Mauricio Pochettino is facing what might well be the toughest week of his club’s season, however you wouldn’t imagine it from his demeanour at his most recent press conference according to an article in The Independent.
The article starts by describing how Poch is sitting back in his chair at Hotspur Way, his feet propped up on a desk, as he jokes about friends questioning his team selection at Real Madrid by seeing it and asking “what the f**k?”
Pochettino is fielding questions about an 11-day spell that involves Real Madrid coming to Wembley and matches with Liverpool and Manchester United as well as a hosting a League Cup tie at home to the West Ham while also enduring a level of injuries that greatly disrupted our season at this point last year.
The article continues saying It was on October 2016,that we could barely seem to score a goal.
Now, despite our first-choice midfield missing, we could still put out a side that left those same doubters in Madrid then apologising and calling him “a genius” after a 1-1 draw.
The author adds that their is growing sense that Spurs are taking the next step under the current management team , and it also makes tomorrow’s match at home to Liverpool on Sunday all the more compelling.
He also adds that our squad have got to a point where they understand Mauricio’s ideas so well, and as he is so in control of the team, he can much more easily change it up and do something very different.
It adds that there is now just much more variety to Spurs game, which been particularly evident in Europe, describing how we were much more counter-attacking than we have ever been in the 3-1 win over Dortmund and of course the two up front against Real Madrid.
The article wonders what Poch will come up with against Liverpool, which should make it difficult for Jürgen Klopp to plan for.
Pochettino continued: “It’s important,” he says, again leaning back. “Last season was difficult to cope with competitions, the Champions League and the Premier League, the polemic about quality, no quality, bench or no bench. Today, we have available the same number of players and similar injuries, but because the team has moved on, improved, learned, we’re competing much better. We’re more mature as a team and I’m happy about that. That is the big difference.
“Everyone is pushing up and trying to improve. I am very pleased to have different alternatives to play, to change from last season. We are playing different systems to try to play with the characteristics of our players.”
Guillem Balague, Sky Sports Spanish football expert, has co-written a book with Pochettino’s about his time at Spurs and the article does say however that one thing that book won’t have is a Pochettino win over Klopp. In five meetings so far, he has drawn three times and lost twice, with one of the losses coming in the League Cup.
Poch explained:”It sometimes happens, difficult to explain why,” “Different circumstances, different teams, different clubs… but it’s not a five-year record or 10-year record. It’s two years.”
He wants to change it on Sunday, and that may well see another change of system.
So what do we think, is Poch the master tactician or just a risk taker riding his luck. Let us know
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