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The new, new manager thread - Pt 3

Pochs saints team also tailed off 2nd half of season much like under harrys tenure - his style of football will cause team to tire and we will probably end up missing top 4 again. Also - pochs saints team have been awful in the cup games and his suffered a few mini-bashings from the top sides too. Im just not fully sold on yet...
 
Pochs saints team also tailed off 2nd half of season much like under harrys tenure - his style of football will cause team to tire and we will probably end up missing top 4 again. Also - pochs saints team have been awful in the cup games and his suffered a few mini-bashings from the top sides too. Im just not fully sold on yet...

What style of football would you prefer and think has less chance of fatigue being an issue?
 
Pochs saints team also tailed off 2nd half of season much like under harrys tenure - his style of football will cause team to tire and we will probably end up missing top 4 again. Also - pochs saints team have been awful in the cup games and his suffered a few mini-bashings from the top sides too. Im just not fully sold on yet...

Sat 17 Aug 2013 West Bromwich Albion A League W 1-0 Lambert 90 (pen) 25,927 Stats Table
Sat 24 Aug 2013 SUNDERLAND H League D 1-1 Fonte 88 29,596 Report Stats Table
Tue 27 Aug 2013 Barnsley A League Cup W 5-1 Stats
Sat 31 Aug 2013 Norwich City A League L 0-1 26,819 Stats Table
Sun 15 Sep 2013 WEST HAM UNITED H League D 0-0 28,794 Report Stats Table
Sat 21 Sep 2013 Liverpool A League W 1-0 Lovren 53 44,755 Stats Table
Tue 24 Sep 2013 BRISTOL CITY H League Cup W 2-0 Ramirez 15; Hooiveld 83 8,539 Stats
Sat 28 Sep 2013 CRYSTAL PALACE H League W 2-0 Osvaldo 47; Lambert 49 30,699 Report Stats Table
Sun 06 Oct 2013 SWANSEA CITY H League W 2-0 Lallana 19; Rodriguez 83 28,570 Report Stats Table
Sat 19 Oct 2013 Manchester United A League D 1-1 Lovren 89 75,220 Stats Table
Sat 26 Oct 2013 FULHAM H League W 2-0 Lambert 20; Rodriguez 43 28,631 Report Stats Table
Sat 02 Nov 2013 Stoke City A League D 1-1 Rodriguez 42 26,053 Report Stats Table
Wed 06 Nov 2013 Sunderland A League Cup L 1-2 Yoshida 88 15,966 Stats
Sat 09 Nov 2013 HULL CITY H League W 4-1 Schneiderlin 16; Lambert 30 (pen); Lallana 37;
Davis 88 30,022 Report Stats Table
Sat 23 Nov 2013 Arsenal A League L 0-2 60,007 Report Stats Table
Sun 01 Dec 2013 Chelsea A League L 1-3 Rodriguez 1 41,568 Report Stats Table
Wed 04 Dec 2013 ASTON VILLA H League L 2-3 Rodriguez 47; Osvaldo 68 29,814 Stats Table
Sat 07 Dec 2013 Emirates Marketing Project H League D 1-1 Osvaldo 41 31,229 Report Stats Table
Sat 14 Dec 2013 Saudi Sportswashing Machine A League D 1-1 Rodriguez 64 49,164 Report Stats Table
Sun 22 Dec 2013 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR H League L 2-3 Lallana 12; Lambert 59 31,455 Stats Table
Thu 26 Dec 2013 Cardiff City A League W 3-0 Rodriguez 13, 19; Lambert 26 27,929 Stats Table
Sun 29 Dec 2013 Everton A League L 1-2 Ramirez 70 39,092 Stats Table
Wed 01 Jan 2014 CHELSEA H League L 0-3 31,271 Stats Table
Sat 04 Jan 2014 BURNLEY H F.A. Cup W 4-3 Stats
Sat 11 Jan 2014 WEST BROMWICH ALBION H League W 1-0 Lallana 65 28,610 Stats Table
Sat 18 Jan 2014 Sunderland A League D 2-2 Rodriguez 3; Lovren 30 38,115 Stats Table
Sat 25 Jan 2014 YEOVIL TOWN H F.A. Cup W 2-0 Stats
Tue 28 Jan 2014 ARSENAL H League D 2-2 Fonte 20; Lallana 53 31,284 Stats Table
Sat 01 Feb 2014 Fulham A League W 3-0 Stats Table
Sat 08 Feb 2014 STOKE CITY H League D 2-2 Lambert 5; Davis 40 27,987 Stats Table
Tue 11 Feb 2014 Hull City A League W 1-0 Fonte 68 23,670 Stats Table
Sat 15 Feb 2014 Sunderland A F.A. Cup L 0-1 Stats
Sat 22 Feb 2014 West Ham United A League L 1-3 Yoshida 7 33,148 Stats Table
Sat 01 Mar 2014 LIVERPOOL H League L 0-3 31,659 Stats Table
Sat 08 Mar 2014 Crystal Palace A League W 1-0 Rodriguez 36 25,073 Stats Table
Sat 15 Mar 2014 NORWICH CITY H League W 4-2 Schneiderlin 4; Lambert 56; Rodriguez 71;
Gallagher 90 29,828 Stats Table
Sat 22 Mar 2014 Tottenham Hotspur A League 15:00
Sun 23 Mar 2014 Tottenham Hotspur A League L 2-3 Rodriguez 18; Lallana 27 35,460 Stats Table
Sat 29 Mar 2014 Saudi Sportswashing Machine H League W 4-0 Rodriguez 45, 88; Lambert 48; Lallana 69 31,360 Stats Table
Sat 05 Apr 2014 Emirates Marketing Project A League L 1-4 Lambert 36 (pen) 47,009 Stats Table
Sat 12 Apr 2014 CARDIFF CITY H League L 0-1 30,526 Stats Table
Sat 19 Apr 2014 Aston Villa A League D 0-0 35,134 Stats Table
Sat 26 Apr 2014 EVERTON H League W 2-0 31,313 Stats Table
Sat 03 May 2014 Swansea City A League W 1-0 Lambert 90 20,682 Stats Table
Sun 11 May 2014 MANCHESTER UNITED H League D 1-1 Lambert 27 31,372 Stats Table

