Spurs players loved Pochettino’s style, so how will they cope when Mourinho gets surly?

[mawspurs]

On the face of it, harsh. Given how much Mauricio Pochettino has achieved over five years, building the best Tottenham team since the Double winners of 1961, sacking him now would seem pretty brutal. It even sent shock waves through an industry familiar with cut-throat decisions.

Source: Evening Standard

 

[Dougal]

I think the best reaction is to not find out how surly he can get. These players should be competing against every team they come up against. If they fulfil their potential there won’t be a problem. If they don’t that’s their problem.

 

[sebo_sek]

They loved poch so much, they got him sacked in the end. You could tell they didn’t give a shit all season.

 

[Dougal]

If they ever concede a goal again like the one against Sheffield United I hope they get fried in public.

 

[Metalhead]

On the face of it, harsh. Given how much Mauricio Pochettino has achieved over five years, building the best Tottenham team since the Double winners of 1961, sacking him now would seem pretty brutal. It even sent shock waves through an industry familiar with cut-throat decisions.

Source: Evening Standard

Trouble is that it felt like the players were stuck in a rut and it did feel like we were not going to get back to winning ways.

 

[TonyS]

They need to suck it up. Perform to your ability and there won't be a problem. It's like that in every walk of life. People forget that if the Utd job went his way, he'd have been off. So we have a new sheriff in town and the team need to shape up or ship out. I also agree that none of us are privvy to what actually went on

Come On You Spurs

 

[Japhet]

The thing I really can't get straight in my head is that Poch seemed to spend the last 10 months of his tenure acting like he wanted to get the bullet. IMO, it seemed to kick off with Mike Dean/Burnley when Poch let his frustration get the better of him. From then on he obstinately stuck with formations and players that patently weren't working, and bizarre press conferences, mixed messages, no attempts to dismiss speculation about his future, little or no in game management and general sourness. Strange reports coming out of the club that he wasn't engaged in training but would watch it on video. Players complaining of training schedules with no acknowledgement, but all the time publicly saying he was happy and committed. He withdrew completely after the CL and never really reappeared. Strange behaviour which I can't begin to understand.

 

[sebo_sek]

The thing I really can't get straight in my head is that Poch seemed to spend the last 10 months of his tenure acting like he wanted to get the bullet. IMO, it seemed to kick off with Mike Dean/Burnley when Poch let his frustration get the better of him. From then on he obstinately stuck with formations and players that patently weren't working, and bizarre press conferences, mixed messages, no attempts to dismiss speculation about his future, little or no in game management and general sourness. Strange reports coming out of the club that he wasn't engaged in training but would watch it on video. Players complaining of training schedules with no acknowledgement, but all the time publicly saying he was happy and committed. He withdrew completely after the CL and never really reappeared. Strange behaviour which I can begin to understand.

Do tell. For me it started long before, when he began trying to be clever with tactics. We were at our strongest with a high and aggressive press. That went away two seasons ago and we just drifted.

 

[teedee]

Poch wasn't all sweetness and light with the players. He had his favourites and anyone who slightly upset him was immediately a persona non grata. It also seems that this was much the same when he was at Southampton. He is a decent enough bloke and was an excellent manager for us for most of his tenure, but it's unrealistic to imply that he was universally loved by the players.

 

[Danners9]

I'd expect it to be like working in a kitchen with a Gordon Ramsay or Marco Pierre White type. You do shit, get torn to shreds. Once, loudly, in front of everyone (probably). Then probably a private chat which is calmer and more constructive. But if you do well, you get praised to the moon - loudly and in front of everyone. No one wants to get torn to shreds after the first time so they do their best to do what the boss wants in the way he tells them.

 

[AnotherSpursFan]

Poor first touch, poor technique, no attacking game plan,

I laugh out loud everytime the media says we play flowing attacking football under Poch. The only thing impressive throughout Poch tenure is the aggresive pressing style he introduced and the strengthening of mental aptitude. Attacking football under Poch has always been shit, we had some great moments here and there, but mostly turgid ponderous shit.

 

[Hakkz]

Poch wasn't all sweetness and light with the players. He had his favourites and anyone who slightly upset him was immediately a persona non grata. It also seems that this was much the same when he was at Southampton. He is a decent enough bloke and was an excellent manager for us for most of his tenure, but it's unrealistic to imply that he was universally loved by the players.

Feels like it's also the media trying to paint the narrative of the universally loved one being sacked for the universally hated one.

 

[Danners9]

Feels like it's also the media trying to paint the narrative of the universally loved one being sacked for the universally hated one.

A few have tried similar regarding Spurs as a club. Everyone's 2nd team, i've seen. Loved, admired etc.. it's not what I remember. We were the villains when chasing Leicester. And then 2 seasons ago. Derision for trying, getting close (for a while) etc when 17 other teams were nowhere near. A consequence of the banter era of social media football coverage but still, not everyone's 2nd team by any stretch.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

I don't think for one minute all of this is down to the players 'not trying', sure, there's maybe an element of that but there's quite a few other factors, most of which we'll probably never know but only take a guess at. Some of them you can point at the players for, some at Pochettino and it's highly likely the club also played a part in all this coming to its sad conclusion.

