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Nikita Yevtushenko talks about one of the best coaches in the world, who is now a free agent.
The head coach, or as this position is called “coach” in England, is the most thankless job in modern football. We should probably already accept the fact that the era of long-time mentors, who dedicate many years of their careers to the benefit of a single team, is coming to an end. Despite occasional poor results, Alex Ferguson continued his work at Manchester United and became a true legend, and Arsene Wenger managed to lead Arsenal to the Champions League every year with players far from the best, especially when compared to the composition of the “Invincibles”. For his invaluable contribution, the experienced Frenchman at the end of his career received the deserved “Mercy” even from the fans who criticized him.
But in today’s reality, club managers are often unwilling to sacrifice time and give the coach opportunities to cope with the team’s crisis situation. This was the case with Mauricio Pochettino, who for the first time in history led Tottenham to the final of the 2018/19 Champions League, and in November of that year he was dismissed for a series of unsatisfactory results. Despite being one of the best in his field, the Argentine specialist has been in free agent status since then. Have the best European clubs really forgotten about the achievements of Pochettino, who raised Tottenham to a new level?
The Spanish era and the outbreak of the “saints”
It is not worth retelling the entire biography and career of Mauricio Pochettino, but it would be a mistake not to mention his work at Espanyol and Southampton, because it was on these teams that the Argentine caught the attention of the football community. Few people know that Pochettino began his coaching career as an assistant coach of the Espanyol women’s team, and already in January 2009 he was entrusted with the leadership of the Catalan club in La Liga. A month later, a sensation awaited the future star of the coach: a victory in the derby over Barcelona of Josep Guardiola, who were fighting to conquer the treble! At the same time, Espanyol was “spinning” at the bottom of the tournament table. Pochettino brought stability to the Catalan team, but the club’s modest budget did not allow the Argentine to fully develop his potential on the coaches’ bridge. Mauricio expected a new period in his career: English.
In January 2013, the Southampton management fired Nigel Adkins, sparking outrage among fans, and the appointment of Pochettino, who did not know the language, added fuel to the fire. Who would have thought that a few years later Mauricio himself would be in the place of Adkins … However, a short career in the field of ‘saints’ became decisive for the Argentine: his team became a threat to all top clubs in the Premier League, and Manchester City. , Liverpool and Chelsea have personally become victims of Southampton. Is it worth remembering how after a while the players of the “saints” became almost the main targets of the giants of the Premier League in the transfer market? Schneiderlin, Lallana, Kline, Chambers and Luke Shaw are just a few of them. It was after Pochettino left for Tottenham that these guys dispersed to more eminent teams.
A new chapter in Tottenham history
In England Tottenham are often mocked for lack of trophies. The last of them was won in 2008, and even that is far from the most prestigious: the League Cup of England. This trend could not be changed, and Pochettino, but with him the “spurs” became vice-champions of the Premier League in the 2016/17 season and finally questioned the status Arsenal like of the Kings of North London. Yes, fans of the Gunners, whose team finished above Tottenham in the rankings every year, have not celebrated Totteringham’s so-called Saint’s Day for four years in a row. This is the great merit of Pochettino.
The main success of the Argentine specialist in Tottenham remains that same reaching the final of the 2018/19 Champions League, when, after a minimal defeat at home to the “fabulous” Ajax, in Amsterdam, the “spurs” showed their true character. Losing at the end of the first half with a score of 0: 2, Tottenham scored three goals after the break and eliminated Ajax from the tournament. The drama of this victory was added to the fact that Lucas Moura’s third goal came in the sixth minute of injury time.
In the final of the Champions League, Mauricio Pochettino’s team failed to repeat the success of the confrontation with Ajax, and the “ear” finally went to Liverpool’s trophy room. Tottenham players could not immediately recover from the missed opportunity, which was reflected in the results of the next season. After two years without transfers, Pochettino finally had a chance to strengthen the squad, but newcomers in the person of Ndombele, Lo Celso and Sessegnon did not help the Argentine avoid firing. The problem was clearly in the psychology of the team, and Daniel Levy decided to fight it in a radical way: inviting the scandalous José Mourinho and parting ways with Pochettino, whom the players continued to trust. For them, this dismissal was also a big surprise.
Pochettino wanted to control the situation at the club, but the management was not prepared to give him this opportunity. Furthermore, this situation is viewed in such a way that Mauricio was simply expelled from the team when he wanted more than to remain a coach. Pochettino wanted to be a person who, in addition to the training process, is responsible for the club’s transfer policy, the extension of footballers’ contracts and the appointment of the people he needs for club positions. Tottenham bosses had a completely different vision of the future of the club.
“It was a difficult and tortured decision – Daniel Levy admitted. – It is not easy to ask a person to leave a club in which he worked for more than five years. My soul told me not to do this, but logic said otherwise. I had more than a relationship with Pochettino. ” employer-employee, but also friendly. Maybe we’ll get back to this one day, but now everyone is confused. The fact is, the results were not what they should have been. We must do things that are better for the club. . Only time will put everything in its place. “
Interest of Real Madrid and Barcelona, but unemployment situation. More way from Pochettino
Success at Tottenham simply could not help but arouse the interest of the best European clubs in the person of Pochettino. Above all, the press talked about Barcelona and Real, but it was the work at the Madrid great that Mauricio defined as his goal, which he repeated in his interviews. It seemed that after the failures of Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari, Pochettino’s dreams would come true, but the “creamy” decided to follow the proven path and invited Zinedine Zidane again. Today, the eminent Frenchman is seen as Real Madrid’s mentor for years to come, which sounds highly unusual when you think about the frequent changes in Madrid’s coaching staff in the past.
As for Barcelona, amid the financial crisis and recent turmoil within the team, the Catalan leadership could not afford to appoint one of the highest paid coaches in the world. In the context of the club’s conflicts with Messi, the criticism from the fans, the need to unload the payroll and the defense problems, the invitation of a specialist who openly sings praises in the press to Real Madrid could play another cruel joke with the heads of the ‘blue garnet’. Taking risks in this situation is a reckless affair and it is not a fact that Pochettino himself agrees to work at the Camp Nou. So why bother trying this exchange?
But who is ready to seriously shell out for a star coach in the face of the coronavirus pandemic? The rumors about Benfica and Roma seem frivolous, Inter decided not to take hasty steps and trusted Antonio Conte, and Juventus preferred the so-called “politics of hearts” and replaced Maurizio Sarri with Andrea Pirlo. Now, the authorized British media are reporting that Manchester United could well become Pochettino’s next workplace, because in recent matches Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer suffered a total failure, when the “red devils” lost for the first time in 14 years. to Arsenal at Old Trafford and then lost to Istanbul in the League. champions.
PSG? Also an option, the Argentine will have to wait for the departure of the Parisians from the Champions League or the total failure of Tuchel in domestic tournaments. Does Pochettino have this time? On the one hand, yes, because he is only 48 years old, but on the other hand, the Argentine has been without football for almost a year, and we must not wait for offers from Real Madrid … It is clear that Pochettino finally wants to work in a team where it will not be held hostage to the financial capacity of the club. Now this is especially problematic, so the question of when the Argentine specialist will return to the coaches’ bridge remains open.
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