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Is this Poch’s biggest Spurs challenge yet?
Date published: Friday 15th July 2016 8:13
When the new Premier League season begins in little under a month’s time, each team will face varying degrees of pressure. Leicester must perform under the stress of defending their title. Five clubs will embark on their respective journeys into the unknown, having changed managers this summer. A further three bosses will begin their first full season in charge after being appointed midway through the last. The three promoted sides will be billed as the underdogs, but must acclimatise quickly to their new homes. Tottenham? Tottenham might just face the biggest challenge of them all.
In the aftermath of a tumultuous, dramatic and historic 2015/16 Premier League season, the north London side emerged as the outliers. Every other club could define their season with a single word or phrase. For Woolwich: Frustrating. For West Ham: Wonderful. For Stoke: Same old. For Chelsea: Write-off. For Palace: Mixed. For Bournemouth: Progress. For Newcastle: F*** McClaren.
Not so for Tottenham. In true Spursy fashion, they managed to combine their highest-ever Premier League placing with their most disappointing campaign yet. Mauricio Pochettino led his players into a two-horse race for the title against an unfathomable opponent, and managed to finish third behind their most bitter rivals. For 34 games, Spurs were the effervescent challengers, scoring the most goals, conceding the fewest, and threatening the Leicester fairytale. Their final four fixtures undid all their positive work. Two draws and two losses, culminating in an almost parodic 5-1 defeat to relegated Newcastle. Such a capitulation made it difficult to characterise their season as a whole. Glorious disappointment? Magnificent failure? Sublime disaster?
If Tottenham’s Premier League season was a long and enjoyable session of drinking curtailed by a fight with the bouncers after being refused entry to the final club of the evening, the subsequent summer months have been the taxi home in which each player has soiled themselves, before the abrupt hangover the next morning. Pochettino patted 11 of his charges on the back and wished them luck ahead of the European Championships; ten will return to White Hart Lane demoralised even further, including five Englishmen and three of the club’s Belgian contingent. Another – Kevin Wimmer – played just three minutes of the tournament, exiting at the group stage with Austria, while Hugo Lloris tasted yet more bitter disappointment in the final on home turf. With Erik Lamela’s Argentina suffering heartbreak of their own in the Copa America Centenario final on penalties, only Wales’ Ben Davies emerges from this summer having found an international remedy to last season’s club anticlimax.
That, coupled with findings from a recent study which claimed Tottenham players registered over 900 more minutes at Euro 2016 than any other Premier League side, attest to the growing difficulties now facing Pochettino. Expectations at the club have been raised after the Argentinean has taken them from sixth to fifth, and now to third, but is such progress sustainable? Each of their rivals have reacted to below-par seasons; the three sides directly beneath them – Manchester City, Manchester United and Southampton – have all installed new managers, and have been among the busiest clubs in the transfer market.
When Tottenham line up to face Everton on August 13, the ghosts of last season, of West Brom, Southampton and Newcastle will linger. The 2-2 draw with Chelsea, which handed Leicester the title, was the most damaging psychologically. “I hear in the last two years always people say ‘Tottenham was soft’. But now we start to show character,” Pochettino said after that game at Stamford Bridge. Nine Tottenham players had been booked. Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane among them, the quintet who had provided much of the spine of these unlikely challengers, unravelled for the first time.
The effects of that game cannot be underestimated. This was an eruption of emotion, an outpouring of grief and frustration, from a collection of players who, before then, and even when leading 2-0 in that very game, had been consummate professionals. “Maybe we crossed the line, I can recognise this, I am not stupid,” Pochettino admitted in the aftermath. “It is important to manage better our energy for the next season and ensure we learn a lot about this game.”
Lessons, presumably, will commence now. Because it did not appear that Harry Kane had learned any particular lessons as England’s worst outfield performer at Euro 2016. Nor Dele Alli, who was visibly weighed down both figuratively and physically. Or the previously imperious Toby Alderweireld, who looked a notably different player under Marc Wilmots. Tottenham’s five English players featured heavily in an embarrassing campaign, their three Belgians were members of the team so heavily scrutinised after losing to Wales, and Lloris was captain of a hosting side which froze on the big night. The mental and physical exertions of these players should not be underestimated.
If anyone is equipped to help them exorcise their demons, it is Pochettino. But he must start the season without the injured Vertonghen, while a suspended Dembele misses the first four games after his personal meltdown during the Battle of the Bridge. Both players played 29 league games last season, and will be huge losses.
The manager, to his credit, has kept busy. Our transfer guide identified the club’s two main priorities – ‘competition for Kane up front and in central midfield’ – and both already have a tick next to their name. Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama are shrewd additions for a combined £28m, and the 22-year-old and 25-year-old fit the Pochettino mould perfectly, adding youth, European experience, talent and depth to the squad. More importantly, they provide a fresh touch to a core of shellshocked players.
