Gary Neville on Spurs & Poch on MNF

[eddiev14]

Pre-game tonight, Gary Neville spoke quite a bit about us and the great job Poch has done since he arrived.

Not sure if there's a video of it out there but Sky Sports have transcribed most of what he said in this article: http://www.skysports.com/football/n...or-tottenham-change-under-mauricio-pochettino

I wish more pundits looked beneath the surface and avoided the temptation to spout sound bites and copycat opinions.

It's incredibly refreshing to hear an opinion from someone who's actually bothered to spend a bit of time watching us and trying to understand what we have been trying to do these past 18 months beyond 'wasting the Bale money'.

Pity it was on Sky in the build up to a game no one was watching!

Over to you Lawro...

 

[coxson]

Video of it here

 

[Snarfalicious]

Pre-game tonight, Gary Neville spoke quite a bit about us and the great job Poch has done since he arrived.

Not sure if there's a video of it out there but Sky Sports have transcribed most of what he said in this article: http://www.skysports.com/football/n...or-tottenham-change-under-mauricio-pochettino

I wish more pundits looked beneath the surface and avoided the temptation to spout sound bites and copycat opinions.

It's incredibly refreshing to hear an opinion from someone who's actually bothered to spend a bit of time watching us and trying to understand what we have been trying to do these past 18 months beyond 'wasting the Bale money'.

Pity it was on Sky in the build up to a game no one was watching!

Over to you Lawro...

He really hit the nail on the head. The graphic of us outrunning opponents 10 times in the entire league season prior to his arrival and then finishing last season by outrunning opponents 33 times is really eye-opening.

FRAAB'ing isn't everything (especially if it's not with purpose) but it does show how much Pochettino has changed the mentality of the squad.

 

[ClintEastwould]

He really hit the nail on the head. The graphic of us outrunning opponents 10 times in the entire league season prior to his arrival and then finishing last season by outrunning opponents 33 times is really eye-opening.

FRAAB'ing isn't everything (especially if it's not with purpose) but it does show how much Pochettino has changed the mentality of the squad.

Christ. What a bunch of legends the squad were that season.

 

[DanielCHillier]

Video of it here

Everything he says is pretty much spot on, will be interesting to see what our transfer policy is like over the next couple of windows given that most of the "deadwood" is gone. Also the fact that the likes of Oduwa, Pritchard, Onomah and Winks are coming of age to be starting.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Everything he says is pretty much spot on, will be interesting to see what our transfer policy is like over the next couple of windows given that most of the "deadwood" is gone. Also the fact that the likes of Oduwa, Pritchard, Onomah and Winks are coming of age to be starting.

I think it really should be geared towards 2 (or so) quality signings that could feasibly provide an upgrade to the starting XI or at the very least provide quality depth.

Let the youth and some Alli/Dier/Wimmer-type signings make up the depth.

 

[beats1]

Christ. What a bunch of legends the squad were that season.

TBF it doesnt mean we are legends. Outrunning your opponent doesnt necessarily mean you are better.

Also worth noting AVB loved possession and we spent a lot of time passing the ball left and right though back then we were lost.

The point Im making anyway, is outrunning the opponent doesnt mean we are better but it does show we are working harder however we do need to create more chances and under poch it does feel like we are creating more but I don't think we are creating enough either, its just before we were very bad

 

[whitesocks]

The boy's a fool.
If work ethic is so critical, how come both Cardiff and Burnley, high in his work tables, were relegated?
if we are to get anywhere, we need bursts of high intensity play, get a 2 goal cushion, then play slow possession based football. We might then have a sustained push on the top 4 plus will be fresh for the cups.

 

[Hoops]

Whilst I agree with Nevilles analysis.

Running, is one of the most useless and overused stats in English football. If Poch's Southampton ran the most, why didnt they win the league? Because running is not as important as people like to think.

 

[ClintEastwould]

TBF it doesnt mean we are legends. Outrunning your opponent doesnt necessarily mean you are better.

Also worth noting AVB loved possession and we spent a lot of time passing the ball left and right though back then we were lost.

The point Im making anyway, is outrunning the opponent doesnt mean we are better but it does show we are working harder however we do need create more chances and under poch it does feel like we are creating but I don't think we are creating enough either, its just before we were very bad

Normally no, but when you take into account the amount of times we capitulated and generally just looked like not giving a rats arse that season, this fact just reinforces that.

