Mauricio Pochettino - Sacked

[Nigeyman]

Pochettino once spoke of ‘being brave’

It would have been nice if he had heeded some of his own advice, because he has used overly defensive set-ups against the likes of Watford and other sides where we all fancied our chances of winning.

Constantly on here we have ourselves been around the merry go round, talking set ups, who should play and who shouldn’t, we are constantly talking about fitness issues and our star player being ‘shot’

I personally don’t buy much of the fitness excuses, I think when players are happy and settled with motivation this isn’t an issue, they want to play every game, and if players feel trusted and valued then in most circumstances, they will run through walls for you.

regardless...

if he wants to be brave, and halt the wheels of regression I would personally recommend he does the following away at West Ham.

1. play a front three.

Kane centrally as a target man with Son at LWF and Moura at RWF. Lock Kane down centrally so he can flourish where he’s best, simple instructions to the wing forwards are to ‘A’ tuck in and feed off Kane and ‘B’ help out the fullbacks defensively when needed.

2. Play a three man balanced midfield.

We need to play a defensive midfielder centrally protecting our defence as an ‘anchor man’ role. I would go for Dier even though I feel our DM options seem poor at the moment. Next would be the central midfielder offering support both defensive and offensive, if you want a passer it’s Winks, box to box workaholic it’s everyone’s favourite Sissoko, personally away at Spam it’s the moose for me. Next is your attacking midfielder who needs to also help defending, for me that’s Alli or GLC, no point in considering the Dane.

3. play a back four and keep it settled.

loads of room for debate here, it would for me be Jan at LCB and Sanchez at RCB. My set up requires the fullbacks to be up and down, I’d with great trepidation go with Aurier and Rose, for the simple reason of pace, which at the end of the day is as good a reason as any for picking a full back.

If he did that and we had a go...then great! If we lost 3-2 but played with intent and looked dangerous again I’d be happy, yeah I know but I really would! I feel the above is the best we can be with all the players being in their favoured positions.

It isn’t perfect but that set up signals a desire to win with consideration off the ball as 4-2-3-1.

perhaps the main reason I drone on like a little bee hatch is that I cannot understand for the life of me, why we don’t start with that attacking front three, when I feel it’s bloody dangerous and would make our opponents think carefully about setting up against us.

Come on Poch, do it, you know it makes sense.

 

[Yiddo]

Been on the decline since we decided not to upgrade our team in the window we didn't spend a penny. Left behind and could well become a mid table team.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Does anyone think Poch is a better manager now than he was when we appointed him? If so, why?

 

[nayenezgani]

true, but most managers of a top 4 club would have paid the price by now for our run of form.

Mate doing things differently from the other top 4 clubs (whoever they are) is the reason we've enjoyed such an extended period of growth and success over the last decade and more.

We will not finish this season mid-table as others are claiming and we will continue to do things our way.

I hope the decision makers at the club continue to back Poch and give him a chance, at least until the end of this season.

It'll be in stark contrast to a growing majority of our fan base, but I hope it can set the tone for all of us and even change some minds, sustained growth is what we all want.

Mourinho and his ilk would bring the opposite of this, even damage what's been put in place.

There was always going to be pain along the way, but we need to be strong. The fact that this is Poch's only really blip in over five years leaves me confident everyone involved are doing everything possible to pull through this situation.

Let's us try pull together too, rather than blow everything apart.

 

[parklane1]

We need a commanding CB. I hate to say it, but someone in the leadership mould of Terry or donkey Adams would work. We have zero leaders in the team

I do not disagree but it does not have to be a CB, we have not had a leader/capt for a while ( Lloris is no good and Kane is not either). The slow build up we have got used to playing needs someone to start kicking some arse on the field. Lloris as a keeper has not input into the way players act in the middle of the pitch and its a wasted armband, Kane is not much better.

We are so slow in everything we do and of course some of that may be down to the manager but the players have to manage the games better on the pitch and we have no one who takes control of that.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Does anyone think Poch is a better manager now than he was when we appointed him? If so, why?

Yes because he now has 4 seasons of overachievement behind him. So in my mind he is a better manager than the fella I thought was AVB Mk II when we appointed him.

He's in a big slump. A fudging massive one. I still desperately want him to turn it around. The apathy I was feeling after Tactics Tim and AVB disappeared because of Poch. I've had 4 years of loving what he was doing. For that reason my heart is ruling my head and I want him to stay and turn it around. Over the last few weeks I haven't seen any sign in him that he wants out and I've always said that as long as he wants it, I'd forgive a season of brick out of loyalty for what he's done.

