CRACKING UP
Colchester calamity has put the Poch empire on shaky ground
MAURICIO POCHETTINO has long since given up trying to hide his feelings.
This is a manager smarting from a summer of frustrations, stuck at a crossroads at Tottenham and in the middle of a run of results which leave serious question marks about his future.
Discontent and disappointment is eating away at the Argentinian.
Dumped out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Colchester, they are already 10 points off the title pace set by Liverpool and blew a two-goal lead at Olympiakos last week to draw 2-2 in the Champions League.
It is little wonder either because Pochettino’s own frustrations are bound to spill over, affect players’ focus and performances and ultimately impact on results.
Pochettino also has Real Madrid on his mind, with the Spanish giants making him their No.1 target to succeed Zinedine Zidane following his achievement of reaching the Champions League Final.
That has also given him the taste for greater things and why he was desperate for a summer rebuild, feeling his squad had gone stale.
Pochettino thrives on challenges and yet there is a feeling of stagnation amid the frustration as he wonders whether Tottenham can match his ambition.
Yes, they have a new world-class stadium – but it was expensive.
Chairman Daniel Levy still runs a tight ship and the summer pursuit of Juventus star Paulo Dybala was never really close because his wages and image rights were out of Tottenham’s league.
But at least they were seen to be going for big players even if, in reality, they have been left with a similar squad.
Pochettino’s philosophy is based on togetherness but Christian Eriksen (right) going public that he wanted out and Jan Vertonghen being axed at the start of the season allowed some bitterness to creep in.
They brought in Ryan Sessegnon, Giovani Lo Celso arrived on loan and big-money midfielder Tanguy Ndombele looks tailor-made for the Premier League but it was hardly a wholesale shake-up and the cracks are starting to appear. His remark at Colchester – about there being “different agendas in the squad” – was revealing. And even Harry Kane has become a concern, with the England captain brutally honest in his assessment after Olympiakos when he admitted they are not learning from their mistakes.
Eric Dier’s regular absences are baffling and suggest deeper underlying problems with Pochettino, while Danish playmaker Eriksen remains an issue.
It would be easy to point to the latest setback only being the Carabao Cup but it was Pochettino who said that he wanted to win silverware this season.
He has not won a trophy since arriving five years ago, one chance has gone, it would be hard to repeat another Champions League miracle, they are as good as out of the title race and so that only leaves the FA Cup.
In the meantime, he actively encourages, and indeed seems to enjoy, raising doubts about his future.
And that’s because he knows he will get plenty of love and reassurance from Spurs fans but it keeps him on the radar of Real, Manchester United, Paris St-Germain and the rest of Europe’s big guns.