 

[Davo99]

The boy's a fool.
If work ethic is so critical, how come both Cardiff and Burnley, high in his work tables, were relegated?
if we are to get anywhere, we need bursts of high intensity play, get a 2 goal cushion, then play slow possession based football. We might then have a sustained push on the top 4 plus will be fresh for the cups.

Because despite the effort, they didn't have the quality in their squads. Outrunning your opponent is always a positive, especially if it's on a consistent basis.

 

[sloth]

I worked out an interesting stat the other day and posted it in the ratings thread, but now the full round of matchday 7 fixtures have been played I think it's even more impressive:

Of the current top eight clubs we've played five of them including the leaders and second place, considering we're also in the top eight that means out of a possible seven clubs in the top eight we could have played we've done them all but two.

Everton meanwhile have played two of the top eight.

Arsenal have played four.

Utd only one.

And City four.

 

[Bulletspur]

What does it mean though? I will be more impressed if and when we take points off the teams that finished ahead of us last season. So far we have only played the two Manchester clubs in the league taking 3 out of a possible 6 points.

 

[eddiev14]

I think some of you guys are reading too much into him mentioning that stat.

He only mentions it to highlight the change in mentality of the squad and the fact that Poch has us starting to play according to his philosophy.

Also, he says this in spite of his view that the squad isn't that special, basically saying that Poch is making the best of what he has.

All are positives, for which he is giving Poch credit.

 

[teok]

Neville makes me optimistic for england's future in football. Do you think he will go back to utd with giggs and the rest of them when LVG leaves or go for a head coaching role himself?

 

[Rout-Ledge]

What does it mean though? I will be more impressed if and when we take points off the teams that finished ahead of us last season. So far we have only played the two Manchester clubs in the league taking 3 out of a possible 6 points.

We beat Chelsea and Arsenal last season, and already City now. They're better teams than us and we have no right to routinely beat them. That wasn't our problem last season and it won't be our problem this season.

We need to stop throwing points away against teams like Stoke and Leicester. Those are the games where we prove our mettle.

 

[ginola99]

Neville makes me optimistic for england's future in football. Do you think he will go back to utd with giggs and the rest of them when LVG leaves or go for a head coaching role himself?

Wouldn't surprise me if he did, he's Utd through and through. I remember his analysis of Barcelona back in his first season of punditry and it just blew me away, was by far the best analysis of team I'd seen.

 

[whitechina]

Neville makes me optimistic for england's future in football. Do you think he will go back to utd with giggs and the rest of them when LVG leaves or go for a head coaching role himself?

I don't think he will full time. Maybe he'll stay doing his sky job and England, but I don't see him going into coaching or management full time for a good while yet

 

[Mr Pink]

It was refreshing to hear Neville last night and its a very telling and significant stat IMO. Poch's style is all about that high intensity and work rate, so this is clear evidence that's he's instilled some of what he's set out to do.

Also Neville pointed out, quite rightly, that he's got rid of some players who don't fit within the ethos or framework for hard work.

This isn't as talented a team (yet anyway) as ones that have included Modric, Bale or VDV but these changes are so much more important than that and we'll end up a better team heading in this direction. This has been about changing the playing culture at the Club and having a clear style and identity and having the right blend of players who can slot in and we'll largely be playing the same sort of way. A team that will always be larger than the sum of its individual parts. Cliche but true.

Heading in the right direction with a clear plan is so important, and if our key players like Lloris and Kane etc can see and feel that we've more chance of keeping them as well. But even if we lose some of our key players, which is always inevitable to a certain extent, we've got strong foundations in place to cope to keep progressing

That's how we close the gap on those above us. And Neville alluded to that as well, by saying its always felt a bit of a mess at Tottenham with what we're trying to achieve and how we go about it, but now he thinks there's a real plan in place and that Levy is approaching things differently with a view to achieving stability for the longer term.

 

[teok]

I don't think he will full time. Maybe he'll stay doing his sky job and England, but I don't see him going into coaching or management full time for a good while yet

I'd say in 18 months when LVG goes he will be ready to at least be in the team with giggs and scholes etc.