Pochettino: Spurs have over-achieved | Vital Football

Pochettino: Spurs have over-achieved

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Pochettino: Spurs have over-achieved

By London Football News 30/04/2018



Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino believes his side are becoming victims of their own success.

Pochettino has masterminded a climb towards the top of the English game without the resources of Manchester City, Manchester United or Chelsea and has done so using young players, adopting an attractive style of football.

But the pressure to back that up with trophies is beginning to rise and Spurs were heavily criticised after their latest disappointment last week when they fell to an eighth successive FA Cup semi-final defeat.

Pochettino has not wavered off-message, that Spurs need more time, and says their approach will not change.

“The most important thing now is that project we need to keep pushing,” he said.
“And, of course, we are frustrated about bad results. But we cannot change because the club cannot change.

“It cannot go, ‘Okay that is the project in Tottenham and now we are going to do the same that Manchester United are doing now’. That is not a point to discuss.

“Tottenham needed when we arrived here to have a clear idea about discipline, rules, principles, a project to develop, to use young players, and that was how we created this project all together.

“Whether it is me or another, that is the right project to keep pushing, don’t be disappointed if we still don’t win a trophy, the expectation always is massive.

“We are victims of our own success because we are ahead in our project. I remind you that in my first meeting with (chairman) Daniel Levy and (owner) Joe Lewis, the target was to arrive in the new stadium in four years and to create a team to have the possibility to fight for the top four and the second year to play Champions League. We are victims of our success.

“I tried to explain this season, it’s not easy to accept to be close, nearly to touch and be disappointed. Again and disappointed, but that is normal. The easy thing to do is give up and say we need to change everything and blame this and that.

“No, keep going, pushing hard and with all the energy try again. That is the realistic project for Tottenham and it’s fantastic because we are different and we need to keep going.”

Pochettino raised eyebrows in the wake of the cup defeat to Manchester United by saying the project at Spurs will go on “with me or another”.

The Argentinian still has three years to run on his contract and was coy about whether a new deal is in the offing.

“Am I going to sign? It’s a question for Daniel,” he added.

“I am not (Arsene) Wenger or (Sir Alex) Ferguson who decides about their own future. I decide only about the starting XI in this football club. That is up to Daniel, does he want to offer or not?

“I am a person who is never going to ask to improve my salary or extend my contract or anything like this.”
 
If Poch gets us into CL for 3 consecutive seasons, that in itself is a massive achievement. He's created a consistency at the club that was sorely lacking for years. I think there are 2 things on his mind though:

The first is the scenario where all top 6 sides are firing on all cylinders. We've seen Liverpool and Utd improve massively this season in the league. However, Arsenal and Chelsea have faltered. That has allowed us to play slightly below our capabilities but have CL qualification in our own hands with 4 games to go.

The second is the reality that Poch is going to lose 2 or 3 finished articles and have to nurture expensive but work-in-progress, talented youngsters. He has done a fantastic job with Sanchez, whilst Foyth isn't far behind. It is what he's best at and what our club is all about these days.

This is why he manages expectations in this way through the media. It's not an arrogant thing. He's just reminding us of where we are.
 
Was chatting to a friend just the other day how I used to look at the table and think, “just two more wins, and with other results going our way, we could be in 12th”.
That was the way it was for some years back in late 90’s early 00’s.
So yes you could say we are over achieving but what I do know is that Poch has taken us from the uncertainty of finishing top 5/6 under ‘Arry (one CL season I know) to a consistent, top 4 team and for that, I hold him as my most successful manager in the last 30 years.
Cups are what you strive for, yes but I’d rather be consistently regarded as a ‘top’ team.
 
muttley said:
If Poch gets us into CL for 3 consecutive seasons, that in itself is a massive achievement. He's created a consistency at the club that was sorely lacking for years. I think there are 2 things on his mind though:

The first is the scenario where all top 6 sides are firing on all cylinders. We've seen Liverpool and Utd improve massively this season in the league. However, Arsenal and Chelsea have faltered. That has allowed us to play slightly below our capabilities but have CL qualification in our own hands with 4 games to go.

The second is the reality that Poch is going to lose 2 or 3 finished articles and have to nurture expensive but work-in-progress, talented youngsters. He has done a fantastic job with Sanchez, whilst Foyth isn't far behind. It is what he's best at and what our club is all about these days.

This is why he manages expectations in this way through the media. It's not an arrogant thing. He's just reminding us of where we are.
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Spot on in my view, consistency has always been an issue for us. Bearing in mind that we aren't playing at WHL and injuries to key players like Toby, Wanjama and Rose to be where we are for me is a good season.
 
That interview revealed a lot. And the fact that Joe Lewis was mentioned is a huge revelation.
 
As I said in a previous post in another thread, his mandate from the beginning was to get consistent top 4 finishes. Hope he extends his contact and sees the fruits of his labours.
 
80deg16minW said:
Don't you just love trying to pull off a long-term project in a short-term world driven by social media.
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We live in a World of demanding instant gratification and satisfaction, so it's no surprise to me.

It's crystal clear that by any bench-mark that matters that we have over-performed, of course that doesn't lesson the pain when we can't do that game after game..
 
Spesh-Spur said:
Was chatting to a friend just the other day how I used to look at the table and think, “just two more wins, and with other results going our way, we could be in 12th”.
That was the way it was for some years back in late 90’s early 00’s.
So yes you could say we are over achieving but what I do know is that Poch has taken us from the uncertainty of finishing top 5/6 under ‘Arry (one CL season I know) to a consistent, top 4 team and for that, I hold him as my most successful manager in the last 30 years.
Cups are what you strive for, yes but I’d rather be consistently regarded as a ‘top’ team.
Click to expand...

Agree with you there Spesh, I was saying something very similar in the other thread about Poch , about how we used to be relieved when we reached the 40 point mark around Easter time . Happy days !
 
He is correct.

Financially we are still way behind the likes of Arse and Pool, and yet we are have been competitive in the title race for 2 years while they haven't, and we're finishing in a CL spot while Arse are trying to secure EL.
 
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