The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsIt’s crazy to think that Louis Van Gaal was the first choice to take the managerial job at Tottenham, after the Tim Sherwood reign; luckily for both Spurs and Mauricio Pochettino Manchester United came calling, and as they say the rest is history.
Spurs were a mess before Pochettino arrived, Franco Baldini was technical director and the money from the sale of Gareth Bale had been wasted on a lot of players that were simple not good enough. Baldini has to shoulder a lot of the blame for the transfer debacle. In the time he’s been there Poch has totally turned things round, and now Tottenham are in with a real chance of being crowned Premier League champions.
In the 2014-15 season not all of Pochettino’s signings were a success, but the purchase of Dele Alli for £5m, has turned out to be a great piece of business. He has now become a key player for both club and country. Mauricio did a very solid job in his first season at White Hart Lane guiding Spurs to a 5th place finish, 6 points behind Manchester United. Harry Kane had spent a lot of time out on loan, but under Pochettino he was given a run of games in the team, largely thanks to the poor form of Roberto Soldado. Kane had a superb season scoring 31 goals in all competitions.
One of the things Poch has done so well in his time at Tottenham is getting rid of the deadwood. Expensive flops such as Paulinho and Soldado were sold for a combined fee of almost £19m, which is very good money considering the poor time both players endured at the Lane. Pochettini brought in 5 players most of which have been squad players, but his acquisition of Toby Alderweireld for £11.5m has been another superb piece of business, This season Toby has arguably been the best defender in the league and his partnership was Jan Vertonghen is a huge part of why Spurs have done so well this season.
The majority of signings made under Pochettino have turned out to be very good buys, but the most impressive thing Mauricio has done is greatly improve the existing players at the club. Danny Rose and Kyle Walker have improved hugely under the watch of Pochettino. Both players are in with a shout of not just going to the European Championships, but starting for England too. Walker has always had great pace, but at times he struggled to get back when out of possession; this area of his game has improved greatly under in recent months. Danny Rose has also come on in leaps and bounds this season and in the recent England match against Germany, he was one of the best players on the pitch.
Not only is Pochettino very good in the transfer market, and very good at developing players, he also plays an exciting brand of football which is very pleasing on the eye. With Louis Van Gaal potentially leaving Manchester United in the summer, don’t be too surprised if an approach is made for Pochettino. Mauricio is not only the best manager in the Premier League, he is fast becoming one of the best managers in Europe.