The two new arrivals also continue Pochettino’s overhaul of the playing squad, which began upon his appointment in 2014. A total of 53 players have either signed or been sold on permanent deals in two years; only Manchester United (55) have been busier. And they have had two managers in that time. After the reign of Redknapp, the demise of Villas-Boas and the brilliance of Sherwood, the current boss is overseeing a mini-revolution of sorts at White Hart Lane.
But the task that lies ahead of him is his most difficult yet – to continue to implement a new mentality and identity of success, not failure, at the club; to oversee the development of a supremely talented but now damaged group of young players; to stop Tottenham being quite so Tottenham. And to do all of that while shouldering a weight of expectation which has now seen these players collapse twice in the space of mere months. No pressure? For Pochettino and his players, it is quite the opposite.
Matt Stead
Date published: Friday 15th July 2016 8:13
When the new Premier League season begins in little under a month’s time, each team will face varying degrees of pressure. Leicester must perform under the stress of defending their title. Five clubs will embark on their respective journeys into the unknown, having changed managers this summer. A further three bosses will begin their first full season in charge after being appointed midway through the last. The three promoted sides will be billed as the underdogs, but must acclimatise quickly to their new homes. Tottenham? Tottenham might just face the biggest challenge of them all.
In the aftermath of a tumultuous, dramatic and historic 2015/16 Premier League season, the north London side emerged as the outliers. Every other club could define their season with a single word or phrase. For Woolwich: Frustrating. For West Ham: Wonderful. For Stoke: Same old. For Chelsea: Write-off. For Palace: Mixed. For Bournemouth: Progress. For Newcastle: F*** McClaren.
Not so for Tottenham. In true Spursy fashion, they managed to combine their highest-ever Premier League placing with their most disappointing campaign yet. Mauricio Pochettino led his players into a two-horse race for the title against an unfathomable opponent, and managed to finish third behind their most bitter rivals. For 34 games, Spurs were the effervescent challengers, scoring the most goals, conceding the fewest, and threatening the Leicester fairytale. Their final four fixtures undid all their positive work. Two draws and two losses, culminating in an almost parodic 5-1 defeat to relegated Newcastle. Such a capitulation made it difficult to characterise their season as a whole. Glorious disappointment? Magnificent failure? Sublime disaster?
If Tottenham’s Premier League season was a long and enjoyable session of drinking curtailed by a fight with the bouncers after being refused entry to the final club of the evening, the subsequent summer months have been the taxi home in which each player has soiled themselves, before the abrupt hangover the next morning. Pochettino patted 11 of his charges on the back and wished them luck ahead of the European Championships; ten will return to White Hart Lane demoralised even further, including five Englishmen and three of the club’s Belgian contingent. Another – Kevin Wimmer – played just three minutes of the tournament, exiting at the group stage with Austria, while Hugo Lloris tasted yet more bitter disappointment in the final on home turf. With Erik Lamela’s Argentina suffering heartbreak of their own in the Copa America Centenario final on penalties, only Wales’ Ben Davies emerges from this summer having found an international remedy to last season’s club anticlimax.
That, coupled with findings from a recent study which claimed Tottenham players registered over 900 more minutes at Euro 2016 than any other Premier League side, attest to the growing difficulties now facing Pochettino. Expectations at the club have been raised after the Argentinean has taken them from sixth to fifth, and now to third, but is such progress sustainable? Each of their rivals have reacted to below-par seasons; the three sides directly beneath them – Manchester City, Manchester United and Southampton – have all installed new managers, and have been among the busiest clubs in the transfer market.
When Tottenham line up to face Everton on August 13, the ghosts of last season, of West Brom, Southampton and Newcastle will linger. The 2-2 draw with Chelsea, which handed Leicester the title, was the most damaging psychologically. “I hear in the last two years always people say ‘Tottenham was soft’. But now we start to show character,” Pochettino said after that game at Stamford Bridge. Nine Tottenham players had been booked. Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane among them, the quintet who had provided much of the spine of these unlikely challengers, unravelled for the first time.
The effects of that game cannot be underestimated. This was an eruption of emotion, an outpouring of grief and frustration, from a collection of players who, before then, and even when leading 2-0 in that very game, had been consummate professionals. “Maybe we crossed the line, I can recognise this, I am not stupid,” Pochettino admitted in the aftermath. “It is important to manage better our energy for the next season and ensure we learn a lot about this game.”
Lessons, presumably, will commence now. Because it did not appear that Harry Kane had learned any particular lessons as England’s worst outfield performer at Euro 2016. Nor Dele Alli, who was visibly weighed down both figuratively and physically. Or the previously imperious Toby Alderweireld, who looked a notably different player under Marc Wilmots. Tottenham’s five English players featured heavily in an embarrassing campaign, their three Belgians were members of the team so heavily scrutinised after losing to Wales, and Lloris was captain of a hosting side which froze on the big night. The mental and physical exertions of these players should not be underestimated.
