I think Poch had, for 2 seasons, probably 9-10 players that would get in any great team.Yep, true but do remember Wilcox and Ripley were integral, in the same way the Leicester wide man (name escapes me), Huth and Morgan were for Leicester.
And alongside Sutton and Shearer, I think they had Colin Hendry, who for that one PL-winning season was excellent.
It is weird however, because most would say Pochettino was/is a good coach. He had the best collective talent we have had for twenty years. He had some hod carriers. Trophies - nada. Yet, nobody would argue that Walker, Kane, Alli (briefly), and Eriksen weren't top drawer.Son. We had the WorldCup winning goalie. We had arguably the best central defensive partnership. Honestly, just how did we not find a way?
And not crossing the line is not on Levy. He got all that lot here at that seminal period.
But yes.
The problem was always a case that we needed 3-5 more to rotate. Not even great ones, just capable ones.
18/19, when we signed nobody really annoyed me because of the statement from Poch himself saying "it's very hard to improve this 11"
That may have been true, but when you're relying on Sanchez, Foyth, Davies, Winks, Dier, Moura, Janssen as players to sub on or start when others are injured, that's why it all started coming down.
I doubt we'll ever know if this was naivety from Poch or his choice or forced upon him from above. I think it's a bit of all of it.