Doesn't seem like they tailed off to me, results seem pretty consistent throughout. The mini-bashings weren't like our bashings. For example, they eventually lost heavily to Emirates Marketing Project, but for everyone that saw that game, they gave Emirates Marketing Project a right scare and outplayed them for a good portion of the game before City's individual quality won them the game. It wasn't a collapse like we have seen. Similarly against Liverpool, they may have lost to them heavily at home, but that was a very flattering score line for Liverpool and Saints created a load of chances in that game which was very open and end-to-end.
 
Unfortunately it's the same old problems:

When I were a lad playing under 13s we just put our best 11 on the pitch and our manager told us to run about a bit. If it worked for us why not Spurs?

And:

English football's different. It's got more guts and passion. There's no way a foreigner could ever understand that. Buy British! (even if it's ****).

Sometimes with a bit of:

He used words I don't understand. I don't trust him.

errrm, no...i think its more to do with untested managers being given the helm...especially when in the not too distant past we saw one nose dive faster than a dolphin performing tricks at sea world

people are rightly cautious IMO

On the flip side i have deep reservations about people yapping for coaches that they have no indepth knowledge of their philosophy or system....yes some of us can say system without reverting to single celled organisms;)
 
no one can tell you what system de boers though..aside from the usual statement which is fast becoming a cliche.....i.e 433 and presses everywhere
Well recently enough I had the privileged to watch the Ajax academy kids in action over a number of days. Very very impressive I have to say, and though I do accept this was not the senior team their system of play runs through the entire club. To describe it would take a while, andI'm probably not eloquent enough to do it justice but I guess the easy thing to say is that it's a variation on what you see Barca doing. In some ways it's this system that has swayed me to the FdB camp rather than the man himself. System is probably an over used word in the attempt to describe how a team plays. I prefer to break down what I see into repeated patterns that are triggered by certain events on the pitch. This to me is the sign of a well drilled team, and this team youth team was certainly well drilled but not to the point it stifled the individual talent on show either. After the laissez faire approach of Sherwood and the uber restrictive approach of AVB I'd take a bit of this now.