If anyone is equipped to help them exorcise their demons, it is Pochettino. But he must start the season without the injured Vertonghen, while a suspended Dembele misses the first four games after his personal meltdown during the Battle of the Bridge. Both players played 29 league games last season, and will be huge losses.
The manager, to his credit, has kept busy. Our transfer guide identified the club’s two main priorities – ‘competition for Kane up front and in central midfield’ – and both already have a tick next to their name. Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama are shrewd additions for a combined £28m, and the 22-year-old and 25-year-old fit the Pochettino mould perfectly, adding youth, European experience, talent and depth to the squad. More importantly, they provide a fresh touch to a core of shellshocked players.
The two new arrivals also continue Pochettino’s overhaul of the playing squad, which began upon his appointment in 2014. A total of 53 players have either signed or been sold on permanent deals in two years; only Manchester United (55) have been busier. And they have had two managers in that time. After the reign of Redknapp, the demise of Villas-Boas and the brilliance of Sherwood, the current boss is overseeing a mini-revolution of sorts at White Hart Lane.
But the task that lies ahead of him is his most difficult yet – to continue to implement a new mentality and identity of success, not failure, at the club; to oversee the development of a supremely talented but now damaged group of young players; to stop Tottenham being quite so Tottenham. And to do all of that while shouldering a weight of expectation which has now seen these players collapse twice in the space of mere months. No pressure? For Pochettino and his players, it is quite the opposite.
Matt Stead
Is this Poch’s biggest Spurs challenge yet?
Date published: Friday 15th July 2016 8:13
When the new Premier League season begins in little under a month’s time, each team will face varying degrees of pressure. Leicester must perform under the stress of defending their title. Five clubs will embark on their respective journeys into the unknown, having changed managers this summer. A further three bosses will begin their first full season in charge after being appointed midway through the last. The three promoted sides will be billed as the underdogs, but must acclimatise quickly to their new homes. Tottenham? Tottenham might just face the biggest challenge of them all.
In the aftermath of a tumultuous, dramatic and historic 2015/16 Premier League season, the north London side emerged as the outliers. Every other club could define their season with a single word or phrase. For Woolwich: Frustrating. For West Ham: Wonderful. For Stoke: Same old. For Chelsea: Write-off. For Palace: Mixed. For Bournemouth: Progress. For Newcastle: F*** McClaren.
Not so for Tottenham. In true Spursy fashion, they managed to combine their highest-ever Premier League placing with their most disappointing campaign yet. Mauricio Pochettino led his players into a two-horse race for the title against an unfathomable opponent, and managed to finish third behind their most bitter rivals. For 34 games, Spurs were the effervescent challengers, scoring the most goals, conceding the fewest, and threatening the Leicester fairytale. Their final four fixtures undid all their positive work. Two draws and two losses, culminating in an almost parodic 5-1 defeat to relegated Newcastle. Such a capitulation made it difficult to characterise their season as a whole. Glorious disappointment? Magnificent failure? Sublime disaster?
If Tottenham’s Premier League season was a long and enjoyable session of drinking curtailed by a fight with the bouncers after being refused entry to the final club of the evening, the subsequent summer months have been the taxi home in which each player has soiled themselves, before the abrupt hangover the next morning. Pochettino patted 11 of his charges on the back and wished them luck ahead of the European Championships; ten will return to White Hart Lane demoralised even further, including five Englishmen and three of the club’s Belgian contingent. Another – Kevin Wimmer – played just three minutes of the tournament, exiting at the group stage with Austria, while Hugo Lloris tasted yet more bitter disappointment in the final on home turf. With Erik Lamela’s Argentina suffering heartbreak of their own in the Copa America Centenario final on penalties, only Wales’ Ben Davies emerges from this summer having found an international remedy to last season’s club anticlimax.
That, coupled with findings from a recent study which claimed Tottenham players registered over 900 more minutes at Euro 2016 than any other Premier League side, attest to the growing difficulties now facing Pochettino. Expectations at the club have been raised after the Argentinean has taken them from sixth to fifth, and now to third, but is such progress sustainable? Each of their rivals have reacted to below-par seasons; the three sides directly beneath them – Manchester City, Manchester United and Southampton – have all installed new managers, and have been among the busiest clubs in the transfer market.
When Tottenham line up to face Everton on August 13, the ghosts of last season, of West Brom, Southampton and Newcastle will linger. The 2-2 draw with Chelsea, which handed Leicester the title, was the most damaging psychologically. “I hear in the last two years always people say ‘Tottenham was soft’. But now we start to show character,” Pochettino said after that game at Stamford Bridge. Nine Tottenham players had been booked. Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane among them, the quintet who had provided much of the spine of these unlikely challengers, unravelled for the first time.
