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Manager Mauricio Pochettino
- Thread starter WHITE&BLUE
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How Pochettino transformed Tottenham in three months
10 hours ago
Michael Cox
TOPICS
STATS ZONE, TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR, MAURICIO POCHETTINO, ERIK LAMELA,NACER CHADLI, NABIL BENTALEB, QUEENS PARK RANGERS, LIVERPOOL, PREMIER LEAGUEcomments
Michael Cox looks at the early impact of Mauricio Pochettino at White Hart Lane, as Spurs prepare to host Liverpool...
Just two league games into the season, new Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is on the verge of making history.
Tottenham have never been top of the Premier League later than September 9 - the point at which they topped the table in the 2002/03 campaign. They’ve had three other spells at the summit, in 1999, 2002 and 2005 – but all came towards the end of August.
Therefore, a three-goal victory this Sunday would mean Tottenham staying at the top until at least the next round of fixtures on September 13. It’s hardly likely to prompt a new chapter in the official club history, but it would represent a fine start for Pochettino.
The big caveat, of course, is the fact Spurs’ opponents this weekend are Liverpool, their first significant test.
Still, last week’s 4-0 destruction of QPR was an impressive performance, and suggested that Tottenham’s players already understand Pochettino’s demands. The side is playing high up the pitch, winning the ball quickly, and there’s a nice balance between possession and penetration. Already, the Argentine seems a fine appointment.
Three players summed up the transformation particularly well last weekend. They weren’t necessarily Spurs’ best trio, but they showed signs that they’d transformed their game from 2013/14 – which, in the space of two games, is highly impressive.
The most obvious candidate in this respect is Erik Lamela. His 2013/14 was completely unremarkable, and while he wasn’t exactly handed many opportunities to impress, he was probably the most obvious ‘flop’ from last summer, considering his transfer fee.
Previous Spurs appearances saw Lamela floating around on the periphery of the game, but against QPR he was constantly involved. Not only did he showcase his mazy dribbling in central positions, he also recovered the ball constantly in midfield, too, showing a commitment to the cause previously lacking. Under his fellow Argentine Pochettino, he seems much happier.
Elsewhere, Nacer Chadli was handed more opportunities last season, but he rarely stood out. It was difficult to work out what the Belgian’s best position was, or precisely what he excelled at. In truth, Chadli is basically a hard-working, disciplined and efficient ‘system player’ – he’s tactically disciplined and will do exactly what the manager demands. The problem last season, of course, was that the system wasn’t always clear.
Pochettino has evidently been more eloquent in explaining his demands, and Chadli played excellently as a wide forward, getting through his defensive work well and positioning himself intelligently in the final third. His passing was reliable, and he scored two goals.
The final example was Nabil Bentaleb, who was cautiously impressive for Spurs under Tim Sherwood, but often frustrating with his distribution, playing sideways passes.
That wasn’t in evidence against QPR, where the Algerian played significantly more forward balls than square passes, and helped Spurs attack the space beyond QPR’s back-line quickly.
The moment that captured the imagination was Spurs’ third goal. The 48-pass move that ended with Chadli’s cool finish incorporated all 11 players, and was a wonderful demonstration of passing football. However, perhaps it was most impressive alongside Spurs’ fourth goal, scored by Emmanuel Adebayor. That was a more direct strike, and showed that Spurs are capable of attacking in two entirely different ways.
Time will tell whether Spurs can sustain that type of football over the course of the entire season, but victory over Liverpool this weekend would mean Tottenham fans can start to get excited.
10 hours ago
Michael Cox
TOPICS
STATS ZONE, TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR, MAURICIO POCHETTINO, ERIK LAMELA,NACER CHADLI, NABIL BENTALEB, QUEENS PARK RANGERS, LIVERPOOL, PREMIER LEAGUEcomments
Michael Cox looks at the early impact of Mauricio Pochettino at White Hart Lane, as Spurs prepare to host Liverpool...
Just two league games into the season, new Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is on the verge of making history.
Tottenham have never been top of the Premier League later than September 9 - the point at which they topped the table in the 2002/03 campaign. They’ve had three other spells at the summit, in 1999, 2002 and 2005 – but all came towards the end of August.
