Mauricio Pochettino will take charge of his 100th league match as Tottenham Hotspur head coach when they line up against Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Such a scenario would have seemed highly unlikely just over four years ago when Pochettino was back in his hometown of Murphy in Argentina, visiting his family after being relieved from his position as head coach of Espanyol. He was expected to continue his career in Italy or Spain, perhaps back in Argentina. England wasn’t part of the discussion.
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But then a call came through from Southampton. Pochettino didn’t speak a word of English but nevertheless decided to take on the challenge. He quickly won over the squad with strong yet affable leadership and an attractive and clearly defined style of play, comfortably saving the club from relegation before leading them to eighth in his only full season at the helm.
That was sufficient to impress Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, who quickly signed him up. Pochettino led his new side to fifth in his debut season and then to an excellent third-place finish last time around. They currently sit second in this season’s table heading into the weekend fixtures.
Under Pochettino, Spurs are a team on the up.
Spurs, but solid
Tottenham had a few difficulties earlier this season, including a run of just one win in 10 matches in all competitions from mid-October through to the end of November, but a month into the new year, they are again strongly placed inside the top four with five more points than they had at the same stage last season.
Indeed, if they continue to accumulate points at their current rate, they will better their best-ever points total in the Premier League era.
In a cumulative league table since Pochettino took over at the start of the 2014-15 season, Spurs rank fourth among the ongoing Premier League teams. Discount his first year at the helm, which was one of significant rebuilding, and over the last season and a half, Spurs rank second only to Arsenal in points won. No team has conceded fewer goals over that period.
And Tottenham also look strong by most statistical measures. They regularly have a dominant share of possession, shots and shots on target in their matches, while their high press limits opponents to some of the shortest average possessions in the league. Various statistics-based rating and prediction models rank them inside the top four.
All of these measures show that Pochettino has formed a strong and resilient side who are capable of going toe-to-toe with any opponent.
A long-term plan
Tottenham have consistently performed well in relation to resources in recent years, converting the league’s sixth highest wage bill into top-six finishes in each of the last seven seasons. The fact that they finished fifth or higher, including three top-four finishes, on six of those occasions is an indication of a well-run organisation.
With Pochettino in charge there is now a long-term plan: promote youth products, buy young and motivated players with potential and form a collective that is stronger than the sum of the expensively assembled parts at rival teams.
The 44-year-old is ideally placed to carry it out. His desire to bring through and develop young players was evident at both Espanyol, where he gave debuts to more than a dozen academy graduates, and again at Southampton, where his young core included players such as Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw who made their England debuts under his watch.
At Spurs, Pochettino has one of the youngest squads in the Premier League, with not a single outfield player over the age of 29. The entirety of his attacking core are aged 24 or under.
The key now comes in signing the right players to supplement the current squad and those such as Harry Winks, Josh Onomah and Cameron Carter-Vickers who are coming up through the ranks. Transfer dealings last summer were not particularly impressive and there are ongoing doubts as to how the recruitment department will be structured once current chief Paul Mitchell has completed his notice period.
Pochettino has a solid and settled group ripe for further development. In order to move forward, he and the club must ensure that when they add to it, they do so with genuine quality.
Mutual development
It was Marcelo Bielsa who discovered Pochettino and gave him his debut at Newell’s Old Boys, and they later worked together at Espanyol and with the Argentina national team.
Those shared experiences have often led to Pochettino being labelled a Bielsista (a follower of Bielsa’s methods) but while there are certain similarities in their approach - a stifling press, quick forward movement of the ball - the biggest thing that Pochettino took from Bielsa was his tireless work ethic. He works long hours at the training ground and is consistently seeking to improve both his players and himself.
The tenets of Pochettino’s philosophy are clearly evident however his teams line up. But he no longer seems welded to the 4-2-3-1 formation that he used at Espanyol and Southampton and which represented his default approach during his first two seasons with Spurs.
There were early-season experimentations with a 4-1-4-1 formation, including in the impressive 2-0 home win over Manchester City, while variations on a three-man defence, in particular, the 3-5-1-1 shape that saw Spurs to victory over Chelsea, have also proved successful. Pochettino has committed himself to a perpetual search for new solutions.
Room for improvement remains. Tottenham’s Champions League campaign was very underwhelming. They struggled to adjust to the larger dimensions of the Wembley pitch and were at times very naive in their approach, most notably during their away defeat to Monaco.
It was Pochettino’s first experience of the competition and if Spurs are able to qualify again, he will have to show that he has learned from it next time around.
Is the future Lilywhite?
The theory that Spurs lucked into last season’s top-three finish primarily due to the underperformance of others is looking increasingly misguided.
The battle between the current top six for the top four positions is one that is likely to remain highly competitive until the final weeks of the campaign. But Tottenham have already shown enough to suggest that there is a very solid chance their name will be among those of the four sides who eventually secure Champions League qualification come the end of the season.
Indeed, with a new stadium on the way and a young and hungry squad led by a young and hungry coach, the future looks bright for Spurs. Give Pochettino another 100 matches in charge and he might even bring some long-awaited silverware to White Hart Lane.