I'm not against Poch either BTW, just prefer FdB.
 
Sat 17 Aug 2013 West Bromwich Albion A League W 1-0 Lambert 90 (pen) 25,927 Stats Table
Sat 24 Aug 2013 SUNDERLAND H League D 1-1 Fonte 88 29,596 Report Stats Table
Tue 27 Aug 2013 Barnsley A League Cup W 5-1 Stats
Sat 31 Aug 2013 Norwich City A League L 0-1 26,819 Stats Table
Sun 15 Sep 2013 WEST HAM UNITED H League D 0-0 28,794 Report Stats Table
Sat 21 Sep 2013 Liverpool A League W 1-0 Lovren 53 44,755 Stats Table
Tue 24 Sep 2013 BRISTOL CITY H League Cup W 2-0 Ramirez 15; Hooiveld 83 8,539 Stats
Sat 28 Sep 2013 CRYSTAL PALACE H League W 2-0 Osvaldo 47; Lambert 49 30,699 Report Stats Table
Sun 06 Oct 2013 SWANSEA CITY H League W 2-0 Lallana 19; Rodriguez 83 28,570 Report Stats Table
Sat 19 Oct 2013 Manchester United A League D 1-1 Lovren 89 75,220 Stats Table
Sat 26 Oct 2013 FULHAM H League W 2-0 Lambert 20; Rodriguez 43 28,631 Report Stats Table
Sat 02 Nov 2013 Stoke City A League D 1-1 Rodriguez 42 26,053 Report Stats Table
Wed 06 Nov 2013 Sunderland A League Cup L 1-2 Yoshida 88 15,966 Stats
Sat 09 Nov 2013 HULL CITY H League W 4-1 Schneiderlin 16; Lambert 30 (pen); Lallana 37;
Davis 88 30,022 Report Stats Table
Sat 23 Nov 2013 Arsenal A League L 0-2 60,007 Report Stats Table
Sun 01 Dec 2013 Chelsea A League L 1-3 Rodriguez 1 41,568 Report Stats Table
Wed 04 Dec 2013 ASTON VILLA H League L 2-3 Rodriguez 47; Osvaldo 68 29,814 Stats Table
Sat 07 Dec 2013 Emirates Marketing Project H League D 1-1 Osvaldo 41 31,229 Report Stats Table
Sat 14 Dec 2013 Saudi Sportswashing Machine A League D 1-1 Rodriguez 64 49,164 Report Stats Table
Sun 22 Dec 2013 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR H League L 2-3 Lallana 12; Lambert 59 31,455 Stats Table
Thu 26 Dec 2013 Cardiff City A League W 3-0 Rodriguez 13, 19; Lambert 26 27,929 Stats Table
Sun 29 Dec 2013 Everton A League L 1-2 Ramirez 70 39,092 Stats Table
Wed 01 Jan 2014 CHELSEA H League L 0-3 31,271 Stats Table
Sat 04 Jan 2014 BURNLEY H F.A. Cup W 4-3 Stats
Sat 11 Jan 2014 WEST BROMWICH ALBION H League W 1-0 Lallana 65 28,610 Stats Table
Sat 18 Jan 2014 Sunderland A League D 2-2 Rodriguez 3; Lovren 30 38,115 Stats Table
Sat 25 Jan 2014 YEOVIL TOWN H F.A. Cup W 2-0 Stats
Tue 28 Jan 2014 ARSENAL H League D 2-2 Fonte 20; Lallana 53 31,284 Stats Table
Sat 01 Feb 2014 Fulham A League W 3-0 Stats Table
Sat 08 Feb 2014 STOKE CITY H League D 2-2 Lambert 5; Davis 40 27,987 Stats Table
Tue 11 Feb 2014 Hull City A League W 1-0 Fonte 68 23,670 Stats Table
Sat 15 Feb 2014 Sunderland A F.A. Cup L 0-1 Stats
Sat 22 Feb 2014 West Ham United A League L 1-3 Yoshida 7 33,148 Stats Table
Sat 01 Mar 2014 LIVERPOOL H League L 0-3 31,659 Stats Table
Sat 08 Mar 2014 Crystal Palace A League W 1-0 Rodriguez 36 25,073 Stats Table
Sat 15 Mar 2014 NORWICH CITY H League W 4-2 Schneiderlin 4; Lambert 56; Rodriguez 71;
Gallagher 90 29,828 Stats Table
Sat 22 Mar 2014 Tottenham Hotspur A League 15:00
Sun 23 Mar 2014 Tottenham Hotspur A League L 2-3 Rodriguez 18; Lallana 27 35,460 Stats Table
Sat 29 Mar 2014 Saudi Sportswashing Machine H League W 4-0 Rodriguez 45, 88; Lambert 48; Lallana 69 31,360 Stats Table
Sat 05 Apr 2014 Emirates Marketing Project A League L 1-4 Lambert 36 (pen) 47,009 Stats Table
Sat 12 Apr 2014 CARDIFF CITY H League L 0-1 30,526 Stats Table
Sat 19 Apr 2014 Aston Villa A League D 0-0 35,134 Stats Table
Sat 26 Apr 2014 EVERTON H League W 2-0 31,313 Stats Table
Sat 03 May 2014 Swansea City A League W 1-0 Lambert 90 20,682 Stats Table
Sun 11 May 2014 MANCHESTER UNITED H League D 1-1 Lambert 27 31,372 Stats Table