Therefore, a three-goal victory this Sunday would mean Tottenham staying at the top until at least the next round of fixtures on September 13. It’s hardly likely to prompt a new chapter in the official club history, but it would represent a fine start for Pochettino.
The big caveat, of course, is the fact Spurs’ opponents this weekend are Liverpool, their first significant test.
Still, last week’s 4-0 destruction of QPR was an impressive performance, and suggested that Tottenham’s players already understand Pochettino’s demands. The side is playing high up the pitch, winning the ball quickly, and there’s a nice balance between possession and penetration. Already, the Argentine seems a fine appointment.
Three players summed up the transformation particularly well last weekend. They weren’t necessarily Spurs’ best trio, but they showed signs that they’d transformed their game from 2013/14 – which, in the space of two games, is highly impressive.
The most obvious candidate in this respect is Erik Lamela. His 2013/14 was completely unremarkable, and while he wasn’t exactly handed many opportunities to impress, he was probably the most obvious ‘flop’ from last summer, considering his transfer fee.
Previous Spurs appearances saw Lamela floating around on the periphery of the game, but against QPR he was constantly involved. Not only did he showcase his mazy dribbling in central positions, he also recovered the ball constantly in midfield, too, showing a commitment to the cause previously lacking. Under his fellow Argentine Pochettino, he seems much happier.
Elsewhere, Nacer Chadli was handed more opportunities last season, but he rarely stood out. It was difficult to work out what the Belgian’s best position was, or precisely what he excelled at. In truth, Chadli is basically a hard-working, disciplined and efficient ‘system player’ – he’s tactically disciplined and will do exactly what the manager demands. The problem last season, of course, was that the system wasn’t always clear.
Pochettino has evidently been more eloquent in explaining his demands, and Chadli played excellently as a wide forward, getting through his defensive work well and positioning himself intelligently in the final third. His passing was reliable, and he scored two goals.
The final example was Nabil Bentaleb, who was cautiously impressive for Spurs under Tim Sherwood, but often frustrating with his distribution, playing sideways passes.
That wasn’t in evidence against QPR, where the Algerian played significantly more forward balls than square passes, and helped Spurs attack the space beyond QPR’s back-line quickly.
The moment that captured the imagination was Spurs’ third goal. The 48-pass move that ended with Chadli’s cool finish incorporated all 11 players, and was a wonderful demonstration of passing football. However, perhaps it was most impressive alongside Spurs’ fourth goal, scored by Emmanuel Adebayor. That was a more direct strike, and showed that Spurs are capable of attacking in two entirely different ways.
Time will tell whether Spurs can sustain that type of football over the course of the entire season, but victory over Liverpool this weekend would mean Tottenham fans can start to get excited.
Really wierd stat for pochettino , his southapton team last year never win unless they gain the clean-sheet (with one game exception)
Le Football Est Part @DictatePlay · 10h
Another stat from Pochettino's side last season: Saints won just the 1 game in which the opposition also scored... Scarily one dimensional
and this thing applies to us so far in the premier league, West ham clean sheet and win , QPR also , Liverpool no clean sheet no win
it seems will forget about the come back
Le Football Est Part @DictatePlay · 10hAnother stat from Pochettino's side last season: Saints won just the 1 game in which the opposition also scored... Scarily one dimensional
and this thing applies to us so far in the premier league, West ham clean sheet and win , QPR also , Liverpool no clean sheet no win
it seems will forget about the come back
Having won their opening two Barclays Premier League matches under former Southampton boss Pochettino, Spurs were humbled as Liverpool won 3-0 at White Hart Lane ahead of the international break.
That gap in fixtures gave Pochettino and his backroom staff a chance to examine the performance of the players in great detail - with the Argentinian keen on arming his side with more mental strength in the future.
"It is true that we were a little bit unlucky in the key moments in the game," he said.
"I think that we watched it more than 20 times and every single detail has been analysed. We are a team that needs to learn and improve. We are under a new philosophy but I'm happy with the way we are.
"Because we had time, we had two weeks to prepare for Sunderland and a lot of players were away. We had time to analyse it.