The effects of that game cannot be underestimated. This was an eruption of emotion, an outpouring of grief and frustration, from a collection of players who, before then, and even when leading 2-0 in that very game, had been consummate professionals. “Maybe we crossed the line, I can recognise this, I am not stupid,” Pochettino admitted in the aftermath. “It is important to manage better our energy for the next season and ensure we learn a lot about this game.”
Lessons, presumably, will commence now. Because it did not appear that Harry Kane had learned any particular lessons as England’s worst outfield performer at Euro 2016. Nor Dele Alli, who was visibly weighed down both figuratively and physically. Or the previously imperious Toby Alderweireld, who looked a notably different player under Marc Wilmots. Tottenham’s five English players featured heavily in an embarrassing campaign, their three Belgians were members of the team so heavily scrutinised after losing to Wales, and Lloris was captain of a hosting side which froze on the big night. The mental and physical exertions of these players should not be underestimated.
If anyone is equipped to help them exorcise their demons, it is Pochettino. But he must start the season without the injured Vertonghen, while a suspended Dembele misses the first four games after his personal meltdown during the Battle of the Bridge. Both players played 29 league games last season, and will be huge losses.
The manager, to his credit, has kept busy. Our transfer guide identified the club’s two main priorities – ‘competition for Kane up front and in central midfield’ – and both already have a tick next to their name. Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama are shrewd additions for a combined £28m, and the 22-year-old and 25-year-old fit the Pochettino mould perfectly, adding youth, European experience, talent and depth to the squad. More importantly, they provide a fresh touch to a core of shellshocked players.
The two new arrivals also continue Pochettino’s overhaul of the playing squad, which began upon his appointment in 2014. A total of 53 players have either signed or been sold on permanent deals in two years; only Manchester United (55) have been busier. And they have had two managers in that time. After the reign of Redknapp, the demise of Villas-Boas and the brilliance of Sherwood, the current boss is overseeing a mini-revolution of sorts at White Hart Lane.
But the task that lies ahead of him is his most difficult yet – to continue to implement a new mentality and identity of success, not failure, at the club; to oversee the development of a supremely talented but now damaged group of young players; to stop Tottenham being quite so Tottenham. And to do all of that while shouldering a weight of expectation which has now seen these players collapse twice in the space of mere months. No pressure? For Pochettino and his players, it is quite the opposite.
Matt Stead
I get the feeling the writer doesnt like us.Is this Poch’s biggest Spurs challenge yet?
Date published: Friday 15th July 2016 8:13
When the new Premier League season begins in little under a month’s time, each team will face varying degrees of pressure. Leicester must perform under the stress of defending their title. Five clubs will embark on their respective journeys into the unknown, having changed managers this summer. A further three bosses will begin their first full season in charge after being appointed midway through the last. The three promoted sides will be billed as the underdogs, but must acclimatise quickly to their new homes. Tottenham? Tottenham might just face the biggest challenge of them all.
In the aftermath of a tumultuous, dramatic and historic 2015/16 Premier League season, the north London side emerged as the outliers. Every other club could define their season with a single word or phrase. For Woolwich: Frustrating. For West Ham: Wonderful. For Stoke: Same old. For Chelsea: Write-off. For Palace: Mixed. For Bournemouth: Progress. For Newcastle: F*** McClaren.
Not so for Tottenham. In true Spursy fashion, they managed to combine their highest-ever Premier League placing with their most disappointing campaign yet. Mauricio Pochettino led his players into a two-horse race for the title against an unfathomable opponent, and managed to finish third behind their most bitter rivals. For 34 games, Spurs were the effervescent challengers, scoring the most goals, conceding the fewest, and threatening the Leicester fairytale. Their final four fixtures undid all their positive work. Two draws and two losses, culminating in an almost parodic 5-1 defeat to relegated Newcastle. Such a capitulation made it difficult to characterise their season as a whole. Glorious disappointment? Magnificent failure? Sublime disaster?
If Tottenham’s Premier League season was a long and enjoyable session of drinking curtailed by a fight with the bouncers after being refused entry to the final club of the evening, the subsequent summer months have been the taxi home in which each player has soiled themselves, before the abrupt hangover the next morning. Pochettino patted 11 of his charges on the back and wished them luck ahead of the European Championships; ten will return to White Hart Lane demoralised even further, including five Englishmen and three of the club’s Belgian contingent. Another – Kevin Wimmer – played just three minutes of the tournament, exiting at the group stage with Austria, while Hugo Lloris tasted yet more bitter disappointment in the final on home turf. With Erik Lamela’s Argentina suffering heartbreak of their own in the Copa America Centenario final on penalties, only Wales’ Ben Davies emerges from this summer having found an international remedy to last season’s club anticlimax.
