A serious look at Mauricio Pochettino

Woodenlung

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Spurs have Levy, you have Woodward and the Glazers. Would Poch be better off under them than he was under Levy?
Woodward has shown before that he's willing to back managers. At least at the start of their tenure. I'm sure Pochettino would be given scope to build a side. The bigger problem is that he'd then be the fifth manager in 7 years tasked with building one. We've a Frankenstein's monster of a team.
 

Speedy30

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Levy doesn’t make the tactics or motivate the players to play. What a weird and ridiculous question. His responsibility is mostly financial and to provide oversight on economic decisions just like Woodward.
So why is Woodward blamed for a lot of Utds problems on here then?
 

Speedy30

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Woodward has shown before that he's willing to back managers. At least at the start of their tenure. I'm sure Pochettino would be given scope to build a side. The bigger problem is that he'd then be the fifth manager in 7 years tasked with building one. We've a Frankenstein's monster of a team.
Fair one. It'd be interesting to see how things work out if you do get Poch and he gets money to play with
 

Bubz27

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The first half of Klopps final season was dreadful but he recovered and was able to get his team back into the European places. Klopp also had a couple of league titles to prove his talent though.
I know that Champions League runs don't always match up with domestic football but you can't ignore Poch's awful record in the Premier League across the whole of 2019 even after additions were made in the summer.
He may be great for you and if so, I'll hold my hands up and say I was wrong but dont forget there were plenty on here that laughed at Spurs for bottling everything when he was in charge
Porch didn't get the opportunity to turn it around, but admittedly the rut was set in for longer than it had for Klopp. And his league titles were great but there's more competition in England than Germany.
 

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Poch has not won anything and has bottled numerous chances to, not sure where him and "serious ambition" comes into it
Ah this old chestnut. Just like how Klopp bottled numerous finals? He was never expected to win titles at Spurs. He has a much higher chance to compete for titles at a big club with higher resources.

Quality is quality. His past work speaks for itself.

He is in another league to Ole. That much is for sure.
 

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We have board full of cretins, no chance we sack Ole after few lucky breaks against top sides. We'll miss out on him.
 

Speedy30

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Porch didn't get the opportunity to turn it around, but admittedly the rut was set in for longer than it had for Klopp. And his league titles were great but there's more competition in England than Germany.
True which is why I'm very happy with where we are right now.
I'm not disputing that Poch is a good manager but I wonder if he is good enough to lift Utd out of this slump. You have ambitions to get back to where you were at the turn of the decade and I just can't see that Poch is the man to do that. The real question though, is who really is? Ancelotti would have been a great appointment but I don't think that the calibre of manager that you need is available right now.
When Klopp came to Liverpool, every single one of us was happy. All the players and staff were too and with one appointment, Liverpool were united on and off the pitch.
You need a manager in who everyone is excited by in order to pull the club together as one and move forward.
 

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Ah this old chestnut. Just like how Klopp bottled numerous finals? He was never expected to win titles at Spurs. He has a much higher chance to compete for titles at a big club with higher resources.

Quality is quality. His past work speaks for itself.

He is in another league to Ole. That much is for sure.
Klopp won 5 trophies at Dortmund, so have no idea what you are talking about or why you are even comparing them
 

Bubz27

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True which is why I'm very happy with where we are right now.
I'm not disputing that Poch is a good manager but I wonder if he is good enough to lift Utd out of this slump. You have ambitions to get back to where you were at the turn of the decade and I just can't see that Poch is the man to do that. The real question though, is who really is? Ancelotti would have been a great appointment but I don't think that the calibre of manager that you need is available right now.
When Klopp came to Liverpool, every single one of us was happy. All the players and staff were too and with one appointment, Liverpool were united on and off the pitch.
You need a manager in who everyone is excited by in order to pull the club together as one and move forward.
More important than Klopp for you is that other geezer doing your transfers. Well, just as important as Klopp.
 

