Mauricio Amadaeus Pochettino | Chelsea sack watch

[cjj]

Mauricio Pochettino has not been able to confirm whether he will sit on the PSG bench in the round of 16. He has replied, laughing, "thank you, bye." If he were 100% convinced, he would have answered with a resounding yes. We'll see if he's still at PSG in February.

He wouldn't at all. He has never been that guy. It's one of the reasons you have spurs fans (like myself) who aren't obsessed with him, because he likes to have his cake an eat it - he'll say he loves the club he manages, and have the simpler fans fawning over him, but he'll do anything but express loyalty unless it suits the narrative. Not too dissimilar to Harry Redknapp when the England job was going.

Very similar with Espanyol - claimed he would never manage Barca and would rather go back to his farm... until the Barca job was plausible for him, then he tried to backtrack on that (and gave the impression that he would indeed have managed the "rivals" of his beloved Espanyol, if asked).

 

[Jim Beam]

The biggest bottling job

 

[Angelinho]

Lower? He had prime Kane, Verthogen, Vermaelen, Lloris, Eriksen at his disposal. He sure as hell wasn't managing Aston Villa or Everton.

9 of his matches against Pep were when he was managing Espanyol.

Poch v Pep

Espanyol 0-0 Barcelona (21/1/2009)
Barcelona 3-2 Espanyol (29/1/2009)
Barcelona 1-2 Espanyol (21/2/2009)
Barcelona 1-0 Espanyol (12/12/2009)
Espanyol 0-0 Barcelona (17/4/2010)
Espanyol 1-5 Barcelona (18/12/2010)
Barcelona 2-0 Espanyol (8/5/2011)
Espanyol 1-1 Barcelona (8/1/2012)
Barcelona 4-0 Espanyol (5/5/2012)

Tottenham 2-0 Manchester City (2/10/2016)
Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham (21/1/2017)
Manchester City 4-1 Tottenham (16/12/2017)
Tottenham 1-3 Man City (14/4/2018)
Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City (29/10/2018)
Tottenham 1-0 Manchester City (9/4/2019)
Manchester City 4-3 Tottenham (17/4/2019)
Manchester City 1-0 Tottenham (20/4/2019)
Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham (17/8/2019)

Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 Manchester City (28/4/2021)
Manchester City 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain (4/5/2021)
Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Manchester City (28/9/2021)
Manchester City 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain (24/11/2021)

 

[JPB]

I would prefer Poch over Ten Hag. He has plenty of PL and European experience now and I think he would get on well with Utd's players, fans, board, media, etc. That being said you cannot guarantee success with any manager. Sometimes a manager and a club click and success follows, sometimes not.

Sean Dyche has Premier League experience.

 

[troylocker]

That's a bit more complicated than that, PSG had games when the team worked together. Against Barcelona, against Bayern last year etc. The problem is, our midfielders are so poor that players like Neymar have to be in the midfield and on offense at the same time while pressing, which is impossible when you don't have the ball often because you'd run far too much (and we know his workrate isn't tremendous). It could have been sort of OK with 1 lazy player (mbappé) and 1 decent working player in big games (Neymar) but you added Messi to the mix and it became impossible to handle.

You can't press high when you can't trust your midfielders to carry the ball forward to the middle of the pitch at least, it's just far too much distance to cover.

Do you mean the game they lost at home or the one where Bayern had 31 shots against their 6 and were playing Choupo-Mouting on top in Lewandowskis absence while Neuer had his career worst day between the posts?

 

[cjj]

Yeah, the one thing I'd say though is part of the reason the squads at Spurs and Southampton were highly rated is because of his work. He wasn't just handed a really good squad at Tottenham and told to have fun, he created a good squad and got the best out of them on a regular basis.

Uh he was? Most of the key players of his best team were there already: Lloris, Walker, Rose, Vertonghen, Dembele, Kane, Lamela, Eriksen etc. I think the only ones that came after that made any of his 'best squad' were perhaps Alderweireld and Wanyama (who coincidentally, I think, were signed by Mitchell for Southampton), Dele (essentially signed by Pleat) and Son.

