pieces
Still presenting the usual stuff about leaving Southampton

F365 Says

https://www.football365.com/news/pochettino-stick-go-mystery-box



football365.com

Should Pochettino stick or go for the mystery box? - Football365

Dave Tickner

6-7 minutes

I’ve never been fully convinced about the idea of Mauricio Pochettino to Manchester United, despite the obvious merits to the idea.
It all just seems a bit too obvious, a bit too convenient, a bit too much of a media concoction: Pochettino’s Spurs are such a clear antithesis of everything Mourinho’s United were that it’s almost too easy.
Every one of Mourinho’s increasingly desperate excuses for United’s travails could be countered by pointing to north London. Didn’t get precisely the players you wanted, Jose? This fella didn’t get any at all, and doesn’t even have a stadium, and he’s third!
While Mourinho led an increasingly dispirited, fractious squad to ultimate ruin and misery, Spurs’ greatest strength remans their unity. Those who don’t toe the line are excised from the group – yet the cases of Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose and Moussa Sissoko show that Poch’s firmness is backed by pragmatism rather than grudge-holding, and his alchemist’s ability to produce gold from the most unpromising raw materials is a thing of wonder.
Nevertheless, Pochettino remains a gamble for a club of United’s size and expectation. Quibbles about his lack of silverware grow ever dafter in assessing his time at Spurs, but that doesn’t make them irrelevant to his next potential employer – nor does his questionable record in the biggest one-off games. The sight of Spurs rescuing their Champions League campaign from admittedly self-inflicted wounds not once, not twice but three times in the last 10 minutes of their final three games must go some way to assuaging the latter concern, and United’s stated brief lessens the importance of the other.
Because United are already briefing and briefing hard. There can be little doubt that he is the man top of their summer wishlist unless Ole Gunnar Solskjaer goes full Di Matteo and wins the Champions League by accident.
A United source told the Times the next manager will need to ‘build a positive atmosphere’ and ‘create a united dressing room’. They could hardly be clearer if they’d specified that the new manager will need to be ‘a handsome Argentine fellow. For privacy’s sake, let’s call him Mauricio P. No, that’s too obvious. Let’s say M Pochettino’.
Plenty of potential candidates can beat Pochettino in a medals competition; none can match what he has achieved in bringing a disparate group of players both bought and inherited together with the clarity and positivity and unity of purpose achieved with flaky old Spurs.
It seems very likely, then, that Pochettino has a decision to make: stick with the successful yet unfinished project he’s devoted five years to, or take his first job at a genuinely elite club, albeit one that has fallen on hard times. It will not be as straightforward as either Spurs or United fans may think.
Spurs fans expecting unstinting loyalty from a manager with Pochettino’s ambition would do well to remember that he left Southampton for them, and has plenty of reason to feel a touch let down over the last 12 months. But, for the first time in the Premier League era, nor are United a clearly superior long-term bet than Spurs.
There are so many factors involved.
While it’s unthinkable that Spurs will go another year without signing anyone at all, it’s unlikely that a sudden influx of the sort of transfer cash he would be offered at United will materialise.
And yet at Spurs Pochettino now boasts the sort of Wengeresque autonomy and control that simply would not be repeated anywhere else – least of all at Old Trafford.
It seems certain that one of United’s first steps towards sorting a mess that was never entirely about the sulking Portuguese in the dugout will be to appoint a Director of Football. Spurs have been without one since 2016, when Pochettino’s first contract renegotiation saw his job title change from ‘Head Coach’ to ‘Manager’. That is no mere window dressing; he is now the direct line to Daniel Levy on transfer matters, even if that is only to say ‘where are the transfers?’
Spurs’ new stadium is another crucial consideration. Among the generic ‘happy here, but in football you never know’ spiel Pochettino has been forced to repeat many times already in his over-achieving time at Tottenham has been a genuine and heartfelt pride about being the man to lead the team out in their first game at the new stadium.
It goes back to Pochettino’s position of power and influence at the club that he has reportedly been involved in planning some elements of the new ground. Perhaps the ultimate power move for Levy now would be to postpone the stadium opening altogether until next season. You want to lead the team out, you’ve got to be here next season…
And then, of course, there is the ugly but unavoidable topic of coin. Pochettino is on a healthy £8.5m a year at Spurs, but United could smash that. Yet while that is inevitably a consideration, it doesn’t seem like the biggest one in this case.
This choice is not one between ‘lots of money’ and ‘even more money’, it’s this: in an era of increasingly transient coaches and managers, does Pochettino take the rare opportunity to potentially create a legacy by fashioning a whole club in his image; or does he take the opportunity to lead one already established among the world’s biggest? Stick with what you’ve got, or open the mystery box?
That decision is far from simple; he has six months to make it.
Dave Tickner

 

[Paolo10]

confidence from Herc is good news indeed - such a key time for the club

He'll stay if Levy backs him is a pretty big IF with DL's previous form...I'm still not quite near optimism yet.

