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With the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham have clearly shown what they plan to do in the upcoming season. With a squad that finished sixth, but with plenty of world class players,there are manythings the Argentinian manager must rectify.Here are five issues Pochettino must address as Spurs boss.
#1 Take control of the dressing room
One thing that neither AVB nor Sherwood were able to do was to gain the trust of the dressing room. While AVB tried to change too much too fast, Sherwood did the opposite and resisted change by sticking onto his own principles. Towards the end of Sherwood’s reign, his antics were getting ludicrous and smacked of a man who knew that his jig was up.
If Pochettino is to be considered as a successful Spurs manager, then the first thing he must do is to ensure that he has the players’ backing. As the players of Manchester United proved last year, player power is a big thing indeed.
And irrespective of how good a manager you are, if you aren’t able to get the players on your side, then you are likely to lose your job pretty quickly. And priority number one for the 42-year-old manager would be to get his players playing for him.
#2 Make the most of the big-money signings or move them on
After the sale of Gareth Bale, Tottenham went on a spending spree. Although Christian Eriksen has proved to be a steal at just £11million, the rest haven’t really been as impressive. After a bright start Paulinho started to fade away towards the end, and the likes of Erik Lamela and Roberto Soldado haven’t really settled into life as well as they were expected to.
So, the biggest challenge that Pochettino faces is how he handles the situation with these players. While AVB tried ever so hard to help them settle in, Sherwood rarely used them and went for a more traditional approach.
So, the new manager must ensure that these players are given a fair run as they have cost the club a lot of money, and also be prepared to sell them if they don’t work out. After all, there is no point in keeping players that don’t fit in and the earlier they are shipped out, the easier it will be for the Argentinian.
#3 Figure out his best team fast
After a successful 2012/13 campaign and a flurry of new summer signings, things looked rosy at White Hart Lane. But the sacking of AVB mid-way through the season and the appointment of Tim Sherwood meant that Spurs disintegrated rapidly.
The contrasting styles of both managers meant that Spurs hardly stuck to the same formation last season. The sale of several key players last summer meant that it would take time for Tottenham to settle on a starting XI.
But just as AVB looked to have got it right, he was sacked and replaced with Sherwood, who had a completely different philosophy. All of which meant that apart from the defense, the rest of XI never really enjoyed a lot of time together.
And one of the first things on Pochettino’s agenda must be figuring out what his best side is. With Spurs unlikely to spend an awful lot, the Argentinian must make do with what he has and the sooner he settles on his first XI and the tactics he is going to employ, the better it is going to be for Tottenham.
#4 Fix the leaking defense
There are two stark differences between Spurs’ fortunes in the 2012/13 and the 2013/14 season. The first and the most obvious one is the departure of Gareth Bale. While the club tried hard to replace him, on last season’s evidence, it is fair to say that they haven’t been successful in doing so.
The second has been the form of their defense. Early in the campaign, it looked as though everything was in order, but heavy defeats against all the big sides proved that the defense is not just in need of some reinforcements, but also some new ideas as well.
AVB loved his high defensive line, but with the likes of Michael Dawson in the side, that proved to be fatal. With Pochettino’s penchant for pressing higher up the pitch, he certainly has a decision to make. Stick with the current lot and change his style which got him the job, or get rid of the dead wood and build the defense around Vertonghen and Chiriches.
The latter seems a much safer bet and with some astute defensive signings Tottenham could well be back to their defensive best.
#5 Make the most of the promising young prospects
A firm believer in the youngsters, Pochettino trusted the likes of Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse, Calum Chambers and Sam Gallagher enough to give them a shot in the first-team at St Mary's.
Although his every move is set to be under intense scrutiny at Tottenham, it remains to be seen if the man who once said I am “fully focused on young players” remains to true to his word.
For if he is, then the likes of Nabil Bentaleb, Harry Kane and Tom Carroll have a really good shot at emulating the likes of Shaw and Chamber at his previous club. Although the Spurs academy isn’t nearly as good as the Saints’, it still has some very promising prospects and Spurs could very well do with some of them making it into the first-team instead of shelling out vast amounts of cash on a player from elsewhere.