But the concerns are huge and nayim's post above raises one of those concerns really well. It seems to have been accepted that these players can't run like 2-3 years ago. 2-3 years ago they couldn't get over the line because they were still learning. They're around 26-27. I don't know why that narrative gets accepted without question. It's bollox.

Yesterdays performance, and I did only see the second half, was the most disappointing performance since Watford. We looked utterly clueless and unable to deal with Sheffield United at home. That's a damning indictment of where we are because for 2-3 seasons, we were blowing teams like that away.

So in answer to your question, I think he's a better manager or at least proved hes a better manager than the fella we appointed. But he's teetering on the brink and I've no fudging idea why or whats gone wrong.

 

[StephenH]

We are so slow in everything we do and of course some of that may be down to the manager but the players have to manage the games better on the pitch and we have no one who takes control of that.

I could not agree more!
Is this though the way Pochettno want it to be?
Maybe Poch see himself as not requiring another leader on the field ?

 

[Moby]

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

Does anyone think Poch is a better manager now than he was when we appointed him? If so, why?

I think he is.

I think he and the team grew together. We gave him the platform to really push his ideas and techniques to their potential.

The question is - has he improved enough to take this team forward enough? Is it possible this is 'his' limit and we now need something more?

And I really dont have an answer to that. He is failing at this time, IMHO, but my impression is more one of him being burned out - and now being desperate. Im not sitting here thinking "this guy just hasnt got the ability", rather "this guy just seems lost".

I honestly dont know that he has the ability to take this team forward. But neither am I sure he doesnt - on a "technical" level, at least.

Things are going badly, from bad to worse - but that seems a much more "personal" issue to me.

Which raises a second question.

On the assumption he does have the technical ability to carry this team on - does he have the ability to turn around whatever this mess is, so that he has the chance to prove himself? Because IMO thats a whole other conversation/perspective.

 

[parklane1]

I could not agree more!
Is this though the way Pochettno want it to be?
Maybe Poch see himself as not requiring another leader on the field ?

I would doubt that very much, i watch him from the stand and you can see how angry he is when certain players are just going through the motions.

As for him not wanting another leader on the pitch? well he made the mistake of naming a keeper capt and then giving it to the blue eyed boy ( Kane) and neither one of them are doing the job well. Maybe one of the reasons he keeps changing the teams is that he is not happy with some of the players who are not putting in all in ( to be honest who knows), but what i will say is that they are some players who need a good kick up the arse on the field and we are lacking a player on the pitch who WILL do that.

 

[Legohamster]

I do not disagree but it does not have to be a CB, we have not had a leader/capt for a while ( Lloris is no good and Kane is not either). The slow build up we have got used to playing needs someone to start kicking some arse on the field. Lloris as a keeper has not input into the way players act in the middle of the pitch and its a wasted armband, Kane is not much better.

We are so slow in everything we do and of course some of that may be down to the manager but the players have to manage the games better on the pitch and we have no one who takes control of that.

I think the slow play is the plan from the manager, he has talked about moving to a more possession based game, maybe keep the ball and bore the other team to death.

I don’t think there is a current team to defend against that is easier than us.

There is no movement and as you say so slow - no quick 1/2s or flicks - all the risk in our attacking is gone.

I’m not even sure we have the players for this tactic either

 

[parklane1]

I think the slow play is the plan from the manager, he has talked about moving to a more possession based game, maybe keep the ball and bore the other team to death.

I don’t think there is a current team to defend against that is easier than us.

There is no movement and as you say so slow - no quick 1/2s or flicks - all the risk in our attacking is gone.

I’m not even sure we have the players for this tactic either

I would find it hard to believe that the manager sends players out on the field with a plan to play backward and side wards far more then forwards. Of course Poch has to take some blame for what is happening but its not as simple as that ( imo).

 

[DeanoAustin]

I think the slow play is the plan from the manager, he has talked about moving to a more possession based game, maybe keep the ball and bore the other team to death.

I don’t think there is a current team to defend against that is easier than us.

There is no movement and as you say so slow - no quick 1/2s or flicks - all the risk in our attacking is gone.

I’m not even sure we have the players for this tactic either

Great post. If we're moving to a possession based game and this is it, it's brainless. Saudi Sportswashing Machine was a prime example of why we can't play it. We were so slow to do anything and you could see they didn't have to be good to defend against it, they just had to be willing to get into position. They're a very poor team and for 90 mins, we barely troubled them despite having loads of possession.

We're at our best when we attack at pace. We proved that over several years and even the RSB home game this year showed that it still applies. Having a fella like Ndombele, with his quick forward passes is ideal for the game we should be playing.