"We need to improve in a lot of things but we need to improve our mental preparation. This is an important way to work in this club.
"We need to create this winning mentality and believe in our skill and our power. This is the one thing we need to improve."
Liverpool led from the early stages as Raheem Sterling put them ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, with Pochettino wanting a brighter start from his players - starting at Sunderland on Saturday.
"We made individual charts for different groups (of players) but we analysed it all," he added.
"The most important thing was that we analysed the first seven minutes because that was the key.
"We need to have a chat, we need to watch clips about different situations and work hard. We need to improve each other.
"It is done all together because it is difficult to separate. It's holistic - physical and mental (strength) all together."
Despite believing Tottenham's performance merited a better result against last season's runners-up, Pochettino did reveal he showed his unhappiness at the players following the defeat.
He said: "After the game I was angry but it's football, you need to have luck because we were unlucky and conceded a goal and after we had the possibility to score but it wasn't our day.
"The team played well and tried but in the second half the penalty made it 2-0 and Liverpool have a lot of good attacking players who are fast and it was difficult.
"Yes, that was the angriest I have been here but the players were not surprised because in two months sometimes you are angry for different things."
That gap in fixtures gave Pochettino and his backroom staff a chance to examine the performance of the players in great detail - with the Argentinian keen on arming his side with more mental strength in the future.
"It is true that we were a little bit unlucky in the key moments in the game," he said.
"I think that we watched it more than 20 times and every single detail has been analysed. We are a team that needs to learn and improve. We are under a new philosophy but I'm happy with the way we are.
"Because we had time, we had two weeks to prepare for Sunderland and a lot of players were away. We had time to analyse it.
"We need to improve in a lot of things but we need to improve our mental preparation. This is an important way to work in this club.
"We need to create this winning mentality and believe in our skill and our power. This is the one thing we need to improve."
Liverpool led from the early stages as Raheem Sterling put them ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, with Pochettino wanting a brighter start from his players - starting at Sunderland on Saturday.
"We made individual charts for different groups (of players) but we analysed it all," he added.
"The most important thing was that we analysed the first seven minutes because that was the key.
"We need to have a chat, we need to watch clips about different situations and work hard. We need to improve each other.
"It is done all together because it is difficult to separate. It's holistic - physical and mental (strength) all together."
Despite believing Tottenham's performance merited a better result against last season's runners-up, Pochettino did reveal he showed his unhappiness at the players following the defeat.
He said: "After the game I was angry but it's football, you need to have luck because we were unlucky and conceded a goal and after we had the possibility to score but it wasn't our day.
"The team played well and tried but in the second half the penalty made it 2-0 and Liverpool have a lot of good attacking players who are fast and it was difficult.
"Yes, that was the angriest I have been here but the players were not surprised because in two months sometimes you are angry for different things."
That's what I'm talking about! I've put a good feeling about this manager. And I'm about as jaded as you can get.
"Mental preparation" is code for we have some dumb players.
That's what I'm talking about! I've put a good feeling about this manager. And I'm about as jaded as you can get.
"Mental preparation" is code for we have some dumb players.
I don't think they're dumb but I think they lack confidence against better teams. We still need a general on the field. Someone who can take control of the game.
I said "some".
We have some bright players too. But the ones who usually cause our issues are just dumb athletes who are switched off.
Yep unfortunately that is why Chelsea will probably win the title, until we can get ruthless it's gonna be hard, wish we had bought an extra striker in the window.
We were ruthless against QPR though, we're clearly just settling still. Early signs though are fantastic!
Never wanted this guy and predicted in the summer that he'd be gone by Christmas. It's quite clear to me that we have made a BIG mistake in this managerial appointment. Bring on the haters now, the people who will call me a knee-jerker, but I know a man who is dead in the water when I see him and that is what I see when I see Poch. Also, notice how several pages from now over the next few weeks, the Poch out crew will begin to develop and grow as he gets closer to his inevitable sacking. This isn't a gag-post, the man is just not up to the job. Time will prove me right and we'll be back to where we started - looking for a new manager.
aulinhobored:
:lennon:
ochfacepalm:
:walker:
Can't believe I am seeing this still in September >.<