That, coupled with findings from a recent study which claimed Tottenham players registered over 900 more minutes at Euro 2016 than any other Premier League side, attest to the growing difficulties now facing Pochettino. Expectations at the club have been raised after the Argentinean has taken them from sixth to fifth, and now to third, but is such progress sustainable? Each of their rivals have reacted to below-par seasons; the three sides directly beneath them – Manchester City, Manchester United and Southampton – have all installed new managers, and have been among the busiest clubs in the transfer market.
When Tottenham line up to face Everton on August 13, the ghosts of last season, of West Brom, Southampton and Newcastle will linger. The 2-2 draw with Chelsea, which handed Leicester the title, was the most damaging psychologically. “I hear in the last two years always people say ‘Tottenham was soft’. But now we start to show character,” Pochettino said after that game at Stamford Bridge. Nine Tottenham players had been booked. Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane among them, the quintet who had provided much of the spine of these unlikely challengers, unravelled for the first time.
The effects of that game cannot be underestimated. This was an eruption of emotion, an outpouring of grief and frustration, from a collection of players who, before then, and even when leading 2-0 in that very game, had been consummate professionals. “Maybe we crossed the line, I can recognise this, I am not stupid,” Pochettino admitted in the aftermath. “It is important to manage better our energy for the next season and ensure we learn a lot about this game.”
Lessons, presumably, will commence now. Because it did not appear that Harry Kane had learned any particular lessons as England’s worst outfield performer at Euro 2016. Nor Dele Alli, who was visibly weighed down both figuratively and physically. Or the previously imperious Toby Alderweireld, who looked a notably different player under Marc Wilmots. Tottenham’s five English players featured heavily in an embarrassing campaign, their three Belgians were members of the team so heavily scrutinised after losing to Wales, and Lloris was captain of a hosting side which froze on the big night. The mental and physical exertions of these players should not be underestimated.
If anyone is equipped to help them exorcise their demons, it is Pochettino. But he must start the season without the injured Vertonghen, while a suspended Dembele misses the first four games after his personal meltdown during the Battle of the Bridge. Both players played 29 league games last season, and will be huge losses.
The manager, to his credit, has kept busy. Our transfer guide identified the club’s two main priorities – ‘competition for Kane up front and in central midfield’ – and both already have a tick next to their name. Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama are shrewd additions for a combined £28m, and the 22-year-old and 25-year-old fit the Pochettino mould perfectly, adding youth, European experience, talent and depth to the squad. More importantly, they provide a fresh touch to a core of shellshocked players.
The two new arrivals also continue Pochettino’s overhaul of the playing squad, which began upon his appointment in 2014. A total of 53 players have either signed or been sold on permanent deals in two years; only Manchester United (55) have been busier. And they have had two managers in that time. After the reign of Redknapp, the demise of Villas-Boas and the brilliance of Sherwood, the current boss is overseeing a mini-revolution of sorts at White Hart Lane.
But the task that lies ahead of him is his most difficult yet – to continue to implement a new mentality and identity of success, not failure, at the club; to oversee the development of a supremely talented but now damaged group of young players; to stop Tottenham being quite so Tottenham. And to do all of that while shouldering a weight of expectation which has now seen these players collapse twice in the space of mere months. No pressure? For Pochettino and his players, it is quite the opposite.
Matt Stead
What a shit article. So others have no pressure at all with their new world class managers with Mou and Cunte? They also have alot of first team starters which must be demoralised from the past season and the EUROs.
Everyone outside of Portugal, Iceland & Wales will have been demoralised by that. Except maybe the Dutch who managed to avoid the thing altogether. So Vinny will be the man!
FFS How did I miss that line, glad I put his credit at the bottom of that article. Surely he says that with his tongue firmly in his cheek?
Talking of which surprised Dimbo's name has not been linked with the vacant England manager's role. He picked Kane, Walker, Rose. Plus I'm sure he spotted Alli once when he happened to be in Milton Keynes shopping centre playing keepy uppties. Also saw big Eric playing beach footie whilst sunning himself in Lisborn.
Not forgetting Victor Wanyama who was visiting prisons in Kenya.
Goes to show that anyone can write a lengthy article whilst not having the faintest idea what they are talking about.
Bin Dippers also had 11 players at the Euro's albeit playing less minutes in their respective failures.
It will be Pochettino's job to press reset on 2016 and start us up again.
Matt Stead is going to look an absolute cunt at the end of the season. I recall the likes of Neil Warnock saying we were going to finnish bellow Palace, Stoke & West Ham, and should just make it onto top 10. It's odd that our young team dealt with the disappointment of losing a cup final by going onto taking us to our highest ever finish for a generation. If this is failure then I want to fail every fucking season, I embrace our failure and fucking wallow in it.Is this Poch’s biggest Spurs challenge yet?