Majima

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Klopp won 5 trophies at Dortmund, so have no idea what you are talking about or why you are even comparing them
Please edit your post. I never said your comment.

You said Poch bottled many chances. I was comparing how Klopp has lost 6 finals in a row and was labelled a 'bottler' too. I am highlighting how that is not a definitive measure of quality. A lot of short-term luck plays a part in these cup competitions.
 

LilyWhiteSpur

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I think Poch could do a job but bringing a manager in now would be a disaster IMO.
The champions League run somehow is used as a stick to beat Poch with. You'd know as a Pool fan in 2005. Cup runs don't always transcend to league runs

Yeah 2019 was poor. Just like Klopp's last year at Dortmund was shite as well. Could be plenty of factors for that.
I loved Poch and really do which he could have stayed but if you look at the side he had/built he really should have won something. 2 semis and 2 finals, he should have done better.
 

Amadaeus

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So why is Woodward blamed for a lot of Utds problems on here then?
Our transfer business hasn’t been great, so some fans believe he is at fault because of that. They believe since our club has poor structure, our performance suffers because of that. However, I don’t see it fully that way. Woodward has giving our manager warchest after warchest to spend on players. We just have chosen managers with different philosophy that has resulted in a somewhat unbalanced squad after spending nearly a billion pound. Pochettino will fix that because in the five years he has been with Spurs and with limited resources, he has created one of the best team in Europe. Pochettino sports science, philosophy and eye for developing players and finding talent is what United need to get back on top of Europe m
 

Speedy30

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Our transfer business hasn’t been great, so some fans believe he is at fault because of that. They believe since our club has poor structure, our performance suffers because of that. However, I don’t see it fully that way. Woodward has giving our manager warchest after warchest to spend on players. We just have chosen managers with different philosophy that has resulted in a somewhat unbalanced squad after spending nearly a billion pound. Pochettino will fix that because in the five years he has been with Spurs and with limited resources, he has created one of the best team in Europe. Pochettino sports science, philosophy and eye for developing players and finding talent is what United need to get back on top of Europe m
Fair enough. It was a genuine question. I do think you need the right people above the manager in this day and age. Liverpool showed for years what happens if the hierarchy is wrong. Our club were so short sighted that the morning after our Champions League win in 2005, our club shop was closed! We now have it right and are reaping the rewards. I don't think you have a successful club without a good board anymore but get the right manager in and he may be able to pull the club together. Looking from the outside, it's an intriguing situation as it's one that we were in for a long time and it'll be interesting to see whether it plays out the same
 

starman

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Please edit your post. I never said your comment.

You said Poch bottled many chances. I was comparing how Klopp has lost 6 finals in a row and was labelled a 'bottler' too. I am highlighting how that is not a definitive measure of quality. A lot of short-term luck plays a part in these cup competitions.
He had won trophies before he went on that run though
Poch had as bad as record as Ole had when he was sack, also his football is not that great either, not up with Pep or Klopp. This whole aura built around him is off the myth that Spurs were not good before he joined which is nonsense.
 

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He had won trophies before he went on that run though
Poch had as bad as record as Ole had when he was sack, also his football is not that great either, not up with Pep or Klopp. This whole aura built around him is off the myth that Spurs were not good before he joined which is nonsense.
If even someone like Klopp can go on a run of 6 straight final losses, calling Poch a bottler based on a few missed runs, is a bit moot don't you think?

Let's be objective. Spurs were terrible when he joined. Wasted the Bale money on flops the previous year. Players with poor attitudes like Adebayor stinking the place out. They were in a poor state.

His first 2 years, they spent very little. In 2014/15, £43m out, £40m in (We spent £130m net). In 2015/16, £64m out, £78m in (We spent £50m net). In 2016/17, £75m out, £50m in (We spent £120m net). Those 3 years they spent £15m net overall. We spent £300m net in the same period.

