Tagged as one of the best managers in the world by one of the most decorated managers in world, Tottenham Hotspur’s Mauricio Pochettino has recently received a lot of praise for his efforts at the White Hart Lane. The Argentine had a decent career in La Liga with Espanyol for three years, a club at which he played the last few games in his playing career. However, he showed enough promise to warrant a place in the Premier League with the St Mary’soutfitt deciding that he would be the man to take the club forward back in 2013. In his debut season, Pochettino helped Southampton to an eighth-spot finish, their highest league position since the 1989-90 campaign (a position they also reached in 2002-03), while also recording their highest points tally since the Premier League began in 1992-93. His returns at St Mary’s saw the Spurs steal him away a couple of years ago as they appointed their 10th manager in the last 12 seasons.
Though Pochettino had a successful time at Southampton, he was not readily welcomed by the Spurs’ fans who had to let go of Tim Sherwood after just a season incharge of the club. The 44-year old made some superb signings in his debut season with the club. The likes of Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Michel Vorm, three of his first team players this season were bought in his debut transfer window at the White Hart Lane. But the bigger impact on the squad was the amount of deadwood he removed before the end of the deadline day. As many as 21-players were either released or sold that season and though a couple of them have a decent career at the moment, it was clear that the manager had a plan and will buy only those players that fit the bill. They were knocked out in the third round of the domestic competitions that season while they managed to go to the round of 32 in the Europe League. They finished in the 5th place on the table, entertaining Europa League football yet again in the previous season.
Having already got the team playing some interesting football, Pochettino now wanted a team that can sustain his high intensity game and decided that the core of his team will be made up of young potential stars who can thrive in a similar environment. The likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Christian Eriksen are proof of the model that the Spurs want at their club. Pochettino wants young stars who have the world at their feet and he believes in himself to make turn them into stars in due time and the same has been the case with two of his stars in Kane and Alli. Both English internationals have taken a step ahead in their game under the Argentine and have him to thank for their position in the national team.
Changing the system and getting the club, the fans, the players and the owners to believe in it is not an easy task but Pochettino has been able to do so, by providing some consistent results. In his first season incharge, he had a 50% winning percentage in the league which remained the same in the previous season. However, they lost just 6 games in the previous season, compared the 12 in the 14-15 season, emphasizing the amount of improvement his side made in just over a season. Pochettino is yet to lift silverware with the London outfit but his over all winning percentage at 51.30% puts him right up there with the best managers to take care of the Spurs. He is second only to David Pleat and Andre-Villas Boas in that table and is easily one of the best managers in the history of the club. But the start his team have made to the new season, along with the strength and depth in the squad make Tottenham genuine title contenders for the second season running which makes Pochettino close to the best manager that the Spurs ever had.
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