Opinion – The clamour for Mauricio Pochettino is shortsighted and wrong

Mauricio Pochettino is not the right man to take Arsenal forward.

I know for some my opinion on this will be contentious. However, it is based on sound reasoning and not purely tribalism.

Pochettino has won nothing despite having the tools to do so. The claims that Arsene Wenger took over at Arsenal without winning anything is simply wrong.

Wenger won Ligue one and the Coupe de France with Monaco before he went to Japan and won silverware there. I have no idea why some claim that Wenger won nothing.

Pochettino reached multiple semi-finals and finals and lost them all. When it came to the crunch he was founding wanting.

Foundations laid by Harry Redknapp

It is correct that he made Spurs a regular top-four side but the foundations had been laid prior to his employment by no less than Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp took over the Tottenham role in 2008 when they had collected just two points from their opening eight games. They finished that season just out of a Europa League place. His second season he got Tottenham to fourth in the standings and a Champions League spot. His next season saw Spurs finish fifth and the season after that fourth again. However, they did not qualify for the Champions League due to Chelsea winning the trophy and taking Tottenham’s place as was the rules then.

The next season Redknapp got fired, mainly because of the England job speculation which resulted in a dip in form from that point onwards.

Pochettino then came in, he did not take over a team in trouble or struggling, he took over a team that reached the Champions League quarter-finals, that finished 4th, 5th, 4th in three of the four previous seasons.

The foundations had been laid and not enough credit is given to Redknapp for that.

This fallacy that Pochettino gives the youngsters a break is disingenuous at best. He was forced to play Harry Kane because of the awful form of Roberto Salado. It was not done by choice.

I could go on about his record of achievement but the brutal truth is that he won nothing and his team bottled it time and time again.

Yes, he played 48 games at Wembley, did not spend a penny in two seasons and maintained Tottenham as top-four contenders but not one of those excuses could be used this season, or for that matter, the end of last season.

No excuses this season

Spurs had their new stadium. They did bring in new players and yet with all that talent at his disposal, he could not arrest the decline. His first real big test and he flopped.

His ending at Tottenham is no better than that of Jose Mourinho at the end of his time at Man Utd. A team Mourinho won trophies with and yet to a lot of fans he is past it. Yet, Pochettino is the future. How does that make sense?

Both were unable to halt a slump, both lost the dressing room or at least fell out with senior players, both were sacked but only one of them actually won trophies. But Arsenal fans scream for the one that won nothing.

Then there is the petty reason given by some of the fans that it will annoy Tottenham fans. Well, how the hell is that enough of a reason but let’s stay with that for a minute. I have spoken with some Spurs fans and they simply do not care if he joins Arsenal, they see it as Arsenal taking a Spurs reject. Someone fired for not being good enough. Their attitude is that Arsenal is welcome to him. They have moved on and seem to be happy with the winner they now have in charge. That is what they tell me anyway.

And yes, there is some tribalism, I personally do not want a manger I believe is overrated and that was fired by Spurs. For me, there is far better out there.

A Benitez, Allegri, Simeone or Ten Hag would be a far more solid choice for me. But as I said right at the beginning, this is purely my own opinion.

That’s enough I think, however, please be polite with your responses.

46 Comments

  1. Honestly, what am interested in reading is something like “Emery has been sacked by Arsenal” nothing else. Get a caretaker coach and bring Allegri or another quality coach.
    We were not at this level and I supported Wenger out, why should I support the continuous stay if Emery!

    1. I have been checking the net every few hours since yesterday hoping to read “Arsenal have part ways with Emery”.

      But it seems like it is not going to happen any time soon.
      😒

      1. Except away games in Spanish league.

        Fans of his former teams were happy to see him go. In one horse race French league he still lost the players and fans and was fired in the end.

        1. Before calling the french league 1 a one horse race,you need to follow it which I doubt you do because if you did you’ll realise it is not the case!so instead of repeating what others say without checking the facts have a look at it yourself, lastly if the french league is so crap why is it that the pl clubs every season are queueing up to buy our best players french players and non french playing in ligue 1?

  2. Pochetino is not the man, and he won’t be coming to us as he has said Arsenal Barcelona are out of the question (he’s an Espyanol man). We should get Viera from Nice, we’re, on a shoestring and poor team, he has at least built defensive solidity. Keep Freddie as number 2, and perhaps get people like Keown in to help sort out this dreadful defence..

  3. Good explanation. Pochettino’s Tottenham were bold, but they became more pragmatic lately

    Despite the decline and the trophyless seasons, we can’t underestimate his achievements in the last five years. However, Arsenal should not gamble on a manager who just got fired, because he needs time to evaluate his mistakes at his old club

    Benitez is not the answer either, because he failed at several big clubs and he just signed for Dalian Yifang. The rest you mentioned are worth the gamble, but I’d prefer an insider that saw what Wenger and Emery did wrong

    1. @gotanidea
      You have a point. But left for me, I won’t mine M.Artetta. A former Arsenal faithful player who understands our phylosophy like Chelsea F.Lampard. The only downside to Artetta is the fact he has not managed a football team as the handler before. But he was really a good technical player when he played for Arsenal and he is P.Gardeola’s major assistant. Apart from him, I think Benitez has enough premier league experience. He did well in New Castle despite his low budget. In recent times, coaches without premier league experience seem to struggle a lot in England.

