28 Jan 2019 10:14:15
So what is happening with Spurs and Pochettino? I ask as he is still the favourite for the United job.
It has been a tough couple of weeks, losing in the league and getting knocked out of both the domestic cups. So what's going on?
Is it that Spurs are massively over reliant on Kane and with him injured they struggle?
Or has Pochettino's head been turned and he is making mistakes he wouldn't if he was fully focused?
Or are Spurs suffering from the boards decision not to invest in the squad last summer?
Or are we just getting excited by a storm in a tea cup?
To be honest I think it is likely a combination of all of them, a lack of investment in the summer means Spurs still look light up front, especially when Kane is unavailable. I also feel that since Mourinho's departure Pochettino has seemed a little distracted, he has spoken on several occasions about United and had it been a different manager the press might have construed that as flirting with the United job. This has coincided with a drop in form for Spurs. Do the players feel the manager might be leaving in the summer?
Of course it could just be typical Spurs, do well then self implode when they can see the finish line.
Either way I feel what is happening at Spurs at them moment is certainly making many United fans question whether Pochettino has what it takes the get his teams over the line, is their a mental fragility there? His latest comments that cups are just ego boosters and are entirely reliant on luck is not the kind of comments I would want to hear from our manager if we had just been knocked out of two cup competitions in a week. I would hope that there would be serious reflection on why that happened and what can be done to improve it moving forward. Of course, that might well be what is happening, and Pochettino is just deflecting and avoiding washing Spurs dirty laundry in public.
However, it will in many fans eyes count as a potential mark against the Spurs manager.
Personally, I feel Pochettino is probably the best manager available, however, as I have said before the best man available isn't necessarily the best man for the job.
28 Jan 2019 11:06:00
Injuries and lack of investment are catching up with them. Alli, son, kane all not playing and levy and his penny pinching means no real replacements either.
Imagine if utd were without pogba, martial and rashford all at the same time but rather than lukaku and Sanchez and fred our replacement options were llorente, moura and an academy kid.
28 Jan 2019 11:33:19
Good post Shappy.
Kane, Alli and Son are players that Spurs just can’t be without. The backup options are just not good enough.
Pochettino also seemed to rest a couple yesterday which I have always disliked and based on how many were missing due to injury etc that was something Spurs could not afford.
Utd rested Rashford and Martial for Lukaku and Sánchez which as a Utd fan I’m ok with as they are quality players to come in. Bailly also played instead of Jones but with his performance we could say that was an upgrade.
Spurs didn’t have all those options.
Before anyone jumps down my throat about Lukaku. I do not like his first touch and he has been slow and overweight at the start of this season and so I am glad to see Rashford replace him, particularly as he is one of our own. However Lukaku is a proven goal scorer at PL level.
This downturn in Spurs form does raise the question about Pochettino which I believe is a good thing. Utd need the right person to fit them, Ole has shown that understanding the club history and the fans is important in order to set out the way the team should play.
I don’t want to get sentimental but I hope Ole keeps us winning and gets us top 4 plus into the FA cup final to give the board a real problem.
28 Jan 2019 11:46:44
CSM, That is true. However Kane and Alli were available against us. Losing to Chelsea with injuries is fair enough. However, even with key injuries they should have a good enough squad to beat Palace. They had Rose, Winks, Lamela, Wanyama, Aurier and Lloris on the bench against Palace, several of them aren't first choice or play every week so he could have put out a stronger 11 if he wanted.
They could have lined up Llrois, Trippier, Sanchez, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Winks, Wanyama, Moura, Llorente, Lamela.
Or even 433 and push Dier back into midfield. So he had options, and he didn't have to play three youngsters. Two of which (Foyth and Walker-Peters) have played several first team games so are hardly untested youngsters. it would be like us playing McTominay and Tuanzebe. Talented young players who have several first team appearances under their belts.
Spurs should still be in the FA cup, and they are not. Was that down to luck like Pochettino says, or down to poor team selection/ tactics?
28 Jan 2019 12:26:04
Shappy they lost to us because we had ddg and they didn't nothing to do with managers really. Also they should have beat palace yes but can you really blame pochettino for resting his starting team, there is a pl game in 2 days time and unlike us they really don't have the option of rotating his main players especially with injuries.
28 Jan 2019 13:20:22
His after game comments suggest he is prioritising top 4 which is sad. He's pretty much accepted he is playing for third and the mood music is thanks the best that is possible at spurs.
28 Jan 2019 14:22:26
I think it was ed001 who made some very valid points about his choice of transfers. How many players has he bought that have really improved the team.
He has bought an awful amount of sub standard players.
28 Jan 2019 14:58:43
It's an interesting situation as it asks the question why can't Spurs win? Has their manager reached his limits, or are there limits beyond the managers control which restrict them?
28 Jan 2019 15:05:31
Exactly what I was going to say angelred, Ed was spot on with his analysis. For all we know he may end up at real madrid.
28 Jan 2019 19:06:45
There are areas in our team that if you take out our 3 1st 11 players from 1 area like midfield in herrera pogba and matic we would have to play a midfield of fellaini fred and mctominay. If we have to play that midfield we will lose as many as win.
I agree with shappy that he could have played a stronger team but it would have risked epl and cl games in nwxt 10 days if he got more injuries.