Date published: Friday 15th July 2016 8:13
When the new Premier League season begins in little under a month’s time, each team will face varying degrees of pressure. Leicester must perform under the stress of defending their title. Five clubs will embark on their respective journeys into the unknown, having changed managers this summer. A further three bosses will begin their first full season in charge after being appointed midway through the last. The three promoted sides will be billed as the underdogs, but must acclimatise quickly to their new homes. Tottenham? Tottenham might just face the biggest challenge of them all.
In the aftermath of a tumultuous, dramatic and historic 2015/16 Premier League season, the north London side emerged as the outliers. Every other club could define their season with a single word or phrase. For Woolwich: Frustrating. For West Ham: Wonderful. For Stoke: Same old. For Chelsea: Write-off. For Palace: Mixed. For Bournemouth: Progress. For Newcastle: F*** McClaren.
Not so for Tottenham. In true Spursy fashion, they managed to combine their highest-ever Premier League placing with their most disappointing campaign yet. Mauricio Pochettino led his players into a two-horse race for the title against an unfathomable opponent, and managed to finish third behind their most bitter rivals. For 34 games, Spurs were the effervescent challengers, scoring the most goals, conceding the fewest, and threatening the Leicester fairytale. Their final four fixtures undid all their positive work. Two draws and two losses, culminating in an almost parodic 5-1 defeat to relegated Newcastle. Such a capitulation made it difficult to characterise their season as a whole. Glorious disappointment? Magnificent failure? Sublime disaster?
If Tottenham’s Premier League season was a long and enjoyable session of drinking curtailed by a fight with the bouncers after being refused entry to the final club of the evening, the subsequent summer months have been the taxi home in which each player has soiled themselves, before the abrupt hangover the next morning. Pochettino patted 11 of his charges on the back and wished them luck ahead of the European Championships; ten will return to White Hart Lane demoralised even further, including five Englishmen and three of the club’s Belgian contingent. Another – Kevin Wimmer – played just three minutes of the tournament, exiting at the group stage with Austria, while Hugo Lloris tasted yet more bitter disappointment in the final on home turf. With Erik Lamela’s Argentina suffering heartbreak of their own in the Copa America Centenario final on penalties, only Wales’ Ben Davies emerges from this summer having found an international remedy to last season’s club anticlimax.
That, coupled with findings from a recent study which claimed Tottenham players registered over 900 more minutes at Euro 2016 than any other Premier League side, attest to the growing difficulties now facing Pochettino. Expectations at the club have been raised after the Argentinean has taken them from sixth to fifth, and now to third, but is such progress sustainable? Each of their rivals have reacted to below-par seasons; the three sides directly beneath them – Manchester City, Manchester United and Southampton – have all installed new managers, and have been among the busiest clubs in the transfer market.
When Tottenham line up to face Everton on August 13, the ghosts of last season, of West Brom, Southampton and Newcastle will linger. The 2-2 draw with Chelsea, which handed Leicester the title, was the most damaging psychologically. “I hear in the last two years always people say ‘Tottenham was soft’. But now we start to show character,” Pochettino said after that game at Stamford Bridge. Nine Tottenham players had been booked. Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane among them, the quintet who had provided much of the spine of these unlikely challengers, unravelled for the first time.
The effects of that game cannot be underestimated. This was an eruption of emotion, an outpouring of grief and frustration, from a collection of players who, before then, and even when leading 2-0 in that very game, had been consummate professionals. “Maybe we crossed the line, I can recognise this, I am not stupid,” Pochettino admitted in the aftermath. “It is important to manage better our energy for the next season and ensure we learn a lot about this game.”
Lessons, presumably, will commence now. Because it did not appear that Harry Kane had learned any particular lessons as England’s worst outfield performer at Euro 2016. Nor Dele Alli, who was visibly weighed down both figuratively and physically. Or the previously imperious Toby Alderweireld, who looked a notably different player under Marc Wilmots. Tottenham’s five English players featured heavily in an embarrassing campaign, their three Belgians were members of the team so heavily scrutinised after losing to Wales, and Lloris was captain of a hosting side which froze on the big night. The mental and physical exertions of these players should not be underestimated.
If anyone is equipped to help them exorcise their demons, it is Pochettino. But he must start the season without the injured Vertonghen, while a suspended Dembele misses the first four games after his personal meltdown during the Battle of the Bridge. Both players played 29 league games last season, and will be huge losses.
The manager, to his credit, has kept busy. Our transfer guide identified the club’s two main priorities – ‘competition for Kane up front and in central midfield’ – and both already have a tick next to their name. Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama are shrewd additions for a combined £28m, and the 22-year-old and 25-year-old fit the Pochettino mould perfectly, adding youth, European experience, talent and depth to the squad. More importantly, they provide a fresh touch to a core of shellshocked players.
