Mauricio Pochettino is a man who arrived in North London with a mountain of work ahead of him. Firm but passionate, the Argentinian manager through his belief in his footballing philosophy has taken lengthy strides towards reinstating confidence among the Tottenham squad and support.
After a magical 2010-11 season in which the club reached the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League in their maiden appearance in the competition, Spurs fans dreamed of their Lilywhites taking the next step.
With the world-class Gareth Bale scything through defences, it was believed that Spurs were poised to close the gap between itself and “The Big 5” of Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Playing free-flowing football, Spurs felt capable of solidifying a place the Premier League’s top four and thus securing qualification to the lucrative Champions League once more.
However, the 2011-12 campaign marked the onset of a period of major disappointment for the club. Spurs would fail to qualify for the Champions League in each of the next four seasons.
In this period, Tottenham’s great weakness was exposed – it simply could not compete head to head with “The Big 5”, blown away by the firepower of their rivals, despite having the prodigious Bale in their attack.
Following the departure of Bale to Real Madrid prior to the 2013-14 season, Tottenham splashed the near 100 million pounds in funds received from the sale to overhaul its first team squad. Despite losing their star forward, senior management believed that an injection of new players across the pitch would see it be more competitive against “The Big 5” and ensure a return to the Champions League.
What eventuated was an embarrassing string of heavy defeats and criticism about the mentality and desire of the playing squad.
Enter Pochettino. The former Southampton boss was hired for the beginning of the 2014-15 season and immediately identified one area of the field as being key to Tottenham’s ability to compete with “The Big 5″ and complete its resurgence – the defence.
[infogram id=”753d861b-7c12-4047-a98c-3fc03b4b93ce”]Tottenham had conceded 2.4 goals per game against “The Big 5” in the 10 home and away fixtures per season between 2011-12 and 2013-14 and had lost over half of the 30 matches in that period.
Pochettino’s first season at the helm was inconsistent, but it was clear in the 2015-16 season that the tide had turned for the Londoners.
While “The Big 5” stuttered, Pochettino’s men flourished, finishing 3rd in the league, their best effort since 1989-90.
Not as a consequence of splashing millions of pounds on signings, nor because of the brilliance of a star man in the Bale mould – rather, the team succeeded as a result of continuity in selection and belief and discipline instilled in the group by the manager.
A glaring issue in previous years was an inability to settle on an effective central defensive partnership. Tottenham tried a staggering 28 different pairings in the three seasons prior to Pochettino’s arrival. A key factor in the successful 2015-16 campaign was that Pochettino called upon just two different centre back pairings.
[infogram id=”e3cee512-eac6-47b9-8392-4dadc948f30e”]The first choice backline of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, who play together for the Belgian national team, were the building block for the rest of the side as Tottenham statistically boasted the best defence in the United Kingdom.
The frugalness of the ever-present duo addressed Tottenham’s achilles heel in being prone to shipping goals against “The Big 5” and though Spurs won only three of 10 fixtures against the aforementioned clubs, they crucially lost just the one, highlighting their newfound competitiveness.
Tottenham have long had the ability to outplay smaller teams but continually found themselves outmuscled by the bigger teams.
And while Pochettino has not attempted to work miracles nor make drastic changes, he has, in solidifying the side’s defence, given the club ever chance to reach its full potential.
The losses against “The Big 5” were converted into draws in 2015-16. If in 2016-17 these draws can be translated into wins, then Pochettino may do more than maintain Tottenham’s place in the Champions League qualification places – he may even threaten to deliver the club’s first domestic title since 1960-61.
