“Pochettino and his assistants will forever remain in the history of Tottenham Hotspur
The resignation of Mauricio Pochettino from the post of Tottenham coach became one of the main surprises of the month in world football. Yes, the London team did not start the season very well and after 12 rounds takes only 14th place in the Premier League. But with the name of the Argentinean associated takeoff team in recent years.
Pochettino led the “spurs” in 2014 and for five years he won twice with them the bronze medals of the championship of England and once silver. And the main achievement of Tottenham Hotspur under Mauricio was the club’s first ever Champions League final, this happened last season. The team managed to achieve all these successes, despite the most severe savings, which have long been a cause for jokes.
In the current season, the team was also covered by a real epidemic of injuries. Due to various injuries, nine players were sent to the “infirmary" for different periods of time, and Jan Vertonghen was completely out of order before the end of the season. However, the club decided that Pochettino’s time at Tottenham had expired, and the contract with him was not terminated by mutual agreement. Mauricio was fired. London President Daniel Levy admitted that making such a decision was incredibly difficult.
“Pochettino and his assistants will forever remain in the history of Tottenham.” I admire how Mauricio coped with difficult times, when a new stadium was being built, and how he established a positive atmosphere in the club. I have to thank Pochettino and his headquarters for everything they gave us. Here they will always be welcomed, ”the Tottenham press service quoted Levy as saying.
“I am very happy to join a club with such a great heritage”
The name of the substitute Pochettino became known almost immediately. “Spur” was rather unexpectedly led by Jose Mourinho, who hadn’t worked anywhere since his dismissal from Manchester United at the end of last year and had recently announced his desire to return.
Interestingly, in addition to Manchester United in England, the Portuguese headed Chelsea and even noted with a loud phrase: “I would never have gone to work for Tottenham out of respect for Chelsea fans. Of course, Mourinho remembered these words, but he was justified by some agreements with the leadership of the club Roman Abramovich, which he could not train in England after leaving for two years.
“I am very pleased to join the club with such a great heritage and passionate fans. I can't wait to start working with high-class players and young guys from the academy. Working with these players is what attracted me to this club, ”Tottenham's official website quotes Mourinho.
In turn, Levy emphasized that in the person of Mourinho the club received “one of the most successful football specialists”.
“He has gigantic experience, he is able to inspire the team and is a great tactician. Mourinho won trophies at every club he worked with. We believe that energy and faith in success will come to the locker room with him, ”the spurs press service quoted Levy as saying.
“Nothing will come of it”
The arrival of Mourinho in Tottenham will certainly attract additional attention to the club, because Jose, despite the decline in recent years, remains one of the most famous coaches in the world. However, big questions arise whether the Portuguese will cope with the new challenge, given the avarice of Levy. In previous places of work, Mourinho had good financial opportunities to strengthen the composition and could dictate his leadership requirements.
Tottenham Hotspur, as already mentioned, spends money extremely sparingly. For example, over the entire past season, the club managed not to spend a single euro on the transfer market. And this is in England, inflated by financial infusions from television companies. Despite this, the Spurs reached the Champions League final and ended up in the top 4 of the Premier League.
Another problem for Mourinho will be the expiration of contracts with the club for three leaders at once: Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertongen and Toby Alderweireld. All of them do not intend to extend the agreement and will definitely change the team. Thus, Jose at the new place of work is waiting for a very difficult test, which he will pass with honor and return to the number of leading coaches, or fail and take another blow to his own career.
In the meantime, in England, everyone reacted with misunderstanding to the appointment of Mourinho and the dismissal of Pochettino. The most capacious about this was the ex-striker of the national team Gary Lineker.
Tottenham fired Pochettino. He helped the club for several years to exceed their own capabilities. Good luck in finding a better coach than him ... Nothing will come of it, ”Lineker wrote on Twitter.
And former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher believes that Tottenham was clearly in a hurry to dismiss Pochettino.
“I am extremely surprised. There is no doubt that Tottenham started the season poorly and did not perform well this year, but Pochettino did an amazing job at the club. It also seemed a very strange moment for me to resign. When I found out about her, I thought that the contract was terminated by mutual agreement of the parties. The fact that Mauricio was fired is even a little crazy, considering what he did for the team. I believe Pochettino should have given time until the end of the season. The club should have given him the opportunity to return the team to where it should be - and this is not the top 4 submarines. Tottenham's place in the top 6, but Mauricio raised him to four and almost won the Champions League. People can say that with him the team did not win a single trophy, but Pochettino proved his level, ”Sky Sports quotes Carragher.