Alan Shearer has criticised Mauricio Pochettino for losing his rag for “probably the first time” following Tottenham’s Champions League defeat to Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Shearer has admitted that it was wrong for the Argentine to take out his frustration at the press conference following the 2-1 loss at the San Siro, claiming that he was not happy with journalists questioning him after the result.
However, the Match of the Day pundit believes that the manager is not in a position where he can only face the press when things are going well for his side – he must be able to face them when luck is not on their side either.
“Pochettino was riled after the game. He was not happy with the questioning from the journalists but he has to face that, you can’t only face it when it is going well,” he told Coral.
“It’s probably the first time we have seen him get annoyed, which tells you how he feels about how things are going this season. By changing the team, I think he was trying to send a message to his players saying if you don’t deliver, I am going to leave you out.”
OPINION
It is easy to understand why Pochettino was annoyed after the defeat – any manager would be when a game is lost at the death. However, Shearer is spot on when he criticises the way Pochettino handled the press following the result. He is allowed to be frustrated, but he needs to learn to be able to face questioning when his team are doing badly and when they are doing well. That is part and parcel of the job – there are going to be points when luck is not your best friend, and he will have to cope with that as and when. As Shearer pointed out, this is one of the first times that we have ever seen him annoyed – which implies that he has been rather calm in the face of defeat before. It makes you wonder what has got him so riled up – obviously three losses on the bounce does not help, but that is no excuse. Eventually, that negativity from him will filter out onto the pitch, which is the last thing he wants to be doing.