Why Spurs NEED to stick with Mauricio Pochettino

Tottenham were not in action in this week’s fourth round Carabao Cup ties – they lost in the third round to League Two’s Colchester United.

If you look at the top-half of the Premier League, over a quarter of the way into the season, you won’t find Tottenham – they’re 11th.

Let’s remember the side lost 7-2 to Bayern Munich – at home – in a Champions League group game earlier this term, too.

It’s been a tough couple of months for Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino, made none the easier by last Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool; a game they led. Pochettino himself has called the season his worst period at the club so far.

Murmurs are beginning to surface suggesting that it’s time for a change at Spurs. We, today, are here to shut that idea down – BIG TIME.

 

Pochettino Needs to Build a Squad

It’s no secret that Tottenham have been strapped for cash over the last few years and transfer windows due to the construction and opening of their brand new £1,000,000,000 stadium.

Let’s remember that Tottenham needed the stadium. With the rapid progress they were making at the time, mainly becoming an established top four Premier League club, a brand new home was required to keep up with their rivals (the new stadium capacity of 62,062 is just a little over rivals Arsenal’s Emirates; 60,704). White Hart Lane, although rich in history, was outdated and run down. The brand, spanking new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is modern, unique, and, quite simply, incredible. It was needed for Spurs to take the next step as a club.

The stadium did though, again, mean they had to be a little more conservative in the transfer market. In the summer of 2018 Tottenham became the first club in the history of the Premier League to not make a summer transfer window signing.

Following the completion and opening of their stadium last year, some finances were freed up. The club spent a cool £54 million on Tanguy Ndombélé, £24.3 million on Ryan Sessegnon, and more on Giovani Lo Celso and Jack Clarke in the summer of 2019. The club is, again, investing in the playing staff – they need to carry on doing that.

Club owner Daniel Levy is known to have a strict wage structure. Tottenham’s ‘golden generation’, aren’t the future anymore. They’re the present, and they’re going to want more money. There’s already talk that the likes of Tobi Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen want out, and Tottenham can’t afford to lose too many of their star players.

Poch needs the final say on transfers, contracts, and the time to build his own squad- whether that costs a bit of money or not. He’s earnt it, and he deserves it.

 

What is Pochettino’s Record at Spurs?

As mentioned earlier, Pochettino called the current situation his worst period at the club so far. He’s right, statistically, and we shouldn’t ignore his record at Tottenham before this season.

If you add together the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons, Tottenham finished with the highest points total, but didn’t actually win the League. They finished third in 2016 and second in 2017, but couldn’t string a solid enough run of results together to win the title either year. Annoying, yes, but it’s still a very good record.

That was when his side were young. The future. They became the present, still very talented, but they needed topping up – the Argentine hardly got to do that, and, now, the teams looks stale, and they’re falling behind.

Let’s not forgot how well he did to get them to last year’s Champions League final, though.

Some may say he’s taken Tottenham as far as he can – rubbish. If he’s good enough a coach, which he’s proved he is, he’ll adapt and continue to improve the squad –  we’ve no doubts he’ll do just that – because he’s a great coach!

If he left Tottenham, he’d surely snap up another top job. He was, of course, linked to Manchester United and Real Madrid just last summer.

 

He’s done a lot for Other Clubs

Bar Spurs, most people would associate Pochettino with Southampton.

At the Saints, Poch lead the side to their joint highest ever Premier League finish – eighth – and enjoyed wins against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea in just over a year in charge.

Prior to that, he’d had plenty of success in Spain with Español, the club at which he ended his playing career. He led the side from a relegation battle to a mid-table league position in 2008/09, enjoyed a derby win against Barcelona, and turned the side into an established La Liga club – despite, in his own words, financial constraints. This man is no joke.

 

Should Tottenham keep faith with Mauricio Pochettino?

No one can argue that Mauricio Pochettino is enduring a tough spell at Tottenham – not even himself.

He has, in fact, set such a high standard at Spurs, that people are actually talking about getting rid of him after one tough spell. Every manager goes through at least one – but, because of the Argentine’s brilliant record in the past, people are talking, because they aren’t used to this.

If you’re thinking that Spurs need a change, we ask you to remember a few things: remember where Spurs were, under Tim Sherwood, before Poch came in; remember what Poch has done for the club; and remember what his record, throughout his whole career, says.

Like we say; every manager endures tough times. But to suggest Pochettino needs replacing after one tough run? Ridiculous.

Read More: What are the odds for the next Premier League manager to be sacked?

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