• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

Mauricio Pochettino - Sacked

I do get the feeling Pochettino feels really nervous ahead of our CL match against Ajax. There is no need to say such things ahead of our biggest match of the season, especially his future and link with Real Madrid.

You probably more than him
 
Reason for mentioning it is that Van de Beek is talked of as playing as a '6', or at least that being his best position.
No, Van de Beek is an Alli-type player, ghosting into the box and making runs, not orchestrating play. So he would not be a like for like for Eriksen. Buying him makes perfect sense, but only if Eriksen stays.
 
Do we think that Van de Beek could play CM in our 4-2-3-1 in the PL? If so, would people prefer him or NDombele? (different styles, and you cant have both!!)

I think the answer is partly in another part of that interview. Where it says basic, I would guess that 'fundamental' is a better translation:

Q. How did your team respond to the mishaps against City? The losses of Winks, Lamela, Kane, Dier and Son have made him change his scheme and ideas many times.

R. We always look for flexibility. Systems are structures that give you a starting point but can not be basic in the development of the game. That's why we like to talk more about tactical development than about systems. People talk about 4-4-2, 5-3-2 ...

Q. Have you simplified the concepts for players to change and adapt without getting confused?

A. The message is simple within complexity. One thing is possession and another not having possession of the ball. How we organize ourselves in possession depending on what you are going to look for and how you organize yourself defensively depending on how you are going to lose the ball. We emphasize that. Soccer is simple. If I have the ball, what do I do? What characteristics do the players I have in the field have? How do I want to attack? How do I look for the weakness of the opponent? And if I do not have the ball, how do I defend? How do I organize quickly? Where do I press? Where do I want to recover and in what way? Within that simplicity there is a complexity that you develop on a day-to-day basis. Afterwards, that is quite easy to transmit when the player works consciously, but that is in the unconscious. It seems natural because the player does not find the change strange. Liverpool is 4-3-3. There is little flexibility. The three in the middle are more defensive. It is a predictable team that will play in a certain way. At the moment of difficulty they put you to Shaqiri or Origi for Lallana, to Wijnaldun for Keita ... Put for post. The City also does it: if it does not work Mahrez plays Bernardo Silva; if he does not play Sterling they put Sané; if it is not Agüero it is Gabriel Jesús ... At the end they look at the quality of the individual the ability to defeat the opponent without seeking so much tactical development to find another way to improve the team, or more fluent or have the ability to arrive in a different. We return to the same thing: if you have an idea of soccer, perfect, I want to develop a system but I need that when Agüero is not playing a striker of the same level as Gabriel Jesus. And if I do not have Sterling, I want Mané ... That's very different from working with a team where you have to look for ways to help players meet. I can not decide to play or not with extremes.

Q. What are the extremes of Tottenham?

R. If I have laterals that come better from behind and read the space better, we will try to play with ends that go inside. Because Son is not an end either that will make the difference in the one against one, or Lucas Moura or Lamela. The characteristics of the game depend on the characteristics of the players. If you want to play with certain tactical development you have to look for the best performers. That is the advantage of some trainers that are not earthly with respect to the earthly ones. If I have 300 million to invest I can look for players that are determinants of the way I want to play. If you do not have that possibility, then you will have to look for that flexibility in your game to get there. Valdano told me: "[Tottenham has] too many limitations; on the way back they will have more possibilities. At least they found that when you pressed the rhythm they got confused. But if you do not have physical, technical or mental speed, it's very difficult. " Is right! How do you do it to compensate? You can say mass. If you lack that, it is not easy. That is where you should look for flexibility in the way you play so that your players can have more options to get results. If not, it is impossible.

Q. Can you give an example of what you understand by flexibility?

R. Attack with two forwards inside, open on the outside, attack with three, with central corridors used differently ... We are able to play with a midfielder, with two, with three ... With high and low sides; with a high side and a low side; with an open band ... We have a lot of possibilities.
 
Last edited:
I think the answer is partly in another part of that interview:

Q. How did your team respond to the mishaps against City? The losses of Winks, Lamela, Kane, Dier and Son have made him change his scheme and ideas many times.

R. We always look for flexibility. Systems are structures that give you a starting point but can not be basic in the development of the game. That's why we like to talk more about tactical development than about systems. People talk about 4-4-2, 5-3-2 ...

Q. Have you simplified the concepts for players to change and adapt without getting confused?

A. The message is simple within complexity. One thing is possession and another not having possession of the ball. How we organize ourselves in possession depending on what you are going to look for and how you organize yourself defensively depending on how you are going to lose the ball. We emphasize that. Soccer is simple. If I have the ball, what do I do? What characteristics do the players I have in the field have? How do I want to attack? How do I look for the weakness of the opponent? And if I do not have the ball, how do I defend? How do I organize quickly? Where do I press? Where do I want to recover and in what way? Within that simplicity there is a complexity that you develop on a day-to-day basis. Afterwards, that is quite easy to transmit when the player works consciously, but that is in the unconscious. It seems natural because the player does not find the change strange. Liverpool is 4-3-3. There is little flexibility. The three in the middle are more defensive. It is a predictable team that will play in a certain way. At the moment of difficulty they put you to Shaqiri or Origi for Lallana, to Wijnaldun for Keita ... Put for post. The City also does it: if it does not work Mahrez plays Bernardo Silva; if he does not play Sterling they put Sané; if it is not Agüero it is Gabriel Jesús ... At the end they look at the quality of the individual the ability to defeat the opponent without seeking so much tactical development to find another way to improve the team, or more fluent or have the ability to arrive in a different. We return to the same thing: if you have an idea of soccer, perfect, I want to develop a system but I need that when Agüero is not playing a striker of the same level as Gabriel Jesus. And if I do not have Sterling, I want Mané ... That's very different from working with a team where you have to look for ways to help players meet. I can not decide to play or not with extremes.