Doesn't seem like they tailed off to me, results seem pretty consistent throughout. The mini-bashings weren't like our bashings. For example, they eventually lost heavily to Emirates Marketing Project, but for everyone that saw that game, they gave Emirates Marketing Project a right scare and outplayed them for a good portion of the game before City's individual quality won them the game. It wasn't a collapse like we have seen. Similarly against Liverpool, they may have lost to them heavily at home, but that was a very flattering score line for Liverpool and Saints created a load of chances in that game which was very open and end-to-end.

top post dude

glad you are back on here
 
We'll recently enough I had the privileged to watch the Ajax academy kids in action over a number of days. Very very impressive I have to say, and though I do accept this was not the senior team their system of play runs through the entire club. To describe it would take a while, andI'm probably not eloquent enough to do it justice but I guess the easy thing to say is that it's a variation on what you see Barca doing. In some ways it's this system that has swayed me to the FdB camp rather than the man himself. System is probably an over used word in the attempt to describe how a team plays. I prefer to break down what I see into repeated patterns that are triggered by certain events on the pitch. This to me is the sign of a well drilled team, and this team youth team was certainly well drilled but not to the point it stifled the individual talent on show either. After the laissez faire approach of Sherwood and the uber restrictive approach of AVB I'd take a bit of this now.

I'm not against Poch either BTW, just prefer FdB.

OMG

YOU CANNOT JUST STOP THERE!!!!:eek:

you are on THE verge of being the first guy to actually properly describe a system in AAAAGGGGESS.......(as far as my limited reading of this place goes that is)

you couldnt have excited me anymore with these buzz words you used

' it's a variation on what you see Barca doing'
'System is probably an over used word in the attempt to describe how a team plays'
'I prefer to break down what I see into repeated patterns that are triggered by certain events on the pitch'
'This to me is the sign of a well drilled team'
......plus you had first hand knowledge and experience

feel free to PM if you want
 
Pochs saints team also tailed off 2nd half of season much like under harrys tenure - his style of football will cause team to tire and we will probably end up missing top 4 again. Also - pochs saints team have been awful in the cup games and his suffered a few mini-bashings from the top sides too. Im just not fully sold on yet...

Such as?

Even if he had, considering the likes of Spurs, Arsenal and Utd have suffered the same with infinitely better squads, it wouldn't mean a great deal.
 
People writing off Poch already, goodness gracicous me this place never fails to amaze me.

How about we give him 12 months. What actually surprises me is that people are saying this is like AVB all over again, but I don't see how? AVB came to the Premier League having just won a treble and winning the league unbeaten, went to Chelsea where he tried implementing his own system, failed and got sacked and then found his way to Spurs where he seems to fail to implement a proper successful system in over 12 months in charge. Pochettino came to England after a less than successful period in Spain, implemented his system within a few months at Southampton, improved players he already had in the team, made four of his stars England internationals and had Southampton playing some of the best football in the Premier League as well as getting plaudits from almost everyone in football.