Seeing as we're all in love with guessing, here's a few from me......

Familiarity. The failure to sign players for two transfer windows. Freshening up the squad works wonders throughout any club, look at the difference in perception, not just with us here on SC, look at the unprecedented coverage we've had, now Mourinho is in charge, its sent a lot of excitement through us and one hopes the players feel that too. Not to mention signing players promotes competition for places. It's an edge I feel we lost.

The CL Final. Picking Kane in front of Moura. See above and competition for places. If anything that selection sent out the wrong messages. Also the way Pochettino (reportedly) went into a big sulk/hiding afterwards.

Contracts. Allowing players contracts to run right down. Yes, I understand if there's no offers or a player doesn't want to move there's not much you can do but to let it happen to three or four players has to be seen as a failure by the club. Also, see competition for places (again), had we invested properly, perhaps leaving one or two out wouldn't have presented such a problem.

Communication. I'm always reluctant to place too much emphasis on what managers say but that "I could have gone. home' stuff after the CL final was a huge mistake. There was always this will he won't he when it came to other jobs. It left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, mainly on here so who knows what the effect was where it matters.

Anyway, I'm sure a lot of you disagree. I'm not saying these are cast in stone reasons, I'm guessing. And there's probnably more to add to that list. For me, you can probably take a little bit of everything. The players have something to answer for but for me, not everything is down to that.
.

There's some onions for you

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

I've said before, I did not actually mind the CL comments about leaving. I understand them, I think they were true, and I believe it's not the biggest issue. But I do think that loads of other stuff around the CL final for sure was detrimental. Going off of the above post of guesswork and musings, it is my belief, or rather my guesses, that some of the players might bear a little bit of a feeling that some of Pochettino's CL decisions might have caused the defeat, and maybe there were thoughts, wishes or ideas presented on how to win the final that were overlooked, and in hindsight proved to be of vital potency.

When it comes to squad management, I echo a post further up about picking favourites. I was sceptical to his favouritism when he was hired, and it proved to remain the case throughout his Tottenham tenure. Some players would always, always play as long as they could walk semi-steadily, ie. always deemed to be "fit", other players were said to be "unfit" if they only sneezed a bit (major extrapolation on my part to prove a point). What happens if you only play your favourites AND there are no new signings. You run into trouble.

The injuries is another of my opinions that is very unpopular on SC. But we have a great training facility and much of a fitness infrastructure. Why is it then that injuries have plagued the squad for seasons to a degree that in my mind reaches far beyond "bad luck", "name of the game" and "coincidences". Many, many injuries and often long recovery time has been a warning sign to me.

I think we have a great squad with much potential that is left unreleased so far this season, and I think that the start of that potential will be shown already today.

 

[Japhet]

I don't think for one minute all of this is down to the players 'not trying', sure, there's maybe an element of that but there's quite a few other factors, most of which we'll probably never know but only take a guess at. Some of them you can point at the players for, some at Pochettino and it's highly likely the club also played a part in all this coming to its sad conclusion.

Seeing as we're all in love with guessing, here's a few from me......

Familiarity. The failure to sign players for two transfer windows. Freshening up the squad works wonders throughout any club, look at the difference in perception, not just with us here on SC, look at the unprecedented coverage we've had, now Mourinho is in charge, its sent a lot of excitement through us and one hopes the players feel that too. Not to mention signing players promotes competition for places. It's an edge I feel we lost.

The CL Final. Picking Kane in front of Moura. See above and competition for places. If anything that selection sent out the wrong messages. Also the way Pochettino (reportedly) went into a big sulk/hiding afterwards.

Contracts. Allowing players contracts to run right down. Yes, I understand if there's no offers or a player doesn't want to move there's not much you can do but to let it happen to three or four players has to be seen as a failure by the club. Also, see competition for places (again), had we invested properly, perhaps leaving one or two out wouldn't have presented such a problem.

Communication. I'm always reluctant to place too much emphasis on what managers say but that "I could have gone. home' stuff after the CL final was a huge mistake. There was always this will he won't he when it came to other jobs. It left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, mainly on here so who knows what the effect was where it matters.

Anyway, I'm sure a lot of you disagree. I'm not saying these are cast in stone reasons, I'm guessing. And there's probnably more to add to that list. For me, you can probably take a little bit of everything. The players have something to answer for but for me, not everything is down to that.
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There's some onions for you

To put a bit of perspective on your first comment, I'd say that we're talking about elite athletes here at the very highest level of their profession. Small drop offs in confidence, focus, attitude and emotional well-being can have a deep effect. I think our squad has suffered relatively small drop offs in all of these areas areas and performances have drppoed dramatically.