Sherwood had Kane banging them in in the close seasons beforehand, and MP had completely dropped Kane until he was in the Scheiße with results, so it isn't exactly like he dipped his hand in the academy and blessed Kane with some magic gifts - it's a parallel timeline. No doubt he helped him progress, but it's generous to say he made Kane - the evidence is that Kane helped Pochettino far more.

 

[cjj]

Not to mention that they spent practically nothing at Tottenham,

Only the £396m. Practically nowt!

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/mau...rainer/9044/plus/0/galerie/0?station_id=93545

 

[smi11ie]

Sean Dyche has Premier League experience.

Sean Dyche has managed Burnley, whereas Poch has managed Spurs and PSG. Poch has got experience in dealing with huge stars such as Messi and Neymar.

I don't know alot about Ten Hag. What I do know is that he is quite boring to listen to. He has had success in a Dutch environment only. Alot of people think that he is the answer to Utd's prayers but I think would be a bigger gamble than Poch or even Rodgers.

 

[Bwuk]

I like Poch, but my concern is has he lost a bit of his magic?

He’s not seemed the same since Spurs lost the CL. I also think he seems miserable at PSG.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Only the £396m. Practically nowt!

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/mau...rainer/9044/plus/0/galerie/0?station_id=93545

You surely don't think that list proves anything other than the fact he was working on a shoestring compared to other top clubs? His 2nd top signing was 37m, hell his 4th highest sinning was just 27m quid. We paid more than that for Lindelöf, and more than their second highest signing for a 19 year old Martial.

 

[Dec9003]

Uh he was? Most of the key players of his best team were there already: Lloris, Walker, Rose, Vertonghen, Dembele, Kane, Lamela, Eriksen etc. I think the only ones that came after that made any of his 'best 11' were perhaps Alderweireld and Wanyama (who coincidentally, I think, were signed by Mitchell for Southampton), Dele (essentially signed by Pleat) and Son.

Sherwood had Kane banging them in in the close seasons beforehand, and MP had completely dropped Kane until he was in the Scheiße with results, so it isn't exactly like he dipped his hand in the academy and blessed Kane with some magic gifts - it's a parallel timeline. No doubt he helped him progress, but it's generous to say he made Kane - the evidence is that Kane helped Pochettino far more.

Kane banging them in under sherwood saw him score 12 goals in 27 appearances during the season Sherwood was with him. The season Poch dropped him completely he scored 31 goals in all competitions (21 in the league) and had 34 appearances.

 

[cjj]

You surely don't think that list proves anything other than the fact he was working on a shoestring compared to other top clubs? His 2nd top signing was 37m, hell his 4th highest sinning was just 27m quid. We paid more than that for Lindelöf, and more than their second highest signing for a 19 year old Martial.

Technically he also signed Lo Celso, who was approx £43m (£15m loan + £28m perm), the obligation wasn't triggered until a couple of months after he left. Very definition of a strawman argument, but I'll entertain it - where's the threshold where individual fees become "not shoestring"? How big are these shoes?

 

[Samid]

Even Spurs fans have called this guy's bluff. They watched him closely week in and week out for years. Alarm bells should be ringing for all sane United supporters.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Technically he also signed Lo Celso, who was approx £43m (£15m loan + £28m perm), the obligation wasn't triggered until a couple of months after he left. Very definition of a strawman argument, but I'll entertain it - where's the threshold where individual fees become "not shoestring"? How big are these shoes?

When 172.79 m of those singings were 20m signings or below, you know it's fecking shoestring.

 

[KingCavani]

Knew the Poch haters would be out in force after that - May actually be a lazier narrative that Ronaldo being the problem at United. It either takes a severe lack of critical thinking or wilful ignorance to think the issues with PSG lie with Pochettino.

Anyone who knows anything about Poch's previous sides can see that PSG's play style not his design. The most obvious staple of a Pochettino side is that he gets them to press with intensity. They'll run sides off the park. PSG tonight were as far away from that as any side I've seen. Their operation is clearly as much about appeasing the front three as it is about winning games, which makes sense given PSG's raison d'etre is building the brand and getting eyes on the product.

These issues were happening under Tuchel - they had a game at Anfield with similar problems which I specifically remember because Steve McManaman wouldn't shut the hell up about it on commentary. They've since signed the laziest player in football who's off the ball efforts make Neymar look like N'golo Kante and that has taken it to another level. I would bet anything Poch would rather not have Messi, but he can hardly say so both because his employer would sack him and his country may disown him.