Lets give Pochettino 12 months, if in 12 months time, we see the same old ****, the ****e defending and mistakes we have seen for over a year now, the same slow starts, the surrendering against the bigger teams one we go a goal down etc. then fair enough, it's clear that someone isn't allowing managers to do their jobs correctly, or the players just arent up for it, maybe the manager isn't up for it. But if after 12 months, Pochettino has clearly installed a philosophy into our side, we see a better pressing game, some nice crisp passing but for whatever reason it's not FULLY coming through, I'd be happy personally. It could be that the players aren't up to the job and he needs his own in, or he just needs a bit more time.

It's about time we get a manager in now, and stick with them. None of this revolving door ****. Levy needs to BELIEVE that Poch is the right man for the job and if he is, then stick with him forever how long his contract runs for.

=D>
 
Pochs saints team also tailed off 2nd half of season much like under harrys tenure - his style of football will cause team to tire and we will probably end up missing top 4 again. Also - pochs saints team have been awful in the cup games and his suffered a few mini-bashings from the top sides too. Im just not fully sold on yet...

The big difference between Saints and us is for me that our squad is much bigger in quality. Harry didnt use the squad much, always his 12-13 "golden boys". If we could keep the squad we would have like 17-19 players who could do a great job week in, week out. Saints hasnt got more than 14-15. And remember: They lost Rodriguez with his knee injury. For me he is one of their most important players.
 
Southampton had just got promoted so by definition they weren't struggling ANY Premier League performance would have been acceptable.

He didn't take over a struggling side in that respect but it's remarkable hindsight to say he had a squad full of quality players. Other than Shaw none of them were seen as future internationals its audacious that people continue to peddle this line that these players were top class players so taking Saints to 8th and their record ever finish was the minimum expectation with that squad.

Lallana is 26, Lambert 32, Rodriguez 24, if they are so brilliant have they been hiding under a rock for the past few years? Or has Pochettino developed and improved them?


He's taken Southampton from a team on the up newly promoted and hoping to stay in the Prem to top 8 team who could realistically have had 4 players going to the WC with England based on their performances under Poch.

He wouldn't be taking over a struggling Spurs side either, we finished 6th just a couple of points behind our record ever total. Most of the tools are ripe for work we just need him to do what he did at saints- maximise what he has at his disposal

Can we please stop over egging this Top 8 finish they finished 8 pts behind 7th & 13 pts behind 6th, they were not challenging for higher but holding themselves ahead of the "rest of the Premier League".

6pts less would've made them 9th, 8 pts less would've meant 10th. Would we then have been saying "Oh he got a newly promoted team to a Top 10 finish" and hailing him as a top manager. To me he got an average team to an average position against the rest of the average teams like Stoke and Saudi Sportswashing Machine. We don't need that we need a top manager not Mr Average.
 
Such as?

Even if he had, considering the likes of Spurs, Arsenal and Utd have suffered the same with infinitely better squads, it wouldn't mean a great deal.

thats my take as well

everyone getting a battering sort of puts everyone on even keel

I think whats more important a question is how we neutralised pochettino's system last season and how their team feel victim to other teams that were able to press THEM and execute a counter attack....plus against the best possesion sides that sometimes looked pretty laboured

all this is fair enough and infact its very much expected when considering the difference in quality between saints and some of the more powerful teams but it has to be something that we are prepared to accept when he gets here...that the transformation might not be permanent or rather might not be endured for a lengthy period of the time. Our team might tail off as well or the players may not be able to physically carry out Pochetino's wishes...would he then have a plan B?
 
errrm, no...i think its more to do with untested managers being given the helm...especially when in the not too distant past we saw one nose dive faster than a dolphin performing tricks at sea world

people are rightly cautious IMO

On the flip side i have deep reservations about people yapping for coaches that they have no indepth knowledge of their philosophy or system....yes some of us can say system without reverting to single celled organisms;)

That doesn't sound like you're opposed to 'system' managers in principal. Neither do you sound like you're opposed to manager who think.

