Mo's all write to spill his secrets
SPURS BOSS' BRAVE CALL
MAURICIO POCHETTINO has been a shining light when it comes to attacking football at Tottenham.
Now the Argentine coach has raised the bar when it comes to writing a book about the beautiful game.
Here is, for once, an MP willing to be honest, forthright, revealing and even emotional.
‘Brave New World’ is packed with anecdotes and insights about a man who looks set to become one of the true greats.
The timing of its publication is perfect. It comes on the back of a brilliant 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and a 4-1 thrashing of Liverpool and prior to tomorrow’s trip to Manchester United and another clash with the Galaticos on Wednesday.
Yes, there was the hiccup of losing 3-2 at home to West Ham in the Carabao Cup two days ago.
However, for 45-year-old Poch and his team, you sense there are far, far bigger targets this season.
Pochettino was urged to do his book, with Spanish journalist Guillem Balague, by his wife Karina and, boy, he did not hold back.
There have already been mutterings he has scored an own-goal by breaking a football ‘omerta’ and revealing sensitive information about players, many of whom are still at the club. A similar accusation was levelled at Glenn Hoddle for his book about being England manager for the World Cup in 1998.
But this is exactly what fans, never mind us reporters, want – to be given some insight into the teams they love, to find out what really is going on behind the scenes, not just have to settle for the boring drivel that is often served up before and after matches.
The book is packed with astonishing details. One of many to stand out is a disclosure about what Pochettino demanded of his men in an angry blast.
Slogging
It came after a friendly with Atletico Madrid in Melbourne in the summer of 2016, which his team lost 1-0. Having fluffed their bid to win the league, and ending up in third after losing the final game at Newcastle 5-1, he admits he felt like “killing” his players and also himself. He tore into his men after gathering them for a talk, which Kyle Walker, now with Manchester City, turned up late to. He told them to watch the video and study Atletico’s Fernando Torres, who ran after a loose ball “after 93 minutes of slogging it out and travelling for 30 hours the day before, without sleeping well”. “A player who has won everything... that is passion,” Pochettino raged at his players.
“At Newcastle we showed a face that does not define us as a team. We didn’t seem to care... you should be ashamed.”
What fan would not want their manager to drill this message home to the club’s vastly-paid stars?
It also explains why hotshot Harry Kane chased 90 yards back to retrieve the ball after losing possession on Sunday when Spurs were 4-1 up against Liverpool and he’d scored two goals.
Elsewhere, there is so much of real interest and insight in this book. Here are just a few edited highlights:
How Pochettino punched and nearly broke a TV at half-time in the Champions League against Monaco.
How he believes players have an energy aura which he can see.
How he was sure he was going to get the sack six months in at Spurs when they were losing 1-0 at Aston Villa, coming back to win 2-1.
How he’s had to treat Dele Alli differently after he signed three new contracts in a year.
Hopefully other managers will take note and start speaking with the same conviction as Pochettino.
Brave New World is published by Orion Books.