*Note the Spurs side he inherited finished 20th in distance per game the season before he arrived and he instantly got them into the top three in that metric the following season.

Pochettino's sides run if nothing else and he knows he's on a hiding to nothing at PSG while he's being sabotaged by these egos and the need to placate them. I would pretty confidently say that PSG are done in this competition and I doubt Zidane or anyone else will be capable of saving them. They should definitely get a manager who's less reliant on a pressing game but I can't see any way they'll not get exposed by the Bayern's, City's and Liverpools.

 

[cjj]

Kane banging them in under sherwood saw him score 12 goals in 27 appearances during the season Sherwood was with him. The season Poch dropped him completely he scored 31 goals in all competitions (21 in the league) and had 34 appearances.

He didn't even play a cumulative 90 mins under Pochettino until mid November in his first season, when he was on the verge of getting the boot, coming off the back of the Sherwood season where Kane had 3 goals and 2 assists in the last 6 PL games.

Poch wouldn't have lasted half a season if it wasn't for Mason and Kane, if you don't know that back story.

 

[Caesar2290]

Yeah but does the manager not get a bit of credit for developing those players? A transfer isn’t successful just because of the scouting, the coach needs to get the best out of his players, too. Not to mention that they spent practically nothing at Tottenham, he made Kane what he is today, and had they spent even a bit more during the squads prime as you put it, a trophy or two may well have come their way. He didn’t take Villa or Brighton to the Champions League, but he did take a Tottenham side to the final of the competition, and they’ve struggled to get near qualifying for it since.

In my book Poch gets too much credit for the job at Spurs. he did a good job, but not the amazing job most of his supporters claim he did. You'd think he was fighting with prime Pep and Klopp for the title, when in reality he had LvG, Mourinho, Ranieri and Wenger as his title contenders. When Klopp and Pep assembled their teams, Poch was just a dot in the rearview mirror. This is when the spending excuse is usually brought up.

Now the reason Spurs haven't been the same is because Poch inherited a side that was entering it's peak. Kane, Son, Alderweirdel, Vermalen, Lloris, Eriksen etc As soon as they entered their decline, it was clear that he couldn't do a job anymore. Granted Levy didn't help with his lack of investment, but his capitulation in the final season was Mourinhoesque.

To me he is a more functional version of Ole. Same pragmatic football and same pragmatic approach to the big games with a record of David Moyes. And you want this man to be the manager of Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world? Why?


As for the CL final, Deschamps also has one with a much inferior Monaco side while dumping the likes of Real Madrid along the way.

 

[cjj]

When 172.79 m of those singings were 20m signings or below, you know it's fecking shoestring.

Because Lindelofs are better than Alderweirelds. You don't half do a good job of undoing your own points!

 

[Dec9003]

He didn't even play a cumulative 90 mins under Pochettino until mid November in his first season, when he was on the verge of getting the boot, coming off the back of the Sherwood season where he had 3 goals and 2 assists in the last 6 PL games.

Poch wouldn't have lasted half a season if it wasn't for Mason and Kane, if you don't know that back story.

Yeah he was banging them in for Sherwood, scored his only 3 goals in the league that season in the last six matches. He also didn’t get any assists in the premier league under Sherwood, according to the premier league website.
https://www.premierleague.com/players/3960/Harry-Kane/stats?co=1&se=22

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Because Lindelofs are better than Alderweirelds. You don't half do a good job of undoing your own points!

Eh? I'd love to say that proves him a miles better and shrewder manager than say Mourinho, but you'd have a strange comeback there too no doubt to somehow make that a negative.

I don't think Poch was doing a lot of the signing of players in fairness, he was just given a hell of a lot of cheap players in comparison to his rivals. As I say....

He was given:
• ten 0-10m players
• eight 10-20m players
• four 20-30m players
• two 30-40m players
• one 50m-60m player

Compare that even to Klopp who's the "low spender" in the regular top clubs:
• six 0-10m players
• two 10-20m players
• two 20-30m players
• one 30-40m players
• four 40-50m players
• two 60-70m players
• one 80m + player

Yes it's fecking shoestring, obviously. Klopp is spending in a completely different category of player, he's in Harrods whilst Poch is at Primark, and once got a gift voucher for Harvey Nichols.