That means the original post wasn't about you.
 
The big difference between Saints and us is for me that our squad is much bigger in quality. Harry didnt use the squad much, always his 12-13 "golden boys". If we could keep the squad we would have like 17-19 players who could do a great job week in, week out. Saints hasnt got more than 14-15. And remember: They lost Rodriguez with his knee injury. For me he is one of their most important players.

is it a plus or a minus that he uses the big squad or stick with his best 11 week in week out?
 
i think that would only be the case if Levy is looking for an angle to let someone go. AVB didnt get top 4 and he still had his job...and then he deteriorated the season after so he had to go....not to mention his problems and deficiencies followed him across London

From what we can see with our own eyes i think pochettino can at the very least duplicate the level wew just finished at.....after that is a minor mystery but i have a good feeling about this

I also feel that he would be the best candidate to get the best out of lamela
I like your positivity African, but it's hard to be positive when we keep chopping and changing managers.


So AVB, Jol and Redknapp all got sacked after their 5th placed finishes?
No manager has stayed longer than 4 seasons under Levy. How can we have stability if our Chairman keeps wielding his axe and not giving them time to put things right. I question Levy's decision to let AVB go to be frank. He wasn't as bad as some of us are making him out to be. AVB is 3rd in the top 20 managers of the club's history with a 55% win record with Frank Brettell and Arthur Turner coming 1st and 2nd respectively.
 
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That doesn't sound like you're opposed to 'system' managers in principal. Neither do you sound like you're opposed to manager who think.

That means the original post wasn't about you.

Even if it was or it wasnt, i still think its a bit baseless and a tad condescending to those that dont want what they may construe to be a fancy foreign name for the sake of it
cause lets face it...your on one side of the fence for this kind of topic and i think i fall on the other side...i think once people are faced with continental possibilities then they dream of something exotic, overly complicated that goes beyond their grasp and manifests into beautiful / technical football,

there is something about it that sounds elitist and holier than thou and sort of assumes the average english fan is not up to the current times etc that i dont like

and quite frankly , Jol aside..i havent been too impressed with continental options that have not cut their teeth in this league before hand....system in their right coat pocket or not
 
I like your positivity African, but it's hard to be positive when we keep chopping and changing managers.


ah right but lets face the facts of how levy works

Santini = Boring football (its touch and go who was worse between him and AVBs second season here), losing the fans support.......so Jol came in
Jol did a good job....= he stayed.....but he flattened out....as far as league position goes, Jol was losing the dressing room (becasue levy was looking for someone better and team confidence was low) and was not working too well with the Dof and our purchasing style
Ramos came in = Bad experience overall...ramos out
Harry in...did a great job....kept his job....did not sign a contract when england was a possibility (which would have kept him here for significantly longer)...dropped the ball in the league as he probably had his mind elsewhere..........started some sort of media mind games against the board and levy == Harry gone
AVB = dude just blagged it and got a job but in this league you WILL get exposed if you are a charlatan (i love that word)

now pochettino.... a good sunrise? who knows

now i am not saying that all that is entirely accurate or that i agree with it but i dont think for once that levy is cavalier about hiring and firing to the tune of real madrid for instance...i think he is genuinely looking for the right guy..which is why i thought we should have kept sherwood on as interim manager until we found the perfect candidate
 
I'm really quite excited about Poch, and I think he's probably going to be the perfect candidate for us.

First of all his style of football looks more fast paced than AVB's, which should satisfy the core Spurs crowd's desire to see that type of football.

Secondly he brings through the youth and trusts them.

It just basically seems like if he's been asked to coach the team to maximise their talent then this is what he will do. His transfer deals haven't been major successes but there were a lot of foreign signings similar to us this season just gone so they will likely come good next year. But if he's basically been asked to make Baldini's squad reach it's potential then I think he can do this. I would say he simply needs hard working players willing to bust their gut fitness wise, as he will likely get talented players able to play the type of football he wants in the final third. Seems like Southampton won a lot of possession not simply because they played a slow tempo but because they won the ball back so quickly. In attacking areas there was often quick one touch passing to penetrate defences so I think the likes of Soldado and Kane (who has a really good football brain) can actually flourish under him.

