Mauricio Pochettino: Tottenham face tough period because of stadium project •‘Arsène Wenger said Arsenal’s toughest time was when they built stadium’ •‘We need to arrive at new stadium in good condition to fight for everything’ please log in to view this image Tottenham’s manager, Mauricio Pochettino, says ‘you need to realise that to improve our squad today is a very difficult job’. Photograph: Jason Hearn/ActionPlus/Corbis Mauricio Pochettinohas said Tottenham Hotspur are in a “very tough period” because of their new stadium project – just as Arsenal were when they built the Emirates Stadium – as he sought to explain why the club did not sign the back-up striker that some supporters had wanted in January. The manager knew the question about the lack of specialised cover for Harry Kane would come on Thursday and he had clearly given plenty of thought to his answer. During a five-minute monologue, which was without precedent from his time in English football, Pochettino went into great detail about the factors that had shaped the club’s recent approach tothe transfer market. when he joined from Southamptonand his words echoed those of the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, after the closure of last summer’s transfer window. Back then, on 2 September,Levy had saidthat a policy of “pragmatic player trading has been important in the way we have run the business of the club and in getting us to the position where we have now been able to start work on a new stadium – the one thing that has the ability to take this club to the next level of competitiveness.” Tottenham intend to move into the new stadium, which will be built adjacent to the existing White Hart Lane site,in time for the 2018-19 season. The estimated cost is £400m-£450m. Pochettino said: “I have read a lot about Arsène Wenger saying the toughest period for Arsenal was in the period that they built their stadium and I think you need to know, and the people need to know, that this is a very tough period for us. We need to be careful because we need to arrive at the new stadium in very good condition to try to fight for everything, and try to show that we are one of the best clubs and teams in the world.” Pragmatism has, indeed, been the watchword in the transfer market under Pochettino. He is £6.3m in credit over his four windows on permanent fees spent and he has tried to be smart and extremely specific in his dealings. He would like to have signed an out-and-out striker last summer or in January but the deals for players that he wanted,such as Saido Berahinoof West Bromwich Albion and Fulham’s Moussa Dembélé, could not be concluded. Given that, Pochettino has preferred to work with the players he has, rather than spend for the sake of it, and save the money – which is available – for a signing that could truly make the difference. “Our people need to understand that Tottenham changed their vision, not in terms of the football but in the way that we take decisions,” Pochettino said. “For us, it is very important to keep the balance and find the right player, not only the strikers but in different positions. “You need to realise that to improve our squad today is a very difficult job. It’s easier to find different names on the market, to pay the money and to bring players but it’s not the way that we decided upon 18 months ago. It’s easier for me to say: ‘OK, we bring this and this, and this player but if we don’t believe that can improve our squad, why do it?” Pochettino has long insisted that Son Heung-min and Nacer Chadli can provide cover up front for Kane while he namechecked two academy strikers – the 18-year-old Shayon Harrison and the 17-year-old Kaz Sterling – as players for whom he wanted to clear a pathway to the first team. As an aside, Tottenham sold Shaq Coulthirst, who had been their striker at under-21 level over the first half of the season, to Peterborough United on 22 January. “We have many players that can play like a striker, like Sonny or Chadli, who have shown they can score,” Pochettino said. “And we have younger players that train with us like Shayon and, in behind him, Sterling and different players. We have to believe in the younger players because for our future they will be very important players.” Pochettino highlighted Tottenham’s current position of strength with a nod towards their goal difference of plus-25 – the best in the league – and described his squad as having the “perfect balance”. “If, at the end of the season, we achieve big things, OK, everyone is happy,” Pochettino continued. “But if not, I think we have created a very good basis to achieve next season. The project is very clear and we need to believe more when we have a difficult moment to take decisions. “Our key is to be all together and to feel that. This is an important thing and a message for all of our supporters. The energy that we create and the synergy between our supporters and the team is very important for our future.” Guardian 5/2/16
For me this confirms what I thought about putting money aside for the new stadium. I think it's clear now that Levy has been looking for a manger who would buy into his plans and methodology. Harry would not have liked this but AVB was trying and failing. Mauricio is atm keeping everyone happy.
In Levy I trust. In Pochettino I trust. I just have to let go of my attachment to this particular season and the opportunity that it presents. There is a bigger picture. There is a bigger picture. There is a bigger picture. There is a bigger pic.....