 

[cjj]

Yeah he was banging them in for Sherwood, scored his only 3 goals in the league that season in the last six matches. He also didn’t get any assists in the premier league under Sherwood, according to the premier league website.
https://www.premierleague.com/players/3960/Harry-Kane/stats?co=1&se=22

According to every other source, including the official site's report, he did. No doubt due to the tenuous definition of assists, but it's splitting hairs.

Eriksen grabbed the goal he deserved for 3-1, Kane provided the assist for Adebayor’s second for 4-1

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2020/april/the-archive-spurs-5-1-sunderland-070414/

It's always a stretch when people claim that Poch 'made' Harry Kane. It just isn't how it happened. Especially odd when fans of other teams try and basically gaslight you when you were there, paying 100% attention, and not via a retrospective bit of googling/confirmation bias.

For all of his faults, Sherwood got a LOT of stick from the fans for insisting on academy players like Bentaleb and Kane, over established expensive new signings like Paulinho and Soldado, and he deserves the credit for them. If Sherwood didn't play him, it's basically nailed on Poch wouldn't have, and would have almost certainly never lasted a season.

 

[Suedesi]

I like Poch, but my concern is has he lost a bit of his magic?

He’s not seemed the same since Spurs lost the CL. I also think he seems miserable at PSG.

He's living in a hotel in Paris, while his family is in London.

Reminds me practically of Mourinho whilst managing us

 

[cjj]

Eh? I'd love to say that proves him a miles better and shrewder manager than say Mourinho, but you'd have a strange comeback there too no doubt to somehow make that a negative.

I don't think Poch was doing a lot of the signing of players in fairness, he was just given a hell of a lot of cheap players in comparison to his rivals. As I say....

He was given:
• ten 0-10m players
• eight 10-20m players
• four 20-30m players
• two 30-40m players
• one 50m-60m player

Compare that even to Klopp who's the "low spender" in the regular top clubs:
• six 0-10m players
• two 10-20m players
• two 20-30m players
• one 30-40m players
• four 40-50m players
• two 60-70m players
• one 80m + player

Yes it's fecking shoestring, obviously. Klopp is spending in a completely different category of player, he's in Harrods whilst Poch is at Primark, and once got a gift voucher for Harvey Nichols.

Such a strange rhetoric you're insisting on.

Since when does a transfer fee correlate to value? Zlatan and Cavani were both free tranfers - does that mean that Divock Origi is a better transfer because he cost more?
Is Timo Werner a better buy than Ronaldo?

 

[Suedesi]

Even Spurs fans have called this guy's bluff. They watched him closely week in and week out for years. Alarm bells should be ringing for all sane United supporters.

True - imaging pining after a sacked Spurs manager

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Such a strange rhetoric you're insisting on.

Since when does a transfer fee correlate to value? Zlatan and Cavani were both free tranfers - does that mean that Divock Origi is a better transfer because he cost more?
Is Timo Werner a better buy than Ronaldo?

Are you shitting me? Does Pep build his side whilst doing most of his shopping in bargain basement?

Does Klopp really have Liverpool this good without breaking the bank for VVD and Alisson, hell, he was pretty shite last season just from losing VVD. Mane, Salah, Alisson, Jota, VVD and Fabinho were bought from a shop Poch got to use just once. I mean, it's almost the same aint it?

What is your argument here then? That Poch did a fecking incredible job in the transfer market, buying value players and showing up top teams that were spending silly money on expensive players by finishing higher than them and going further into the CL with them?

I mean, how can you twist this into a negative for Poch? I'm interested to know, you certainly appear now to be saying he spent that money brilliantly.

 

[In Rainbows]

Sean Dyche has managed Burnley, whereas Poch has managed Spurs and PSG. Poch has got experience in dealing with huge stars such as Messi and Neymar.

I don't know alot about Ten Hag. What I do know is that he is quite boring to listen to. He has had success in a Dutch environment only. Alot of people think that he is the answer to Utd's prayers but I think would be a bigger gamble than Poch or even Rodgers.

I have never wanted Poch. His "attacking" football was never all that entertaining despite the reputation, which means I'm not hopeful he can get United to be coached in a similar manner that Klopp and Pep have gotten their sides to click.

