Pochettino loses nothing in translation
Spurs News 24/7Mauricio Pochettino finally spoke to the Tottenham faithful via an official club interview, giving us a warm and pleasant introduction without the disconnect of an interpretor. His words had none of the usual expected sound-bites about history and glory that tend to be crowd pleasing rather than pragmatic. No cheap point scoring here from Pochettino, understated and yet still managing to ignite a little spark of confidence.
We've been burnt so many times the worst possible thing is to get over-excited by what was fundamentally a PR exercise for our benefit to finally see and hear the man talk about the poisoned chalice he's been brave enough to accept.
'It's an absolute honour to be head coach of such a big club'
He'll understand the gulf of difference with the microscopic analysis from both fans and media and the pressure that will be unrelenting from the start. He appears to have strength with self-belief so rising to the challenge is something he will thrive on, especially when the squad is packed with internationals and £20M+ players.
'We will try to be everything to make you proud of this football club'
Maybe he did drop some safe and not overly excitable soundbites during the interview. This one is important in that it doesn't cite any particular promise unlike when Andre Villas-Boas told us he would retain Harry Redknapp's momentum and add to it aggressive football. We are dry with thirst to have our team entertain us again or at least match the intensity of our desire as fans to see us push on rather than stand still.
'Sometimes three but the player don't have to be afraid'
A response to the question about double training sessions. This made me smile. Pochettino seems fair, we know he had good relationships with his players but respect for him is what binds his authority over them. He doesn't strike me as someone that accepts second best. On the pitch or in training.
'Our style is demanding sometimes but we use common sense. Our style, our philosophies, suffer in the training for it to show during the game but the players don't have to be afraid because we work with common sense all the time. We can only expect, from the players, full commitment and a positive attitude'
He stated 'common sense' twice. That's probably two times more than we've used it in the past couple of years. He's outlining that you get nothing without working hard for it and if you embrace it (as a player) you'll improve tenfold which means so will the team.
The actual style and philosophy outside of training and on the pitch is something that will require patience. He made no comments about 'The Spurs Way', which hopefully means we'll see our players adapt to his methods and common sense leads to common ground where we get the best out of what we have and align it as close to possible to the football we love to watch.
Onwards.
via Club Metro
