Mauricio Pochettino won’t quit Tottenham for Manchester United - he can achieve greatness at Spurs
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Updated 11/02/2016 at 16:01 GMT
Desmond Kane believes Tottenham should consider erecting a Mauricio Pochettino statue if he can bring the league title back to White Hart Lane for the first time since 1961.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino during training.
Image credit: Eurosport
Why choose the ‘Special One’ ahead of a Special One? There is every reason to believe Mauricio Pochettino, and not Jose Mourinho remains favourite to land the Manchester United manager’s post this summer. There is also every reason to believe the Poch will think about it before saying a quick "no, gracias".
Or however he chooses to put it in Spanish or English - a second language the Poch is obviously quite comfortable with since washing up at Southampton from Espanyol in 2013. He is also comfortable with the language of winning with energised, passionate football, a fact that is warming the hearts of a salivating Spurs support at the Lane in what is rapidly becoming an epic season of unforeseen riches. Spurs are a treat to watch, and pleasure to behold, and the aesthetics of not being stuck in your ways surely have not been lost on the United board amid the Van Gaal stodge.
Not for nothing does Sir Alex Ferguson, according to a recent private conversation between the Scot and David Lammy, which was made public somewhat thrillingly by the fascinated Labour MP, describe the Poch as the Premier League’s finest manager. At the ripe old age of 43, that is quite an accolade coming from the world's greatest motivator of football teams.
Poch had already proven his worth at Southampton in lifting them to eighth in the Premier League in 2013/2014 before moving onwards and upwards in Tottenham. He continues to excel in overseeing what is rapidly becoming a miraculous project in finally leading his club out of the shadow of fierce foes Arsenal in North London.
Perhaps the greatest compliment we can pay him is that we have forgotten about Daniel Levy, a testy club chairman who can study matches like the Grim Reaper and apparently has a keener eye for bulleting managers than a Steve Archibald howitzer.
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Tottenham's Harry Kane with manager Maurico Pochettino.
Image credit: Reuters
With Pochettino turning his Spurs from lily-livered into proud Lilywhites in the furnace of a title battle, Levy can sit back, relax and realise this has all been done while the White Hart Lane accounts boast a net profit of £57m, the highest of any club in Europe as they look towards occupying a 61,000-seat stadium at the outset of the 2018 season. Nice work if you can get it.
When Poch’s posse wash up at Manchester City on Sunday, they do so with the bit between their teeth - above their hosts and Arsenal, and five points behind leaders Leicester City. Spurs are sharpened and wide awake to the possibility that they could bring the national crown back to the Lane for the first time since Bill Nicholson's League and FA Cup double winners in 1961. More astonishingly, Spurs have not finished second in the top league since 1963, but the consolation prize of Champions League football already appears secured. The Poch would merit his own statue at the new lane if he breaks the mould in May.
While the learned and likeable Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri is known as 'The Tinkerman', a moniker that is rapidly dwindling due to his willingness not to fiddle with his team selection, Mauricio is content to switch his side, but perhaps should be regarded as the upholsterer.
Tottenham have always had everything in place to challenge for the Premier League, ranging from the ground, history and finances, but they always appeared to lack the correct coach to restore greatness to one of the British's game finest, if somewhat faded brands. In Pochettino, they have recruited a man who can upholster a squad to meet fans’ expectations. Southampton will vouch for that.
Unlike Andre Villas-Boas, Tim Sherwood or latterly Harry Redknapp, he is also in control of what he wants from his players without being blessed with genuine world-class talent in Luka Modric or Gareth Bale, both of whom have been snipped from Spurs by Real Madrid for more than £100m in recent years.
While this Premier League has not been blessed by one outstanding unit, there has been a thought process in Pochettino’s willingness to rotate his squad to benefit full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose, who have been allowed rest periods between outings in the Premier League. Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies have been afforded vital oxygen in the League Cup and the League, and both have been trusted to respond to their manager’s wants and needs. Spurs remain active in the Europa League and FA Cup due to such elasticity.
Trippier scored the solitary goal in the 1-0 success against Watford last Saturday, a match in which the home side enjoyed 26 attempts on goal.
It was impossible because they are like animals there, trying to beat and recuperate the ball as quick as possible," said a frazzled Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores. "You can feel they enjoy playing their football - that is very important."
Width is an obvious highlight of this Spurs team, and Poch encourages both full-backs to join in with the attack as wingers when they break at pace. Such heavy demands are placed upon them that the Argentine is wise to rotate when he can to keep a fresh look to his squad approaching true heat.
It is an indication of clear thinking that Pochettino puts so much emphasis on high energy and wide men when the spine of a team traditionally receives more attention. Spurs are solid down the middle - Pochettino himself won 20 Argentina caps as a central defender - but their success is based on moving the football on to the wingers to create more space in the middle for men such as Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen, Nacer Chadli and Dele Alli to flourish.
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Tottenham's Eric Dier shakes hands with manager Mauricio Pochettino as he is substituted after sustaining an injury.
Image credit: Reuters
Alli has scored six goals and enjoyed five assists as he continues to thrive in the fluidity of Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1 formation.
The dependable Eric Dier is obviously a key component of Spurs' success operating as a defensive midfielder who drops back to occupy a central berth in defence when his side are under pressure. His importance is illustrated by only missing one match this season. Only the England forward Harry Kane - 15 goals so far in this particular campaign - has featured at some point in every league outing for the club.
It would be fair to say the much-maligned Gary Neville hasn’t got it all wrong this season. Back in those pre-Valencia punditry days of November, Neville described Pochettino as the coach he would base his own mindset on.
In my role as an England coach I have noticed the difference in psychology and application when Tottenham players come into the camp," said Neville. "They now arrive prepared for the battle, ready to play, ready to work. They look like they want to partake in the meetings. All the things you would want from responsible players are there. It seems to me that Pochettino has given the younger players the confidence to express themselves, off the pitch as well.
Such comments are proving to be quite prophetic. Pochettino has brought serious heft to Spurs by sprinkling gold dust over a group of willing learners.
There is a feeling we are entering a new epoch at White Hart Lane. Call it Poch’s project, but this could be a year when Tottenham finally finish above Arsenal in the Premier League in glorious fashion, breaking not only the ceiling of the top four, but winding up as first past the post.
There would be a delicious irony somewhere if they do become English champions, an image that must be bringing some Arsenal fans out in cold sweats during these nights when they envisage ending their own 12-year wait for the main prize. Imagine if Spurs slipped under the radar after 55 years? Not as odd as Leicester, but it would be a weird sight to behold. And it is a very real possibility with 13 games to play. "It's a funny old game," is how Spurs record scorer Jimmy Greaves put it. It could get yet get funnier, but not if you are an Arsenal fan.
Manchester United – and other leading European clubs - would certainly covet Pochettino if he laces his CV with the Premier League trophy, and Levy would be back in the front line, back at the forefront of any block to poach him.
But Pochettino surely won’t leave Tottenham for Manchester United at this juncture. It would be an act of folly. And as are we are learning, the young Spurs coach does not appear to make ill-timed decisions.
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