 

[Matthew84!]

I would definitely take him at Utd, its clear he'll only be at PSG till the end of the season if he gets that far, he's managed in the prem which helps and would be nice having a manager who actually wants to be there.

 

[Dominos]

I’m disappointed he isn’t coming now but I seriously think he has a better chance of success coming in the summer after winning a title. It’ll be one less stick for everyone to beat him with any time we dare to draw a game. May also help in the dressing room.

They may sack him after the CL exit and he won't even be there to collect his league medal.

 

[Dec9003]

According to every other source, including the official site's report, he did. No doubt due to the tenuous definition of assists, but it's splitting hairs.


https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2020/april/the-archive-spurs-5-1-sunderland-070414/

It's always a stretch when people claim that Poch 'made' Harry Kane. It just isn't how it happened. Especially odd when fans of other teams try and basically gaslight you when you were there, paying 100% attention, and not via a retrospective bit of googling/confirmation bias.

For all of his faults, Sherwood got a LOT of stick from the fans for insisting on academy players like Bentaleb and Sherwood, over established expensive new signings like Paulinho and Soldado, and he deserves the credit for them. If Sherwood didn't play him, it's basically nailed on Poch wouldn't have, and would have almost certainly never lasted a season.

Showing you the statistics isn’t gaslighting you don’t be so ridiculous. He scored 12 goals under Sherwood, 12. It isn’t confirmation bias to check these stats, it’s making sure that what you remember from what 6 years ago? Is the accurate story. He scored 3 premier league goals under Sherwood, it’s clearly obvious that if a manager takes a young player from scoring 3 goals to 21 in a league season he’s doing something right.

 

[Suedesi]

Eh? I'd love to say that proves him a miles better and shrewder manager than say Mourinho, but you'd have a strange comeback there too no doubt to somehow make that a negative.

I don't think Poch was doing a lot of the signing of players in fairness, he was just given a hell of a lot of cheap players in comparison to his rivals. As I say....

He was given:
• ten 0-10m players
• eight 10-20m players
• four 20-30m players
• two 30-40m players
• one 50m-60m player

Compare that even to Klopp who's the "low spender" in the regular top clubs:
• six 0-10m players
• two 10-20m players
• two 20-30m players
• one 30-40m players
• four 40-50m players
• two 60-70m players
• one 80m + player

Yes it's fecking shoestring, obviously. Klopp is spending in a completely different category of player, he's in Harrods whilst Poch is at Primark, and once got a gift voucher for Harvey Nichols.

Spending aside, doesn't PSG's state of play concern you? He's go an unlimited budget, and this year alone the club acquired Donnaruma, Ramos, Hakimi, Wijnaldum and Messi. He's playing with a front three of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe and looks like shit every week in Ligue 1 (lost count of how many last minute winning goals they've scored against frankly mediocre opponents) and have been completely outplayed in Europe. If he can't implement his "pressing" tactic, does have any feathers in his cap? A good coach adapts.

At United he'd also inherit some work-rate shy forwards in Martial, Greenwood, Ronaldo, Sancho, Rashford... are they suddenly going to press like maniacs? I can't help but think that he's on a downward trajectory (like LVG, Mourinho) which makes it more likely we'll land him in the summer and waste another 2-3 years for the project

 

[Samid]

Knew the Poch haters would be out in force after that - May actually be a lazier narrative that Ronaldo being the problem at United. It either takes a severe lack of critical thinking or wilful ignorance to think the issues with PSG lie with Pochettino.

Anyone who knows anything about Poch's previous sides can see that PSG's play style not his design. The most obvious staple of a Pochettino side is that he gets them to press with intensity. They'll run sides off the park. PSG tonight were as far away from that as any side I've seen. Their operation is clearly as much about appeasing the front three as it is about winning games, which makes sense given PSG's raison d'etre is building the brand and getting eyes on the product.

These issues were happening under Tuchel - they had a game at Anfield with similar problems which I specifically remember because Steve McManaman wouldn't shut the hell up about it on commentary. They've since signed the laziest player in football who's off the ball efforts make Neymar look like N'golo Kante and that has taken it to another level. I would bet anything Poch would rather not have Messi, but he can hardly say so both because his employer would sack him and his country may disown him.

