Mauricio Pochettino knows he is the most coveted manager in football right now. I can only describe his comments this week about his future at Tottenham as a direct call for action to the club’s board following his show of loyalty. I understood Pochettino to be saying to them: “I have showed and I am showing my loyalty to you by batting away the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester United, but now if you back me financially I want to stay for the next 20 years”.
Pochettino has been at Tottenham for five years, which is rare in modern football and yet has spent a lot less money than rivals clubs who challenge for the Premier League. Jürgen Klopp has turned Liverpool into real title contenders in only three years and has had to spend a lot of money to try to bridge the gap to Manchester City. But Klopp has also moulded that team in his own image, with an exciting brand of play which we have seen in abundance this season. Pochettino has done the same but how much of building a team to win the Premier League is down to having much more spending power versus a coach’s ability to change the playing style, tactical blueprint and perhaps most importantly the winning mentality of the team?
Pochettino has been a revelation at Tottenham but the big challenge for him is to try and change the mentality of the club. I’ve said in other columns that Tottenham have been a nearly club for too long. Reaching eight semi-finals in as many years probably exemplifies that nearly status.
Pochettino needs to try to mount the type of title push that Klopp and Liverpool are building while making sure they get over the line when it matters by starting to win trophies. However his call for action to “change the way we have done things in the last five years” is valid given the lack of spending by the board over the past few transfer windows. Tottenham need to become a winning team not just a great team with fantastic players. There are other managers who have built a winning team in less time than Pochettino.
For now I think Pochettino will stay – I don’t think a manager comes out and says “I want to stay for 20 years” if he doesn’t want to and I applaud his loyalty when he would be forgiven for moving to, say, Real Madrid. But he knows he is in a more powerful position if he stays and shows his loyalty because now he has the power to ask for what he wants and do it directly. He is very smart.
I’m not sure how much money will be available when Tottenham finally move into the new stadium but Arsenal struggled to compete for the Premier League for years when they moved to the Emirates.
Tottenham were the first Premier League club ever not to buy anyone in the summer transfer window so to still be competing for the title is a real credit to Pochettino but I do not think Spurs can continue in this way. If the forthcoming transfer window is anything like the last one, it would be unfair to expect Tottenham to challenge while Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea continue to add key players to the team.
Tottenham still need two world class full-backs and maybe another centre-back to make the next step. We have seen how crucial Virgil van Dijk has been to Liverpool. It is not always about signing star forwards and midfielders. Tottenham have as strong a front line in Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura as any other team in the league.
Chelsea have changed managers a lot over the years and are spending a lot less these days but they have been fortunate to retain some of their best players at the same time, such as Eden Hazard. Maurizio Sarri is one of those managers who can get the best out of players who aren’t necessarily world class which he proved at Napoli. It goes back to managers having to work with what they have got versus those who just have a bottomless pit to spend like Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Pochettino has now reached the stage where he is thinking: ‘I’ve brought this team such a long way but how can we go further?’ Now it’s about how the board react in the summer and whether he is given the money to strengthen the team. I hope Pochettino is supported. His loyalty deserves it.
I can’t see Tottenham winning the Premier League this season because they have been dropping too many points against teams lower in the table but now he has made it clear that he wants to stay, next season could be a real chance for them.
If Pochettino doesn’t get the financial backing from the board, I’m sure he will make it known and put more pressure on them. He walked away from Southampton after building a successful team, which proves if the opportunity is right he is capable of leaving. But I would be shocked if he went to Manchester United at the end of the season if he is in the perfect position now to really up it with Tottenham.
I’m sure United are already thinking about who will be their permanent manager after Ole Gunnar Solskjær and if they don’t know it’s Pochettino now then I don’t think it will happen. Maybe it’s mind games but I don’t think Pochettino is that kind of person: Tottenham is his project. There is more potential to do something historic at Spurs by winning the title for the first time in almost 60 years than going to United to try to rebuild the club. Now he is so close to getting over the line it would be such a shame to walk away. Why would you go to Real Madrid, where they change their manager every other year, or to United where the rebuilding job is huge? If I was Pochettino, I would stay.