He balanced that with consistent top 4, reset the culture, bringing through youth. That's a very good job don't you think?

If the job he done was nothing special, how come we have found it so difficult to achieve similar results, with investments dwarfing his?

It's fine to not want him here, but don't downplay his achievements.

They progressed a lot under him. It is testament to the job he done at Spurs, that they had a new stadium built without much fuss.
 
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passing-wind

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Spurs have Levy, you have Woodward and the Glazers. Would Poch be better off under them than he was under Levy?
The glazers are more fulfilling to a manager who has aspirations to win than Levy because they will back the manager with funds.

The glazers backing the manager with funds is the exact issue and why we (United) have no strategy long term even if the manager leaves. What your argument should signify is the necessity of the mediator between Levy and Poch which is a DOF. This is something we lack and the reason why we've been found out with so many useless singings.
 

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If even someone like Klopp can go on a run of 6 straight final losses, calling Poch a bottler based on a few missed runs, is a bit moot don't you think?

Let's be objective. Spurs were terrible when he joined. Wasted the Bale money on flops the previous year. Players with poor attitudes like Adebayor stinking the place out. They were in a poor state.

His first 2 years, they spent very little. In 2014/15, £43m out, £40m in (We spent £130m net). In 2015/16, £64m out, £78m in (We spent £50m net). In 2016/17, £75m out, £50m in (We spent £120m net). Those 3 years they spent £15m net overall. We spent £300m net in the same period.

He balanced that with consistent top 4, reset the culture, bringing through youth. That's a very good job don't you think?

If the job he done was nothing special, how come we have found it so difficult to achieve similar results, with investments dwarfing his?

It's fine to not want him here, but don't downplay his achievements.

They progressed a lot under him. It is testament to the job he done at Spurs, that they had a new stadium built without much fuss.
Great post. The bolded part i had no idea of, very impressive in fairness.
 

Bepi

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It’s now or never with the Poch, you know, right? Written in the stars like that it’s happening gif. :cool:
 

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Because a lot of Man United fans think it is his fault the players cannot defeat bottom half teams.

Me neither.
Probably more to do with he's been the 1 constant in 6 years of under performance, he appoints the managers and signs off on whom the club buys. Absolving him of any responsibility would be very bizarre.

Are we appointing Poch anytime soon? I just don't see Ole getting the chop unless we're in relegation places.
 

passing-wind

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In the summer potentially available is Poch, Tuchel maybe Rose at a push. As it stands, I don't even want to see Ole being anywhere near us this summer.
 

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Let's be objective. Spurs were terrible when he joined. Wasted the Bale money on flops the previous year. Players with poor attitudes like Adebayor stinking the place out. They were in a poor state.

His first 2 years, they spent very little. In 2014/15, £43m out, £40m in (We spent £130m net). In 2015/16, £64m out, £78m in (We spent £50m net). In 2016/17, £75m out, £50m in (We spent £120m net). Those 3 years they spent £15m net overall. We spent £300m net in the same period.

He balanced that with consistent top 4, reset the culture, bringing through youth. That's a very good job don't you think?

If the job he done was nothing special, how come we have found it so difficult to achieve similar results, with investments dwarfing his?

It's fine to not want him here, but don't downplay his achievements.

They progressed a lot under him. It is testament to the job he done at Spurs, that they had a new stadium built without much fuss.
they wheren't, they already had most of the spine of the squad that Pochettino would work with for the majority of his time at Spurs, how can you possible claim they where terrible? Lloris, Vertongen, Dembele, Erikson, Kane, Walker, Rose - already there, and they added Alli and Dier the same summer as Poch arrived.

He did a pretty great job at Spurs, but it's odd the revisionism about what he actually took over. To already have 7 or 8 of the players you would build with already at your disposal is such a fantastic starting point for a coach, one that many new coaches don't have when they join a club. It was never a rebuilding job, it was more a case of weeding out the rubbish, and then adding select pieces to their already strong core.
 