*Note the Spurs side he inherited finished 20th in distance per game the season before he arrived and he instantly got them into the top three in that metric the following season.

Pochettino's sides run if nothing else and he knows he's on a hiding to nothing at PSG while he's being sabotaged by these egos and the need to placate them. I would pretty confidently say that PSG are done in this competition and I doubt Zidane or anyone else will be capable of saving them. They should definitely get a manager who's less reliant on a pressing game but I can't see any way they'll not get exposed by the Bayern's, City's and Liverpools.

It’s easier getting an underdog like Spurs to run more. United is more like PSG than Spurs.

These were the numbers after 9 games (two teams directly above had a game less played). That’s 98 km per game! He would have the same issues here in terms of the egos. Good luck getting the likes of Ronaldo, Rashford, Sancho and Greenwood to run 11~ km every game if you want this team to cover 117 km every game.

 

[cjj]

Showing you the statistics isn’t gaslighting you don’t be so ridiculous. He scored 12 goals under Sherwood, 12. It isn’t confirmation bias to check these stats, it’s making sure that what you remember from what 6 years ago? Is the accurate story. He scored 3 premier league goals under Sherwood, it’s clearly obvious that if a manager takes a young player from scoring 3 goals to 21 in a league season he’s doing something right.

3 goals in 10 games. Want to know how many minutes that was, in total? 497.

497/90 = 5.52. So 3 goals and 2 assists (confirmed by everywhere but PL.com) in 5.52 games. And that's without taking into account that, basically, the .52 consists of brief little cameos off the bench.

You're not "making sure I remember", you're looking up stats on the internet and trying to tell me a different reality than what I know and witnessed.

If Kane played more minutes in 2013/14, the stats suggest he would have scored more. The main reason he got them under Poch was because Adebayor was part of a mutiny - it wasn't a clever managerial choice based on having an eye for talent. It makes it even stranger that he got a rep for "bringing through players", because he didn't really do anything for our academy, and most of it seems to be based on stuff like this - casual observers making wild assumptions.

 

[Suedesi]

Knew the Poch haters would be out in force after that - May actually be a lazier narrative that Ronaldo being the problem at United. It either takes a severe lack of critical thinking or wilful ignorance to think the issues with PSG lie with Pochettino.

Anyone who knows anything about Poch's previous sides can see that PSG's play style not his design. The most obvious staple of a Pochettino side is that he gets them to press with intensity. They'll run sides off the park. PSG tonight were as far away from that as any side I've seen. Their operation is clearly as much about appeasing the front three as it is about winning games, which makes sense given PSG's raison d'etre is building the brand and getting eyes on the product.

These issues were happening under Tuchel - they had a game at Anfield with similar problems which I specifically remember because Steve McManaman wouldn't shut the hell up about it on commentary. They've since signed the laziest player in football who's off the ball efforts make Neymar look like N'golo Kante and that has taken it to another level. I would bet anything Poch would rather not have Messi, but he can hardly say so both because his employer would sack him and his country may disown him.

*Note the Spurs side he inherited finished 20th in distance per game the season before he arrived and he instantly got them into the top three in that metric the following season.

Pochettino's sides run if nothing else and he knows he's on a hiding to nothing at PSG while he's being sabotaged by these egos and the need to placate them. I would pretty confidently say that PSG are done in this competition and I doubt Zidane or anyone else will be capable of saving them. They should definitely get a manager who's less reliant on a pressing game but I can't see any way they'll not get exposed by the Bayern's, City's and Liverpools.

So how does that translate into success at United where he'd have Cristiano, Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Spending aside, doesn't PSG's state of play concern you? He's go an unlimited budget, and this year alone the club acquired Donnaruma, Ramos, Hakimi, Wijnaldum and Messi. He's playing with a front three of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe and looks like shit every week in Ligue 1 (lost count of how many last minute winning goals they've scored against frankly mediocre opponents) and have been completely outplayed in Europe. If he can't implement his "pressing" tactic, does have any feathers in his cap? A good coach adapts.