 

[Legohamster]

I would find it hard to believe that the manager sends players out on the field with a plan to play backward and side wards far more then forwards. Of course Poch has to take some blame for what is happening but its not as simple as that ( imo).

If it was a 1 off I would tend to side with you, but it’s not and he seems ok with it as he tends to stick with the same players who are producing the same style.

When he first came in he wasn’t happy with the attitude/tempo/press so he binned those players off for players like Mason.

 

[Legohamster]

Great post. If we're moving to a possession based game and this is it, it's brainless. Saudi Sportswashing Machine was a prime example of why we can't play it. We were so slow to do anything and you could see they didn't have to be good to defend against it, they just had to be willing to get into position. They're a very poor team and for 90 mins, we barely troubled them despite having loads of possession.

We're at our best when we attack at pace. We proved that over several years and even the RSB home game this year showed that it still applies. Having a fella like Ndombele, with his quick forward passes is ideal for the game we should be playing.

I only saw bits of the game yesterday, but it really looked like Dombele had stopped passing forward as much.

 

[Nigeyman]

Mate doing things differently from the other top 4 clubs (whoever they are) is the reason we've enjoyed such an extended period of growth and success over the last decade and more.

We will not finish this season mid-table as others are claiming and we will continue to do things our way.

I hope the decision makers at the club continue to back Poch and give him a chance, at least until the end of this season.

It'll be in stark contrast to a growing majority of our fan base, but I hope it can set the tone for all of us and even change some minds, sustained growth is what we all want.

Mourinho and his ilk would bring the opposite of this, even damage what's been put in place.

There was always going to be pain along the way, but we need to be strong. The fact that this is Poch's only really blip in over five years leaves me confident everyone involved are doing everything possible to pull through this situation.

Let's us try pull together too, rather than blow everything apart.

I really do get where your coming from in your way of thinking. It’s also a relief personally for me that we can move on from things said before (which I regret a lot btw) yet our main difference is ‘belief in our manager...

I wouldn’t ever run you down for that as not long ago I also thought he was the bees knees.

without going over painful old ground a number of his utterances and in my view poor man management has obviously set me down a different path of thinking.

Yes I definitely want sustained growth and we have indeed achieved this in recent years due to the efforts of both levy and poch, I cannot deny that only point out I started losing faith when he didn’t deal with the Lloris situation in the correct way for me.

I see a period of decline in over a year and a manager who has lost his way and doesn’t fill me with any confidence when he sits in front of the press.

Yes I want a change, you don’t...who knows who is right, the important thing is we both want what is best for spurs but have different ideas of how to go about this.

might sound repugnant but I’d take Mourinho atm absolutely, just to see us look a bit more solid if anything else, people do him down but look at what he’s achieved, and sadly I don’t think poch has the nastiness or ruthless streak to get a team to win something.

 

[nayenezgani]

I really do get where your coming from in your way of thinking. It’s also a relief personally for me that we can move on from things said before (which I regret a lot btw) yet our main difference is ‘belief in our manager...

I wouldn’t ever run you down for that as not long ago I also thought he was the bees knees.

without going over painful old ground a number of his utterances and in my view poor man management has obviously set me down a different path of thinking.

Yes I definitely want sustained growth and we have indeed achieved this in recent years due to the efforts of both levy and poch, I cannot deny that only point out I started losing faith when he didn’t deal with the Lloris situation in the correct way for me.

I see a period of decline in over a year and a manager who has lost his way and doesn’t fill me with any confidence when he sits in front of the press.

Yes I want a change, you don’t...who knows who is right, the important thing is we both want what is best for spurs but have different ideas of how to go about this.

might sound repugnant but I’d take Mourinho atm absolutely, just to see us look a bit more solid if anything else, people do him down but look at what he’s achieved, and sadly I don’t think poch has the nastiness or ruthless streak to get a team to win something.

Disagree with a lot of this, but I do appreciate your viewpoint.

I don't mean to sound like I'm dictating to you how you should support the club either. My view is only how support would look in my ideal world.

Apologies if it felt that way.

 

[fernadez]

Liverpool prove the point so well about how it's not necessary to play football in this league to win games.

Poch should take fudging notes

 

[lurker of old]

sustained growth is what we all want.

How will finishing - at best - midtable help achieve the sustained growth we want? Yesterday told me that the players have no belief if what they are being asked to do.

 

[lurker of old]

The fact that this is Poch's only really blip in over five years.
What does blip mean exactly? Last seasons amazing CL run masked the fact that our league form at the back end of the season was pretty poor, even if we somehow scraped 4th. I feel sorry for Poch, he hasn't had the support he needs from the Chairman, but as someone else said, now he is teetering on the brink.