The two new arrivals also continue Pochettino’s overhaul of the playing squad, which began upon his appointment in 2014. A total of 53 players have either signed or been sold on permanent deals in two years; only Manchester United (55) have been busier. And they have had two managers in that time. After the reign of Redknapp, the demise of Villas-Boas and the brilliance of Sherwood, the current boss is overseeing a mini-revolution of sorts at White Hart Lane.
But the task that lies ahead of him is his most difficult yet – to continue to implement a new mentality and identity of success, not failure, at the club; to oversee the development of a supremely talented but now damaged group of young players; to stop Tottenham being quite so Tottenham. And to do all of that while shouldering a weight of expectation which has now seen these players collapse twice in the space of mere months. No pressure? For Pochettino and his players, it is quite the opposite.
Matt Stead
Right now we are the team that everyother fears, Come the end of the season teams worked out how to nullify Liecester as they are a one trick pony. As for us we play with possession one week then on the counter the next, we keep the ball, we hit it long. You try to press us, we will counter-press you back.
I'm happy for us to be constantly written off, as we seem to bounce back from each disappointment stronger. Looks like we'll fly under the radar again. With the media fawning over Utd, City, the Chavs and the Dippers. 3 of which have new managers and trying to implement now systems, expectation for them to perform will be greater than on our shoulders.
We've not spent beyond our means, like so many other have been doing. We've signed players that we have been desperately short of. We have a settled squad with no one agitating for a move. Why can we not carry on our development. Yet everyone focuses on our disappointing last four games.
To be honest I couldn't give a rats arse what other teams are up to. What that cunt of a reporter fails to acknowledge that our team is the youngest in the league, a team that challenged for the title last year. What do you think is going though their heads right now as they drive up the long drive if Hotspur Way? A glass ceiling was smashed last year, for players, youth team, back room staff & club executives, everyone for the first time in a generation (possibly longer) has a belief like never before, we are at the beginning, it's as simple as that.
Bring on the failure.
13th August cannot come quick enough. Just want football to have started again.
Fucking hell he's trying a bit hard there.
Apparently only our international players were shamed at the Euros, and no other club will have this issue.
It's fucking classic with these reporters as the minute they discuss the new England manager they say:
"Well Big Sam will have the opportunity to work with some talented players, like Dier, Alli and Kane"
Every single time it's a combination of those three players so they say what a let down we were yet we have the best young English talent in the league, not that I care about national team, just that Poch gets best out of them and Roy a wanker
"Well Big Sam will have the opportunity to work with some talented players, like Dier, Alli and Kane"
Every single time it's a combination of those three players so they say what a let down we were yet we have the best young English talent in the league, not that I care about national team, just that Poch gets best out of them and Roy a wanker
He doesn't jump up and down like an insane man, or run down down the touchline often enough. Or say enough controversial things.
The only reason he's not is that he doesn't do enough stupid things to sell papers....
Is this Poch’s biggest Spurs challenge yet?
Date published: Friday 15th July 2016 8:13
When the new Premier League season begins in little under a month’s time, each team will face varying degrees of pressure. Leicester must perform under the stress of defending their title. Five clubs will embark on their respective journeys into the unknown, having changed managers this summer. A further three bosses will begin their first full season in charge after being appointed midway through the last. The three promoted sides will be billed as the underdogs, but must acclimatise quickly to their new homes. Tottenham? Tottenham might just face the biggest challenge of them all.
In the aftermath of a tumultuous, dramatic and historic 2015/16 Premier League season, the north London side emerged as the outliers. Every other club could define their season with a single word or phrase. For Woolwich: Frustrating. For West Ham: Wonderful. For Stoke: Same old. For Chelsea: Write-off. For Palace: Mixed. For Bournemouth: Progress. For Newcastle: F*** McClaren.
Not so for Tottenham. In true Spursy fashion, they managed to combine their highest-ever Premier League placing with their most disappointing campaign yet. Mauricio Pochettino led his players into a two-horse race for the title against an unfathomable opponent, and managed to finish third behind their most bitter rivals. For 34 games, Spurs were the effervescent challengers, scoring the most goals, conceding the fewest, and threatening the Leicester fairytale. Their final four fixtures undid all their positive work. Two draws and two losses, culminating in an almost parodic 5-1 defeat to relegated Newcastle. Such a capitulation made it difficult to characterise their season as a whole. Glorious disappointment? Magnificent failure? Sublime disaster?
