Spurs fans were delighted to see an interview with Mauricio Pochettino, in which the Argentinian discussed the need for a re-build at the North London club.
In an interview with Gary Lineker, posted by LastWordonSpurs, Pochettino discussed the new stadium and the need to ‘furnish’, implying that the club needed new signings. The 47-year-old manager brought in Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon and Jack Clarke on permanent deals over the summer, none of which are yet to really set the world alight with their performances; with Ndombele and Sessegnon regularly injured, whilst Clarke has just returned from a disappointing loan spell with Leeds United.
Following a summer transfer window in which the Argentinian manager also failed to sell the likes of Christian Eriksen and Danny Rose, the club’s performances quickly began to decline and Pochettino was ultimately sacked by Daniel Levy in November. Since then, Mourinho has pushed Spurs back up the Premier League table, but his Spurs squad is still showing it’s limitations with recent results against Norwich and Southampton, suggesting that the re-build is far from complete.
Were Spurs right to sack Pochettino?
Yes
No
Reaction from Spurs fans to the re-emergence of the Pochettino interview can be seen in the tweets below.
Miss this guy
— Savraj11 (@_Savraj11) January 5, 2020
Without a doubt the biggest mistake this club has ever made by not backing him and then letting him go. Absolute Madness
— 11enamelanimals (@11enamelanimals) January 5, 2020
Poch was used as a scapegoat for Levy’s lack of ambition. It doesn’t matter who manages @SpursOfficial as nothing will change until the board put the team first and we won’t.
— George Mixides (@GeorgeMixides) January 6, 2020
Levy thought he knew better and the cheaper option of change of manager would work. As always,he didn’t and it hasn’t.
— Adrian Toner (@AdrianToner) January 6, 2020
So why get rid of Poch? The man who rebuilt our squad once before and replace him with a dinosaur who’s tactics are outdated. If the players are the problem for jose then they were for Poch too
— Watson (@watson_THFC) January 6, 2020
He didn’t just hint. This was the biggest kick in the teeth a manager could ever do to his squad of players. So insulting
— James THFC (@jamesdf5) January 5, 2020
Said it so many times Poch had one blip over 5 years of overachieving. Everyone knows the squad needed a refresh and instead kf backing him and signing the players he wanted we danced around in the transfer window like we always do. Jose will have the same issue
— Ghulam (@Ghulam_Afzal11) January 6, 2020
These Spurs fans clearly feel that Pochettino was right and that the club were perhaps wrong not to back him with new signings.
What do we think?
It seemed as if Pochettino had lost the support of some key players such as Toby Alderweireld, who has since reaffirmed his commitment to the club under Jose Mourinho. It would be interesting to see where Spurs would be if the Argentinian had been given the funds to re-build during the summer and had managed to move on some of the older players at the North London club.
Mourinho may not be backed for a complete re-build in January but we can surely expect a big overhaul at the end of the season, with the likes of Eriksen and Vertonghen set to leave when their contracts expire.