At United he'd also inherit some work-rate shy forwards in Martial, Greenwood, Ronaldo, Sancho, Rashford... are they suddenly going to press like maniacs? I can't help but think that he's on a downward trajectory (like LVG, Mourinho) which makes it more likely we'll land him in the summer and waste another 2-3 years for the project

I think PSG are a bit shite myself, have made that argument for a while. City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern are miles better sides for a start.

I think Henry is bang on, he can't be "Poch" there so yes, he's adapted enough to be currently on course to break PSG's highest ever points total in the league (on course for 100) and he sailed through his CL group. Beating City at home and losing to them away is probably a result every single side in Europe would accept.

Am I "concerned", yes, I'm concerned about any new coach. I love Ten Hag, but I'd be concerned there too. But Poch and Ten Hag are miles better than Ole, so I'd just be happy to go along for the ride and see what they can do.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Literally like hiring Jose in 2016.

Too many red flags. A manger that has likely peaked.

 

[Kentonio]

I'm confused, why exactly are people talking about Ten Hag like he's the second coming of Jesus? He literally has no big club experience outside of Ajax, has never managed big names, and could only be see as an enormous risk.

For a club that desperately needs to be set on the right track after nearly a decade, would't that be a fairly insane gamble to take at this point? Conte was the obvious answer to United problems, but hey as that ship has sailed Poch is a good plan B.

 

[greatscott9930]

The hard on for Ten Hag on the Caf is hilarious!

I guess your hard on for Poch is not hilarious?

I don't have a strong opinion on either Ten Hag or Poch; but as a PSA, I just want to encourage anyone who has either of these conditions for more than 4 hours to seek immediate medical attention.

 

[KingCavani]

So how does that translate into success at United where he'd have Cristiano, Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho?

Martial is done.

Ronaldo covers nearly 2km more than Messi per game so there’s no comparison but yeah he’s the one who’d they’d have to compensate for.

The others are all more than physically capable and if their unwilling to adapt they can go. Any top manager including ten Hag will be looking for these guys to run more than they have been.

I’m not saying United have to break records. But they’re infinitely more suited to adapting to Poch than PSG are.

 

[Dec9003]

3 goals in 10 games. Want to know how many minutes that was, in total? 497.

497/90 = 5.52. So 3 goals and 2 assists (confirmed by everywhere but PL.com) in 5.52 games. And that's without taking into account that, basically, the .52 consists of brief little cameos off the bench.

You're not "making sure I remember", you're looking up stats on the internet and trying to tell me a different reality than what I know and witnessed.

If Kane played more minutes in 2013/14, the stats suggest he would have scored more. The main reason he got them under Poch was because Adebayor was part of a mutiny - it wasn't a clever managerial choice based on having an eye for talent. It makes it even stranger that he got a rep for "bringing through players", because he didn't really do anything for our academy, and most of it seems to be based on stuff like this - casual observers making wild assumptions.

It’s funny you say if he played more minutes he would’ve scored more. On one hand I thought, well yeah, playing a striker more means he would score more and that sort of goes against the point you’re trying to make. He didn’t play more and he didn’t score more, hence he wasn’t banging them in as you said.
It’s interesting to note though that the 3 in 6 matches run actually ended in the third match, he played against Stoke, West Ham and Aston Villa, completing 90 minutes twice and didn’t score a goal. Now I feel based on 3 matches it would be unfair for me to say he wouldn’t have scored more had the season not ended there, but at the same time I feel that by scoring 3 league goals and 12 in total it’s a bit fecking far to say he was banging them in.

Ive actually just realised that by giving Kane 12 goals I was giving him a lot of credit, as 8 of them actually came in the premier league 2 competition, in reality he scored 3 goals in the league and one goal in the League cup. So banging them in now actually means scoring 4 goals in a season. I wasn’t trying to gaslight you, I was acidentally saying he scored 3x the amount of goals that he actually did.

 

[Cassidy]

I'm confused, why exactly are people talking about Ten Hag like he's the second coming of Jesus? He literally has no big club experience outside of Ajax, has never managed big names, and could only be see as an enormous risk.

For a club that desperately needs to be set on the right track after nearly a decade, would't that be a fairly insane gamble to take at this point? Conte was the obvious answer to United problems, but hey as that ship has sailed Poch is a good plan B.

Isn’t one of Poch’s issues with PSG the big egos in the dressing room he needs to deal with?