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they wheren't, they already had most of the spine of the squad that Pochettino would work with for the majority of his time at Spurs, how can you possible claim they where terrible? Lloris, Vertongen, Dembele, Erikson, Kane, Walker, Rose - already there, and they added Alli and Dier the same summer as Poch arrived.

He did a pretty great job at Spurs, but it's odd the revisionism about what he actually took over. To already have 7 or 8 of the players you would build with already at your disposal is such a fantastic starting point for a coach, one that many new coaches don't have when they join a club. It was never a rebuilding job, it was more a case of weeding out the rubbish, and then adding select pieces to their already strong core.
They were there under AVB or Sherwood too. Didn't stop them from being rubbish at the time did it? It is revisionism to think they were at the same level before he arrived.

Eriksen was promising. But Lloris, Vertonghen, Walker & Rose were all part of the side that had shipped 51 goals in the league the previous season. They had a mediocre defence at the time.

A 21 year old Kane was unproven, also history is a funny thing, if Spurs had any money to buy a replacement for Soldado, he wouldn't have got the chances he did in the first place. It wasn't by design.

They weren't as highly rated before him. Pochettino made them into what they would become.
 

R'hllor

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So why is Woodward blamed for a lot of Utds problems on here then?
Because he is clueless when it comes to footballing matters, because of him and those corporate cnuts above, there is no clear vision. Because its him who hires LvG;,gives him money, just so he can sack him and then hire totally opposite type of manager to take over a squad that was based on possession football, regardless how shit it was. So JM comes, sells Blind who is example of LvG days, then extends contract to someone like Fellaini, just to get sack few months later. Then he does another flip and hires Ole who looks at Fellaini and says, nah not United player.

One thing is selling players who got in under previous manager due their quality or lack of and another if you get rid of players who were bought under philosophy category.
 

Josep Dowling

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True which is why I'm very happy with where we are right now.
I'm not disputing that Poch is a good manager but I wonder if he is good enough to lift Utd out of this slump. You have ambitions to get back to where you were at the turn of the decade and I just can't see that Poch is the man to do that. The real question though, is who really is? Ancelotti would have been a great appointment but I don't think that the calibre of manager that you need is available right now.
When Klopp came to Liverpool, every single one of us was happy. All the players and staff were too and with one appointment, Liverpool were united on and off the pitch.
You need a manager in who everyone is excited by in order to pull the club together as one and move forward.
The sad truth is the only managers who would 1) likely win titles 2) play a style most fans would be happy with and 3) attract the calibre of player we want are Klopp and Pep.

We missed our chance and I can’t see many managers being up to the job. Poch is about as close as we are going to get. And whilst he’s available I think we have to at least try him. It might not work out but there are many things that suggest he would be successful, certainly more successful than our current manager.
 

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Our transfer business hasn’t been great, so some fans believe he is at fault because of that. They believe since our club has poor structure, our performance suffers because of that. However, I don’t see it fully that way. Woodward has giving our manager warchest after warchest to spend on players. We just have chosen managers with different philosophy that has resulted in a somewhat unbalanced squad after spending nearly a billion pound. Pochettino will fix that because in the five years he has been with Spurs and with limited resources, he has created one of the best team in Europe. Pochettino sports science, philosophy and eye for developing players and finding talent is what United need to get back on top of Europe m
They are 1 point ahead of us in the league
 

Majima

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The sad truth is the only managers who would 1) likely win titles 2) play a style most fans would be happy with and 3) attract the calibre of player we want are Klopp and Pep.

We missed our chance and I can’t see many managers being up to the job. Poch is about as close as we are going to get. And whilst he’s available I think we have to at least try him. It might not work out but there are many things that suggest he would be successful, certainly more successful than our current manager.
This is the truth. Pep and Klopp are much higher level than anyone else, but that doesn't matter at all, when we can do much better right now.

