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I've said it elsewhere across multiple threads - so now the big journo's are saying it too...
Hopefully, after this weekend, we can say 'Crisis! what Crisis?!'....
It's in Poch's hands - he has to take the lead, stop talking nonsense and prise the players back into form - The WC and no extended break has alot to do with our labouring midfield / defence looking like they need a rocket up their collective arses..
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...-needs-to-stop-the-rot-at-tottenham-m232qjm55
Mauricio Pochettino is not under pressure – but he needs to stop the rot at Tottenham
Oliver Kay, Chief Football Correspondent
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In Mauricio Pochettino’s mind, Tottenham Hotspur have it harder than other clubs. He talked on Monday about the difference between perceptions of his team and the reality. “Maybe in different clubs, they have some good balance,” he said the night before the Champions League defeat by Inter Milan. “But for us, the perception and the reality are too far apart.”
Are they? The consensus among the media pack who travelled to Milan — and, yes, we would say this — was that Tottenham escape the more frenzied scrutiny that some of their Premier League rivals might attract after a third consecutive defeat.
Tottenham are a stable club, building the right way under Pochettino despite recent results.
There is none of the fin-de-régime narrative that was unavoidable during Arsène Wenger’s final years at Arsenal; none of the crisis talk that swirls around José Mourinho when he is at war with players or executives at Manchester United, his playing style a source of anguish among the club’s legends; none of the turmoil that is rarely far from the surface at Chelsea.
Tottenham are a stable club by comparison, building the right way under Pochettino, outperforming rivals with far bigger budgets. Failure to win trophies tends to be seen through that prism, as indeed it should be.
For the first time under Pochettino, though, they have lost three matches in a row. That their latest defeat, inflicted by Inter on Tuesday, came from a position of control — 1-0 up and cruising to victory until Mauro Icardi’s spectacular goal in the 85th minute threw them into a state of panic — may mitigate the result from one perspective, but in other ways it intensifies the scrutiny. “We are coming from a negative period,” Pochettino said. “We are suffering a little bit.”
When big players and big teams are suffering, the spotlight tends to be unforgiving. Harry Kane scored six goals for England at this summer’s World Cup, winning the Golden Boot, but that does not give him immunity from the type of discussion that has surrounded his early-season form.
Kane is one of several Tottenham players who appear to be suffering a hangover from the World Cup. Pochettino may deny that publicly but he as good as predicted it before the season began, admitting concern that, having been involved in the World Cup until the final weekend, Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose, Mousa Dembélé, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Kane had not had a proper pre-season programme.
Pochettino also suggested last month that he expected this to be his toughest season since taking the job in 2014. Why? In addition to the World Cup issue, there are the delays over their new stadium and the potential impact of construction costs; there is uncertainty over the futures of Rose, Alderweireld and Dembélé amid frustration at the club’s wage policy; despite Pochettino’s statement in May about the need to “create some different ideas” and “take risks” if they were to keep progressing, there was not a single addition to his squad in the summer.
Add to that the adverse publicity surrounding the drink-driving conviction of their goalkeeper and captain Lloris, as well as consecutive defeats by Watford, Liverpool and Inter, and this season now looks even tougher than Pochettino may have feared.
Kane’s travails have attracted the most attention, inevitably, but he is not their only World Cup player to appear out of sorts. Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Dier, Dembélé and Eriksen do not look in peak condition. Neither does Son Heung-min, just back from the Asian Games. Arguably their two most impressive performers in the San Siro were Serge Aurier and Davinson Sánchez, deputising for Trippier and Alderweireld respectively.
Their liveliest attacking player so far this season has been Lucas Moura, another who missed the World Cup. None of this seems like a coincidence when Kane, in particular, has been labouring.
The post-Milan narrative could easily have been very different. They started poorly against Inter but stabilised as the first half went on, took the lead through Eriksen after half-time and started playing with confidence.
It seemed like the mature, composed performance that Pochettino called for but, after missing a series of chances at 1-0, they reacted poorly to Icardi’s equaliser. Whereas Inter’s players appeared galvanised, an air of panic seemed to take hold of Tottenham, culminating in Matías Vecino’s stoppage-time goal, the fourth time in three games that Pochettino’s team had conceded from a dead-ball situation.
It had been just the kind of reaction that Pochettino hoped for after defeats by Watford and Liverpool, but their meek response to the Icardi goal was troubling. Attention turns to their next game, an awkward trip to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday evening. Perceptions of Pochettino’s Tottenham remain positive, but they must stop the rot before it gets serious.