I have to say I agree with that approach (but then I am I tight fisted bastard with my own money). Why splash cash on someone who the coaching staff doesn't believe is even a 90% fit for what the team requires? We obviously didn't go back in for Berahino as it seemed clear that for £22m-ish he was to much of a risk to fit into the current Spurs mindset given his strop in the summer. As the article says, save that money for the signings that will make a difference, that will advance the team. Yes, it is a risk but so is signing any player. Spending 10's of millions on one player does not guarantee that that player is going to play well in a new environment. Hell, even someone like Ozil has taken a long time to find his feet and can still be frustratingly inconsistent (see also Falcao, Paulinho, Di Maria, Shevchenko, Arshavin, etc, etc.). Just as long as there is a pot of money set aside for transfers, as and when it is needed and the right player is found, then I won't complain. Too much.
Saw this last night, and knew Spurf would be all over it. Once again : please log in to view this image
I suppose it takes the pressure off the players. Hopefully they are hellbent on winning it even if this season has been a bit of a surprise.
I'm surprised we have to put money aside for a new stadium. I thought if a London club needed one they get one for free built by the government. Surely if all clubs don't get free stadiums it isn't fair and equal and capitalist and all that stuff.
I always like cando(u)r, so I welcome Pochettino’s comments. But there’s a practical-strategic argument to be made for standing pat with 14 games left. The squad has exceeded expectations. Why tinker now, when there’s so little time left to rejigger? The team’s doing well. Let them continue with as few distractions as possible.
Exactly right. The truth is that the system has revealed itself to be "From each according to their ability, to each according to their means" Marxism. Free stadiums only go to those clubs with a certain percentage of their supporters on the dole. That’s why the Liverpool fans feel so hard done by.
If youse wanna use "u"s, use "u"s... ...however superfluous they may be. But please keep in mind: "Just about" means barely failed, not barely succeeded. You have no how idea how confusing and occasionally tragic this has been to me. So "just about had it" means he missed it. And quit saying "that was always going wide." In fact, a varying wind or other intervening force can cause a shot that would have gone wide to end up on target (or vice versa). But these are relatively rare events, perhaps as rare as 1/100. That being the case, the laws of physics ensure that the fate of almost every ball is determined at the moment it is struck. So the description "always going wide" does not separate one wide shot from the pack of wide shots. And that’s just for starters...
The one thing that I will expect will happen is that the on-pitch finances and performance will continue as they have been for the past 5 yrs, and new WHL will happen alongside orthogonally. Which will of course nail dead the final Goon myth : that the Library cost has been the reason they can only compete for the PL 4th place Cup for the past decade.
Indeed. Perhaps we should have a thread on commentator's and pundits cliches? For example: He won the penalty - Liverpool are a top 4 team - Bad decisions even themselves out over the season etc etc.
It would be a bit long though. Momentum is still the one I dislike the most. I believe what happens next in professional sport is almost unrelated to what has previously happened. If that wasn't true then there should be a myriad of ways to show it statistically which I've never seen.
The tragic thing is that British commentators are even more cliche ridden than American ones. "The game’s not over yet!" I guess that’s why the players are still chasing the ball. And then there are the things announcers say all the time which are flat wrong. "Surely this will be their last chance," are words almost always heard when there are two or more chances left. On the other hand, American football announcers are even more apt to create unintentional double entendres. They cannot, in general, use the word "penetrate" often enough (and this in a game where the scoring area is called the "end zone"). Phrases like "That was some excellent penetration," and "They’re not getting any penetration," abound. But aside from that, a lack of eloquence and, perhaps, some deep-seated issues result in all sorts of truly bizarre stuff. I have actually heard the words, "That was a perfectly executed reacharound."
"That was a stonewall penalty!" - Note to commentators. Look up the definition of stonewall: verb verb: stonewall; 3rd person present: stonewalls; past tense: stonewalled; past participle: stonewalled; gerund or present participle: stonewalling 1. delay or obstruct (a request, process, or person) by refusing to answer questions or by being evasive. "she has also stonewalled queries about her love life" noun noun: stonewall; plural noun: stonewalls 1. an act of delaying or obstructing a person, request, or process. "I have repeatedly given him the opportunity to clear this matter up, but the estate has met with stonewall after stonewall"