If Tottenham’s Premier League season was a long and enjoyable session of drinking curtailed by a fight with the bouncers after being refused entry to the final club of the evening, the subsequent summer months have been the taxi home in which each player has soiled themselves, before the abrupt hangover the next morning. Pochettino patted 11 of his charges on the back and wished them luck ahead of the European Championships; ten will return to White Hart Lane demoralised even further, including five Englishmen and three of the club’s Belgian contingent. Another – Kevin Wimmer – played just three minutes of the tournament, exiting at the group stage with Austria, while Hugo Lloris tasted yet more bitter disappointment in the final on home turf. With Erik Lamela’s Argentina suffering heartbreak of their own in the Copa America Centenario final on penalties, only Wales’ Ben Davies emerges from this summer having found an international remedy to last season’s club anticlimax.
That, coupled with findings from a recent study which claimed Tottenham players registered over 900 more minutes at Euro 2016 than any other Premier League side, attest to the growing difficulties now facing Pochettino. Expectations at the club have been raised after the Argentinean has taken them from sixth to fifth, and now to third, but is such progress sustainable? Each of their rivals have reacted to below-par seasons; the three sides directly beneath them – Manchester City, Manchester United and Southampton – have all installed new managers, and have been among the busiest clubs in the transfer market.
When Tottenham line up to face Everton on August 13, the ghosts of last season, of West Brom, Southampton and Newcastle will linger. The 2-2 draw with Chelsea, which handed Leicester the title, was the most damaging psychologically. “I hear in the last two years always people say ‘Tottenham was soft’. But now we start to show character,” Pochettino said after that game at Stamford Bridge. Nine Tottenham players had been booked. Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane among them, the quintet who had provided much of the spine of these unlikely challengers, unravelled for the first time.
The effects of that game cannot be underestimated. This was an eruption of emotion, an outpouring of grief and frustration, from a collection of players who, before then, and even when leading 2-0 in that very game, had been consummate professionals. “Maybe we crossed the line, I can recognise this, I am not stupid,” Pochettino admitted in the aftermath. “It is important to manage better our energy for the next season and ensure we learn a lot about this game.”
Lessons, presumably, will commence now. Because it did not appear that Harry Kane had learned any particular lessons as England’s worst outfield performer at Euro 2016. Nor Dele Alli, who was visibly weighed down both figuratively and physically. Or the previously imperious Toby Alderweireld, who looked a notably different player under Marc Wilmots. Tottenham’s five English players featured heavily in an embarrassing campaign, their three Belgians were members of the team so heavily scrutinised after losing to Wales, and Lloris was captain of a hosting side which froze on the big night. The mental and physical exertions of these players should not be underestimated.
If anyone is equipped to help them exorcise their demons, it is Pochettino. But he must start the season without the injured Vertonghen, while a suspended Dembele misses the first four games after his personal meltdown during the Battle of the Bridge. Both players played 29 league games last season, and will be huge losses.
The manager, to his credit, has kept busy. Our transfer guide identified the club’s two main priorities – ‘competition for Kane up front and in central midfield’ – and both already have a tick next to their name. Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama are shrewd additions for a combined £28m, and the 22-year-old and 25-year-old fit the Pochettino mould perfectly, adding youth, European experience, talent and depth to the squad. More importantly, they provide a fresh touch to a core of shellshocked players.
The two new arrivals also continue Pochettino’s overhaul of the playing squad, which began upon his appointment in 2014. A total of 53 players have either signed or been sold on permanent deals in two years; only Manchester United (55) have been busier. And they have had two managers in that time. After the reign of Redknapp, the demise of Villas-Boas and the brilliance of Sherwood, the current boss is overseeing a mini-revolution of sorts at White Hart Lane.
But the task that lies ahead of him is his most difficult yet – to continue to implement a new mentality and identity of success, not failure, at the club; to oversee the development of a supremely talented but now damaged group of young players; to stop Tottenham being quite so Tottenham. And to do all of that while shouldering a weight of expectation which has now seen these players collapse twice in the space of mere months. No pressure? For Pochettino and his players, it is quite the opposite.
Matt Stead
"Matt can you bash out a couple hundred words about Spurs, for next season?"
"How long have I got ?"
"Any time in the next half hour will do."
Matt goes for a liquid lunch and whilst squeezing out an obstinate turd in the toilets of the Dog and Duck finger types on IPhone that sorry excuse for an article .
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If you really want to know why he is not a media darling all you really have to do is listen to one of his interviews. He is quiet, reserved and emphasizes the players and their work rate above all other things. I compare him to the coach of my team in the NFL Bill Belicheck believe it or not the NFL demands more media crap from their coaches than the clubs do over there and he just refuses to participate. Poch doesn't seem as hostile to the press as Bill is but he also doesn't engage them the way the guys you are talking about do. IF Spurs and United both have a penalty call missed against them in the same week Mourinho will spend an hour telling you how United got fucked over whereas Poch will just tell you the two or three things the team could have done to make up for the error and the second approach doesn't sell papers.
I liked us not being noticed for the majority of last season, hopefully it'll be the same again