The Tottenham manager betrayed English football’s disdain for the views of those who did not play the sport but when those dry up it will be time to start worryingDeep down, behind the club loyalties, beneath the professional distance, everyone loves Mauricio Pochettino. You can deny it. But search your feelings, you know it to be true. There is just something very likable about Pochettino: the barking laugh, the pouchy dimples, the way he strides around the touchline looking like the world’s most handsome oil rigger.Plus of course there is his success as a coach, which has come in the most interesting way, as a developer of players, the author of a style of play. Pochettino has been 100% successful...
Nerves had begun to fray in the past couple of matches but Tottenham squeezed over the line to make sure of a third European Cup campaign in a rowMauricio Pochettino stood on the edge of his technical area, arms folded, waiting, as the clock ticked down. Just get over the line, Tottenham. That had been the order of the night. Securing Champions League football, a precious housewarming present to take back to N17 for next season, was at the forefront of everybody’s mind.The outpouring of elation at the final whistle was all about that, all about a marker to help Tottenham in this period of seismic change for the club. Champions League qualification is always a boon, but it was...
A win at Chelsea would go a long way to shutting next season’s Champions League door on London’s hitherto top clubOn 24 February 2008 Tottenham came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the League Cup final. Since then, they have sacked Juande Ramos, enjoyed a period of Gareth Bale-driven excitement under Harry Redknapp, taken significant missteps with André Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood, and then found in Mauricio Pochettino a bright young manager under whom they have made progress in each of the past four seasons. But in that decade, they have won nothing. Related: Harry Kane has ‘outside chance’ of making Spurs squad for Chelsea trip Related: Mauricio Pochettino admits stadium move has made Spurs job difficult Continue reading...
Tottenham’s captain says aggression was the key to sinking Manchester United and wants more of the same at AnfieldHarry Kane started sprinting before the first whistle in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 Wembley win over Manchester United on Wednesday night and, for Hugo Lloris, it was a moment to symbolise the team. Kane was not the only one. So did Dele Alli and so did Christian Eriksen.Kane got away with encroaching into the United half and, when Jan Vertonghen launched a high ball forward, the striker rose to win the header. Alli arrived at pace and, when the ball broke, there was Eriksen, on the scene without checking his stride, to shoot Tottenham into the lead after 11 seconds. United were shellshocked....
David Moyes to West Ham is merely the latest example of a roundhead appointment prevailing over more innovative, cavalier thinkingPep Guardiola, José Mourinho, Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte and Jürgen Klopp – the managers of Premier League clubs who occupy the top five places in the table. All are world renowned for their differing but successful coaching styles and have excelled in their profession. Each is contrasting in terms of personality, image and footballing philosophy but there is a common denominator, which is they were exposed to top-tier management while in their 30s.They achieved it differently but compared with managers in England they were coaching top-level clubs relatively young and able to apply their ideas and engage with players closely, partly...