What is the best manager that we can attract right now? Poch/Rose/Nagelsmann? It doesn't matter which, but we need to go after the best we can get.
 

Josep Dowling

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This is the truth. Pep and Klopp are much higher level than anyone else, but that doesn't matter at all, when we can do much better right now.

What is the best manager that we can attract right now? Poch/Rose/Nagelsmann? It doesn't matter which, but we need to go after the best we can get.
Of those three I think Poch is the best option. I know Ajax had a great season last year but the way they play comes from the Ajax’s total football coaching from youth to first team. It would be very difficult for Nagelsmann to repeat that at Old Trafford.

Poch has proved at Spurs he can improve players. He gives opportunities to youth players. He does play attacking football. I think he fits with us perfectly. I get he hasn’t won anything and I know this is a stick to beat him with. But he was close to winning the Champions League. He never prioritised the FA or League cup either so he was trying to win the Premier League and Champions League with Spurs on a tight budget. It’s that context that many seem to ignore on here and I don’t know why.
 

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Prior to his arrival Spurs were not a regular top 4 team. After his arrival we became a regular top 4 team, competing in the CL and, indeed, reaching the final.

And we did all this whilst spending a pittance in net terms compared to all of our rivals - and spending far less on wages - because of the need to fund the new stadium and new training centre.

This is why Pochettino is a top coach. No amount of revisionist history changes this.
This is spot on.
 

Suedesi

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I think Poch could do a job but bringing a manager in now would be a disaster IMO.


I loved Poch and really do which he could have stayed but if you look at the side he had/built he really should have won something. 2 semis and 2 finals, he should have done better.
Don't worry, you'll win something with Mourinho. Maybe even the CL. The guy has a knack for beating the big teams, you know United, Bayern, Chelsea...
 

Speedy30

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Because he is clueless when it comes to footballing matters, because of him and those corporate cnuts above, there is no clear vision. Because its him who hires LvG;,gives him money, just so he can sack him and then hire totally opposite type of manager to take over a squad that was based on possession football, regardless how shit it was. So JM comes, sells Blind who is example of LvG days, then extends contract to someone like Fellaini, just to get sack few months later. Then he does another flip and hires Ole who looks at Fellaini and says, nah not United player.

One thing is selling players who got in under previous manager due their quality or lack of and another if you get rid of players who were bought under philosophy category.
If you don't know that then you've not been paying attention.
I know. It was a rhetoric question aimed at a previous post. I was told I was being ridiculous for bringing Woodward and Levy into it as they're not the ones that set the teams up.
 

Josep Dowling

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I know. It was a rhetoric question aimed at a previous post. I was told I was being ridiculous for bringing Woodward and Levy into it as they're not the ones that set the teams up.
The stark difference is the level of budget that Woodward has and he’s been a massive failure with how much he has spent.

In fact he gets a lot of praise for his business credentials but given how much money this man has wasted on players and compensation for managers surely that balances it out. Mourinho was paid £25m to go, only months after he gave him a contract extension. £500k a week salary to a player that doesn’t even play for us yet we still pay his wages. Deciding to buy Fellaini after his price goes up. Deciding to sign Maguire 12 months after Mourinho wanted him then pays £10m more. Buying Fred for £52m when Mourinho didn’t even want him.

That’s got to be £100m he’s wasted through bad decisions he’s made.

The guy is a clown and I think he has the most punchable face I’ve ever come across. He always looks so smug. But then why wouldn’t he be because he seems to be untouchable.
 

T00lsh3d

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Ok, what’s Poch been up to? He can’t be doing the gardening, it’s fecking winter. Has he finished the model railway yet? Is Mrs Poch getting a bit aggrieved that he’s mooching about the house all day and it’s fecking up her routine? How about another bash at the old day job eh? This one’s pretty tempting as well: salary great, scope to develop the team....and you’re onto a winner purely because you can’t be as shite as the previous incumbents. Sounds a no-brainer to me