(I'd fucking love both to happen)

 

[Paolo10]

@arnoldlayne Spoiler that post or something dude, you linked it and it's massive.

Hurt my fingers scrolling through it ffs!

 

[rez9000]

Aside from the discussion about what will/may/may not happen, I’ve been thinking about the psychology behind a lot of what is being said about us as a fan base (and what is evident on this forum, myself included).

[Links: Football.London, Independent]

We are a really negative bunch. Pochettino references fan criticism of our transfer policy (or lack thereof), individual signings and importantly I think he also understands what underlines this psychology.

It's almost as much fun to moan about stuff as it is to celebrate - of course that's tongue in cheek but I wonder if we as a fan group need to be more positive, arrogant and confident about this exceptional side.

Fuck "trophies" and a random cup here and there. We are on route to winning the league. Fuck Man Utd and their has been time. Toby may leave, Eriksen may leave but we'll be fine. We have a vision and a manager to match. He tells us he's focussed on Spurs and his project - so let's (try to) do the same.

It's sleeping giant syndrome. Back in the early to mid-80s we were one of the Big 5 clubs. Us, Arse, Everton, Liverpool and Man U. We were always in the mix for trophies and brought silverware home on occasion. But then we got Irving Scholar, who made the club an absolute clusterf***. Since then, all through the Sugar years and much of the ENIC years, we've had our hopes dashed time and again. It's made us pessimistic. It's only natural. And it's a hard habit to break. We expect the worst, because it's happened so often.

Compare that to Man U. In the early 80s, they were exactly the same as us - a big club that fallen on hard times. Like us, they'd been relegated in the 70s, like us they were always in the mix for trophies and won a few, but never consistently. Then they got Ferguson. That was the key to their success. But it took him nearly four years to get it right. Their fans hung banners around Old Trafford calling for Ferguson to be sacked. Legend has it that it all turned on a single FA Cup game against Forest. Man U won 1-0 and went on to lift the trophy and the rest is history. Poch can be our Ferguson, but it's not happened yet. Like the Man U fans before that FA Cup game, we still expect the worst for our club. Winning something will change that and that, I believe, is only a matter of time.

Yeah sure but why’s the positive interpretation right? You talk like anyone who takes an alternative view is somehow wrong, Like a politician, keeping your answers vague is a tactic so you can never be nailed down.

He wasn’t happy we didn’t buy anyone. He’s made the most of it but he wasn’t happy and he made that clear. If things hadn’t gone so well it could be very different. But now they’ve gone ok, he’s rewriting history and effectively saying I always knew it would be ok and I never wanted to sign anyone, why didn’t you trust me. Which is bollocks and hypocritical.

For the first point, old chap, that's the nature of debate. You can't debate someone you agree with. Someone believing that you're wrong is not a big deal. Make your points and counterpoints. And more pertinently, I didn't see anything in @vegassd 's post to suggest that he thought you were wrong - he just has his opinion and you have yours.

Which then leads to your second point. Respectfully, you've not exactly been specific yourself. Or rather, you've taken specific things and speculated and extrapolated the meanings of them. That's not specific, that's obfuscation and is another politician's trick...

Look, anyone with an ounce of common sense will say that there is a chance that Poch will leave. But that's just it - a chance. Not a certainty. Therefore, in the same way that you have extrapolated your view from information you've gleaned, those who have an opposing view have done the same and come to a different conclusion.

There's a little smack of confirmation bias in your view. That you've already decided in your mind what's going to happen and so see the things that support your belief more strongly than everything else. That's understandable and everyone does it. But the thing to bear in mind is that nothing's certain at this point - neither your view, nor the view of anyone else.

 

[ChristianBaler]

But, if Solskjær suceeds to a certain point they don't need to change manager next summer. ManU should try out Solskjær, Giggs, Carrick etc instead of looking for superstar managers. But, Levy should give Poch money for transfers. The way I see it it's now or never.

See, this was my original thinking as well to ensure he stays...however....

Look at what happened last January when we bought Moura. I realize he wasnt exactly match fit but he hardly got a sniff and its most likely down to how long it takes players to adapt to Poch's methods. So, even if Levy gives him some cash to buy players its not exactly the tipping point to ensure that he stays. The gesture of backing him will certainly do it, but I'm not sure 1/2 players would be that necessary for him to stay.

 

[Lilbaz]

to be a voice of reason and tell us all to chill out and relax? Caring for your fellow spurs fan?
#possibilities

You do realise the irony?

 

[Paolo10]

Look at what happened last January when we bought Moura. I realize he wasnt exactly match fit but he hardly got a sniff and its most likely down to how long it takes players to adapt to Poch's methods...

How far down the list of players Poch wanted was Moura is a question I'd love to know the answer to.

Moura's situation at PSG makes me think it was a Levy special gamble of a transfer trying to ensure a bit of profit in a resale.

Backing a manager is getting them the players they want, United do that, we don't.