Darren Bent has claimed that Mauricio Pochettino is not ‘world class’ and that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is already better than him.
The Gunners boss has taken on a struggling side, which were destined for a mid-table finish last season, and inspired them to not only lift their game, but actually go onto win the FA Cup, beating the likes of Manchester City n Chelsea in the latter stages.
The trophy was a big deal, while the victories also assured our club of European football for the current season, but the performances which earned our place was all the more impressive.
While the new Arsenal boss wasted no time in bringing to the club, our noisy neighbours Tottenham have been enjoying their some of their best seasons in their recent history, but have failed to win any form of silverware, with just one League Cup title since the turn of the century.
Mauricio Pochettino has been out of work since being sacked by the North London club around 12 months ago, and is looking to find a new job, and the boys over at TalkSPORT have been comparing him to the better managers in England currently.
“When I look at elite managers that are out there: I look at [Jurgen] Klopp, [Pep] Guardiola and even [Carlo] Ancelotti,” Bent said live on air.
“I can’t put Pochettino into that bracket yet. I know he’s been at Spurs, but he didn’t win anything.
“But to elevate him all of a sudden because he got to a Champions League final and a League Cup final, that’s not world level management for me.
“I think he’s good, but I just don’t just think he’s in that bracket.”
He continued: “You look at what Pochettino did at Spurs. He took them to a level.
“At the end of the day after all that great work that Poch had done developing these players such as Dele Alli and Harry Kane, [chairman] Daniel Levy still needed someone to come in and win them trophies.
“It felt like Pochettino could not do that. Was getting them to a Champions League enough? Does that automatically capitulate into that elite bracket, because you took someone into a Champions League final? For me it doesn’t.”
The former England and Spurs striker added that he even ranks Poch in behind all of Ranieri, Rodgers and Arteta.
Bent explained: “I’d put Brendan Rodgers ahead of him. As a coach he’s absolutely superb.
“You look at [Claudio] Ranieri at Leicester. He took a team that had no right to win the Premier League and they went on to do it.
“He’s more successful [as a manager] 100 per cent. Arguably you employ managers to win you trophies and obviously they employed Ranieri who ended up winning the biggest one in England.
“Look at [Mikel] Arteta at Arsenal, too. He’s a better coach than Pochettino as well. He’s not even been a manager for a year and look at what he’s done there.
“He’s identified the players he’s got there and knows definitely they weren’t great defensively. He’s changed that all completely around.
“He’s gone in there and won an FA Cup and a Community Shield, while beating some of the biggest teams out there. He’s managed to find a way of winning things.”
Does Arteta deserve to rank amongst the elite managers at present?
Patrick