Alas I think you're wrong. I did think this for a long while but the rough patch (league wise) has now extended for a large part of last season in to a good chunk of this one. In my opinion the team were able to motivate themselves for one big push in Europe, but simply are no longer motivated week in, week out in the way that a team who are desperate to impress their manager should be. Tonight was a good example of that, we're on a bad run and against lower league opposition, lots of players with points to prove but the performance was totally lacking in energy or purpose, a clear sign of a team who aside from a game like Arsenal away or a big European night, no longer have the fight in them.
Pochettino is a manager who demands a lot from his players. He gives them hell in pre-season and expects full throttle football all year round. I don't think this is a recipe for success with a squad which is ageing now and has many players who season after season go through the same rigorous pre-season yet have no trophies to show for it. I honestly believe a lot of players in this team are simply mentally exhausted and Pochettino's constant negativity in the press can hardly help in that respect.
Poch is at his best when he has fresh, young minds to mould to his style, players who will happily embrace his ideas and run through walls for him. The football we saw in the early years reflected that, but now we're seeing the pressing game slowly disintegrate and the creativity and dynamism in our football simply disappear and turn in to a slow, sideways approach which resembles the dark days of AVB. We perfectly resemble a team who still have talented individuals capable of moments like Kane conjured up last week, but one who has lost that 'spark'.
He will do well wherever he goes and if he gets more backing than he did here, will win trophies too. But with Pochettino long-term I think you'll need a decent amount of turnover to keep things fresh, whereas we're still running with basically the same squad we have since after his first season at the club.