Q. What are the extremes of Tottenham?

R. If I have laterals that come better from behind and read the space better, we will try to play with ends that go inside. Because Son is not an end either that will make the difference in the one against one, or Lucas Moura or Lamela. The characteristics of the game depend on the characteristics of the players. If you want to play with certain tactical development you have to look for the best performers. That is the advantage of some trainers that are not earthly with respect to the earthly ones. If I have 300 million to invest I can look for players that are determinants of the way I want to play. If you do not have that possibility, then you will have to look for that flexibility in your game to get there. Valdano told me: "[Tottenham has] too many limitations; on the way back they will have more possibilities. At least they found that when you pressed the rhythm they got confused. But if you do not have physical, technical or mental speed, it's very difficult. " Is right! How do you do it to compensate? You can say mass. If you lack that, it is not easy. That is where you should look for flexibility in the way you play so that your players can have more options to get results. If not, it is impossible.

Q. Can you give an example of what you understand by flexibility?

R. Attack with two forwards inside, open on the outside, attack with three, with central corridors used differently ... We are able to play with a midfielder, with two, with three ... With high and low sides; with a high side and a low side; with an open band ... We have a lot of possibilities.
Based on this he’s DEFINITELY off in the summer. I took several words - which are basically anagrams- and he clearly says ‘I’m odd to Madrid in the summer. Fcuk all of you badger-loving, custard smearing clams”.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DTA
Interesting re: tactical adaptation to the players (instead of the other way around), but what I wonder is if there's some form of overarching template that Poch prefers when he has a squad that can carry it out.

There are certain trends that have persisted in his tactical approach, when he has fit players. The approach re: his Southampton front four (Lambert, Rodriguez, Davis, Lallana) and our front four (Kane, Son, Dele, Eriksen) seems identical, for example. You have Kane/Lambert, who drops deep to conduct play, act as target man and so on. Rodriguez/Son act as the inside forward, occupying line-leading spaces that Kane/Lambert vacate - as Poch says, neither is amazing at beating their man down the outside, but they are great at finding those inside spaces. And Lallana/Eriksen conduct play, free-roaming to occupy spaces where necessary for the quick release passes.

Although Poch doesn't stick religiously to formations or tactics, I do wonder if that one is his preferred model - and if our recruitment will focus on providing players to fit that style of play.
 
Interesting re: tactical adaptation to the players (instead of the other way around), but what I wonder is if there's some form of overarching template that Poch prefers when he has a squad that can carry it out.

There are certain trends that have persisted in his tactical approach, when he has fit players. The approach re: his Southampton front four (Lambert, Rodriguez, Davis, Lallana) and our front four (Kane, Son, Dele, Eriksen) seems identical, for example. You have Kane/Lambert, who drops deep to conduct play, act as target man and so on. Rodriguez/Son act as the inside forward, occupying line-leading spaces that Kane/Lambert vacate - as Poch says, neither is amazing at beating their man down the outside, but they are great at finding those inside spaces. And Lallana/Eriksen conduct play, free-roaming to occupy spaces where necessary for the quick release passes.

Although Poch doesn't stick religiously to formations or tactics, I do wonder if that one is his preferred model - and if our recruitment will focus on providing players to fit that style of play.
He's simply saying that he cannot pick and choose who to buy, so if a 'good' player came up and was available but didn't fit his perfect system, he could still buy them and adjust our style to suit. E.g. if we sold Eriksen and bought another Kane, Poch is pragmatic enough to play longer and fight for it up top rather than expect Sissoko to be Eriksen.
 
He's simply saying that he cannot pick and choose who to buy, so if a 'good' player came up and was available but didn't fit his perfect system, he could still buy them and adjust our style to suit. E.g. if we sold Eriksen and bought another Kane, Poch is pragmatic enough to play longer and fight for it up top rather than expect Sissoko to be Eriksen.

Oh, for sure. But if he could actually pick whom to buy, would he have an ideal system to fit his choices into?

That's my question, really. His attributes, and the ones he values (bravery, competitiveness, energy) seem to correspond to a gegenpressing system, which seemed to be his trademark in earlier days. And when we played that system, it was largely in a 4-2-3-1 as it was at Southampton. Assuming that he could get the players he wanted, would that be his 'default', so to speak?
 
I love this man. Every thing about him. An achievement every bit as big as Klopp's given the circumstances we've been through this season.

I think Klopp has done an incredible job at Liverpool. He's changed that club around, 2 CL finals, a EL final, LC final and this title race to the last day.

However, I think getting Spurs to the CL final, with how we've been for 3 months, is bigger than what Klopp has achieved this season, perhaps unless he wins the double.

If GHod forbid we win? I would say it surpasses anything Klopp has done and I am a huge fan of Klopp.
 
Mauricio Pochettino, smiling broadly now, talks! “It is still difficult to talk. I am a bit emotional. Thank you football, thank you my players, they are heroes. In the last year I am telling everyone that I have a groups of players who are heroes. The second half was amazing. Thank you football! I am so emotional now. I thank our fans and the people who believe. When you work and feel the love, it’s not a stress, it’s a pleasure. We showed passion against Emirates Marketing Project and against today. It was tough, but this is a magic competition. I am so grateful to be a coach! All of my players are heroes, but Lucas Moura is a super-hero! [momentarily breaks down again] I want to remember my family, this is for them too.”
 
Back