Eriksen, Paulinho, Chadli, Siggy, I think they will all work hard and be suited to his style of football. Lennon and Townsend may get new leases of life given the quicker tempo system is something they won't have been too used to before. Sandro can be what Wanyama is supposed to be for Saints, and will be awesome in winning the ball back quickly. Bentaleb, Carroll, Holtby will all suit this guy, all have the brain and can play one touch. Dembele may well be a casualty. There's a question mark on Ade, if he knuckles down and works hard he will be a great asset. If he decides to be the type of guy that tells his coach 'your ideas will not help the club' then he will be a cancer on the reign of Poch and it clearly won't be helpful.

Chiriches and Vertonghen will be well suited centre backs, Lloris will be a perfect keeper, Walker should thrive as Clyne did, and I wouldn't put it beyond Rose to step up another level with a bit more team structure. I would say we probably need a 'finisher' to get goals from the left like Jay Rodriguez (maybe even the man himself) and probably a Dawson replacement at centre back. (If we could take Caulker back that would be pretty nice). Kaboul as a 4th choice considering his injury proneness wouldn't be too bad. Other than that, a top class left back and we will be good to go.

I think we will make a really good challenge next season. The competition is going to be fierce but I think we are nicely poised and making the right moves.
 
I'm really quite excited about Poch, and I think he's probably going to be the perfect candidate for us.

First of all his style of football looks more fast paced than AVB's, which should satisfy the core Spurs crowd's desire to see that type of football.

Secondly he brings through the youth and trusts them.

It just basically seems like if he's been asked to coach the team to maximise their talent then this is what he will do. His transfer deals haven't been major successes but there were a lot of foreign signings similar to us this season just gone so they will likely come good next year. But if he's basically been asked to make Baldini's squad reach it's potential then I think he can do this. I would say he simply needs hard working players willing to bust their gut fitness wise, as he will likely get talented players able to play the type of football he wants in the final third. Seems like Southampton won a lot of possession not simply because they played a slow tempo but because they won the ball back so quickly. In attacking areas there was often quick one touch passing to penetrate defences so I think the likes of Soldado and Kane (who has a really good football brain) can actually flourish under him.

Eriksen, Paulinho, Chadli, Siggy, I think they will all work hard and be suited to his style of football. Lennon and Townsend may get new leases of life given the quicker tempo system is something they won't have been too used to before. Sandro can be what Wanyama is supposed to be for Saints, and will be awesome in winning the ball back quickly. Bentaleb, Carroll, Holtby will all suit this guy, all have the brain and can play one touch. Dembele may well be a casualty. There's a question mark on Ade, if he knuckles down and works hard he will be a great asset. If he decides to be the type of guy that tells his coach 'your ideas will not help the club' then he will be a cancer on the reign of Poch and it clearly won't be helpful.

Chiriches and Vertonghen will be well suited centre backs, Lloris will be a perfect keeper, Walker should thrive as Clyne did, and I wouldn't put it beyond Rose to step up another level with a bit more team structure. I would say we probably need a 'finisher' to get goals from the left like Jay Rodriguez (maybe even the man himself) and probably a Dawson replacement at centre back. (If we could take Caulker back that would be pretty nice). Kaboul as a 4th choice considering his injury proneness wouldn't be too bad. Other than that, a top class left back and we will be good to go.

I think we will make a really good challenge next season. The competition is going to be fierce but I think we are nicely poised and making the right moves.

you're happy about everyone and everything until it goes south;)
 
you're happy about everyone and everything until it goes south;)

Season is over, optimism has returned. The clouds have lifted. I always liked AVB, I wasn't so against Sherwood but can see he wasn't the right man for the club. I'm kind of back on the Levy train again although I think he has done very well to dodge the questioning on appointing AVB (which most people are willing to give a pass on, but whatever).

But from the candidates out there I think Poch would be really good for us. Don't know enough about FDB and Benitez I don't think is the right strategic choice. Poch ticks a lot of boxes.
 
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