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He was the monkey on his back throughout his career at Tottenham. Now, just days into his tenure at PSG, Mauricio Pochettino has the opportunity to finish off his trophy in the Trophee des Champions final against Marseille.
While it could be the French equivalent of the Community Shield, they say a trophy is a trophy, and that will be exactly the philosophy the Argentine will assume when he steps out with his new players and struggles to fire his former Spurs boss Andre. Villas-Boas.
Pochettino appears to have all the tools to achieve success in the French capital, including superstars like World Cup winner Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Angel Di Maria, and having his first piece of silver in his bag will certainly help him sleep. best in paris.
And it’s understandable, given the mental torment he suffered from not being able to secure one at the Spurs. And how close he was too: he fell short in two finals and three semifinals.
As with PSG, Pochettino also had the opportunity to snatch a first trophy in his first season at Tottenham in 2015, although it was a much more daunting task against a seasoned Chelsea led by José Mourinho.
For comparison, his young Spurs team averaged 24 years old and full of diamonds in the rough, but none that could make a difference on the big day. Goals from John Terry and Diego Costa were enough to win for the Blues, but the message from the North Londoners was one of positivity.
“These players are young and they will learn from this, Pochettino needs time.”
But sadly, they never learned to win a trophy under his leadership, and neither did the Argentine.
His next big break came two years later against the same tough opponent at the same venue at Wembley. This time it was the FA Cup semi-final, with Antonio Conte as his rival this time.
After Willian had put Chelsea in front twice, the Spurs responded through Harry Kane and Dele Alli, but Eden Hazard scored late and a wonderful goal from Nemanja Matic from distance wiped out any hope of a place in the final.
As after their cup final loss to the Blues, Pochettino insisted that he was “ proud ” of the team and said that Chelsea were simply more clinical, but that there was a resentment that was beginning to build among the Tottenham faithful who were tired of their reputation as ‘bottlers’ on the big occasion.
The Spurs failed to remove that tag after reaching the same FA Cup leg the following season. It was the case with Deja Vu, as Tottenham had their dreams crushed by Mourinho once again as Manchester United rallied a goal down to win the 2017-18 semi-final 2-1.
It was after this game that the cracks began to show in Pochettino’s faith that his Spurs project would finally take off, admitting ‘we’re close but we can’t get there’ and saying they were ‘too far’ from the level they wanted.
“To compete in these types of games, I think we are ready to compete, but winning is different,” he said. ‘The most important [thing] It is that we are in this process, that after four years we can compete and that is fantastic.
“But the disappointment and frustration is that we are close but we cannot get there. I told his colleague before that with me or another coaching staff the club must move forward, work in this direction and it will be fantastic that one day Tottenham reach the same level as clubs like Manchester United and Manchester City. But there is a long way to go to get to the next level. “
Turns out he was right, as the 2018-19 season brought another semi-final loss to Chelsea, this time at the Carabao Cup, before his most agonizing day in charge came in the Champions League final.
Their players had sealed the biggest night in their history with a dramatic injury-time victory over Ajax in the semifinals, an achievement that seemed impossible with the team down 3-0 on aggregate at halftime. When Lucas Moura’s shot hit the net, you felt it was fate that Pochettino got his first glass, and the biggest of all.
But it all went away pretty quickly when an early penalty from Mo Salah took the wind away from them in Madrid’s top competition and despite dominating the ball, their nervous stars couldn’t find a breakthrough and were finished off by Divock Origi.
Pochettino’s expression after the full-time whistle was a picture of frustration, and it turned out to be the moment that really ended it. Nothing was the same since that night, neither with him nor with his players when the Spurs began sinking into the middle of the table the following season.
Reports began to circulate that he began watching training sessions from within before being fired in November. The defeat in Madrid was one more disappointment and the straw that broke the camel’s back on his patience, as many accused him of simply not wanting to be at the club anymore.
So was it Pochettino or Tottenham? Some believe the Argentine’s relentless high-pressure tactics took their toll on his players late in the season and were too easy to sidestep in a big game.
At PSG he is expected to not only win, but also to win big. The Parisiens are used to taking home most of the national trophies, so Pochettino won’t get any special praise if he takes this one home. But given the absence of honors on his CV, this will mean a lot to him.
Marseille hasn’t had the brightest start to the Ligue 1 season, currently sitting in sixth place after just one win in its last five, but still posing a huge threat with stars like Dimitri Payet and Florian Thauvin.
Meanwhile, Pochettino will be driven so that Neymar returns to training and can have him available for the selection.
Pochettino is already underway with his first win, overseeing a 3-0 win over Brest, but he will have a lot to adapt to.
At Spurs his philosophy was to play against a young team of players with potential. Here, you have a team of superstars ready to hand you over. Maybe this team will finally help him deliver as well.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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