Hopefully, after this weekend, we can say 'Crisis! what Crisis?!'....
It's in Poch's hands - he has to take the lead, stop talking nonsense and prise the players back into form - The WC and no extended break has alot to do with our labouring midfield / defence looking like they need a rocket up their collective arses..
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...-needs-to-stop-the-rot-at-tottenham-m232qjm55
Mauricio Pochettino is not under pressure – but he needs to stop the rot at Tottenham
Oliver Kay, Chief Football Correspondent
Share
Save
In Mauricio Pochettino’s mind, Tottenham Hotspur have it harder than other clubs. He talked on Monday about the difference between perceptions of his team and the reality. “Maybe in different clubs, they have some good balance,” he said the night before the Champions League defeat by Inter Milan. “But for us, the perception and the reality are too far apart.”
Are they? The consensus among the media pack who travelled to Milan — and, yes, we would say this — was that Tottenham escape the more frenzied scrutiny that some of their Premier League rivals might attract after a third consecutive defeat.
Tottenham are a stable club, building the right way under Pochettino despite recent results.
There is none of the fin-de-régime narrative that was unavoidable during Arsène Wenger’s final years at Arsenal; none of the crisis talk that swirls around José Mourinho when he is at war with players or executives at Manchester United, his playing style a source of anguish among the club’s legends; none of the turmoil that is rarely far from the surface at Chelsea.
Tottenham are a stable club by comparison, building the right way under Pochettino, outperforming rivals with far bigger budgets. Failure to win trophies tends to be seen through that prism, as indeed it should be.
For the first time under Pochettino, though, they have lost three matches in a row. That their latest defeat, inflicted by Inter on Tuesday, came from a position of control — 1-0 up and cruising to victory until Mauro Icardi’s spectacular goal in the 85th minute threw them into a state of panic — may mitigate the result from one perspective, but in other ways it intensifies the scrutiny. “We are coming from a negative period,” Pochettino said. “We are suffering a little bit.”
When big players and big teams are suffering, the spotlight tends to be unforgiving. Harry Kane scored six goals for England at this summer’s World Cup, winning the Golden Boot, but that does not give him immunity from the type of discussion that has surrounded his early-season form.
Kane is one of several Tottenham players who appear to be suffering a hangover from the World Cup. Pochettino may deny that publicly but he as good as predicted it before the season began, admitting concern that, having been involved in the World Cup until the final weekend, Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose, Mousa Dembélé, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Kane had not had a proper pre-season programme.
Pochettino also suggested last month that he expected this to be his toughest season since taking the job in 2014. Why? In addition to the World Cup issue, there are the delays over their new stadium and the potential impact of construction costs; there is uncertainty over the futures of Rose, Alderweireld and Dembélé amid frustration at the club’s wage policy; despite Pochettino’s statement in May about the need to “create some different ideas” and “take risks” if they were to keep progressing, there was not a single addition to his squad in the summer.
Add to that the adverse publicity surrounding the drink-driving conviction of their goalkeeper and captain Lloris, as well as consecutive defeats by Watford, Liverpool and Inter, and this season now looks even tougher than Pochettino may have feared.
Kane’s travails have attracted the most attention, inevitably, but he is not their only World Cup player to appear out of sorts. Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Dier, Dembélé and Eriksen do not look in peak condition. Neither does Son Heung-min, just back from the Asian Games. Arguably their two most impressive performers in the San Siro were Serge Aurier and Davinson Sánchez, deputising for Trippier and Alderweireld respectively.
Their liveliest attacking player so far this season has been Lucas Moura, another who missed the World Cup. None of this seems like a coincidence when Kane, in particular, has been labouring.
The post-Milan narrative could easily have been very different. They started poorly against Inter but stabilised as the first half went on, took the lead through Eriksen after half-time and started playing with confidence.
It seemed like the mature, composed performance that Pochettino called for but, after missing a series of chances at 1-0, they reacted poorly to Icardi’s equaliser. Whereas Inter’s players appeared galvanised, an air of panic seemed to take hold of Tottenham, culminating in Matías Vecino’s stoppage-time goal, the fourth time in three games that Pochettino’s team had conceded from a dead-ball situation.
It had been just the kind of reaction that Pochettino hoped for after defeats by Watford and Liverpool, but their meek response to the Icardi goal was troubling. Attention turns to their next game, an awkward trip to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday evening. Perceptions of Pochettino’s Tottenham remain positive, but they must stop the rot before it gets serious.