  4. When Emery came to the team, some people say we Play direct Football… The problem started towards the end of last season… Even if they want to give Emery chance, I don’t see him improving. He doesn’t know his starting line up yet after all this years. Just when Pepe was showing signs of improvement, you drop him to the bench. You introduced ozil back but set up a formation without proper winger. His substitutions can be so frustrating. Xhaka may not be world class and he has his own problems but we have been worst without him. That shows it’s all on the manager. Forget about signing players because Unai will make them confused.

    It’s so bad right now that I will take any body instead of Emery. It’s that bad.

    Will I take Poch right away? I said YES.

    If not then let’s just hire lunberg until end of the season and see how it goes.

    I hope that defense can be worked on…. We look in disarray whenever the opponent are attacking us. We look awful off the ball.

    #EmeryOUTNow

  5. I and a few loyal fans wanted Jose to join us and strengthen our squad yet many of you rejected a proven Winner now you can kiss goodbye to the one point you were hoping to get at WHL

  6. Freddie L as a caretaker manager while we work out what sort of team this is and why they are so defensively flawed. A full decision can be made at the end of the season

  7. A quick one. We should consider Nuno espirito. The wolves coach. I think he could be the answer. He motivates his teams to play good football. A top coach. Either Him or Arteta.

  8. I’m coming around to the idea that Pochettino could be a good fix for us but as I’ve thought and read, he’s likely on a clause in his settlement that precludes him from managing us for at least 6 months or even a year. Levi hates us which is understandable.

      1. Good article AdMart-lets face it.Poch has been hyped up and accomplished what exactly? And before someone mentions taking the Spuds to a Champions League Final, let’s just recall the 10 ( I believe) semi-finals they choked.

    1. The Mancs are as poor as we are… especially their backline! OGS is on that tightrope along with 3 other managers…..
      Fair play to the Blades 👏

    2. We are at the same level at Manu. I still don’t know how they are the only team to take points of Liverpool. Liverpools time to drop points is coming though, they’ve escaped numerous games with lucky goals. I don’t think the race is over. For us top four is over.

      1. Don’t be surprised if they don’t drop points again, with the PGMO referees exhibiting their rehearsals to break Arsenal’s unbeaten record.
        I’m very sure the Sheffield’s goal against ManU would have been disallowed if it was against Liverpool.

        1. 100% correct. Even with VAR they are still getting help. But I can see a defeat for them soon. Might be Leicester away when they play them straight after World club cup.

  9. If he doesn’t sort out the midfield then he is a goner. We conceed too many shots especially around the d area. Then there is no transition from midfield to attack.

    To be honest atleast he is trying to change things and mkae things happen, but he has no clue how to set up the midfield. Either that or he cant get his message across.

    Now Lacazette scored double means he can’t be dropped, so he has to play both strikers, which means one less midfielder.

    Even though I like Guenouzi, I would take him out of next match and play like this in midfield

    —————Aubameyang——-
    ——-Lacazette—————-
    Martinelli——Ozil———Pepe
    ————–Torreira———-
    Tierney–Luiz—Holding—Bellerin
    ————–Leno—————

    4-4-1-1 Lacazette as support striker and hold up player. PLay behind Auba because he defends more than Auba.

    For me this is the last throw of the dice for Emery and he should explicity state that Torreira should sit there in DM. Also demand Pepe defend more, if not he can continue sitting on the bench.

    Even if we can’t move through the middle there is quality to attack down the sides. Martinelli has to play. Beleive me when I say it he is going to be like Son is for Tottenham, very dynamic.

  10. Because I`m bored I decided to Google…………….Castles for sale in Transylvania !…………….Emery will have a choice !……………plus his removal costs should be cheap with only the coffin and a cape to be shipped !

    1. LE COQ, forgive me sir, i am very slow . when you say removal costs should be cheap, do you mean having those vicious looking teeth romoved, or , do you mean lock, stock and barrel . just to know for sure like, cos i would contribute to the removal of those venomous teeth of his, they scare me , even from here, i live in ireland. i hope he aint planning on spending some time over here, time to hide.

    2. Don’t forget the boiling(with anger) blood of us fans too! Anyway, I thought he already owned Castle Dracula. It might explain why he does better with dark night evening games.

  11. Spot on with Pochettino. He underachieved at the tiny totts and was eventually sacked for failing. Last thing we we need is a Spurs failure. I think Mourinho will do well their and will probably win a trophy or two over the next year or two before it all turns sour. Mourinho wouldn’t be right for us and he probably wouldn’t have come to us. The job of turning us around is a huge task compared to the job at Spurs. We also have a number of youngsters and Mourinho doesn’t have much of a track record with developing youngsters.

    1. Phil Jones is awful but still ten times better than Sokratis, Mustafi and Luiz Put together. Even I am five times better. At least I CARE!

  12. Very sad.

    In 90’s to 2005 United and Arsenal were the best teams. Far superior to Spurs and City

    Now United and Arsenal are midtable teams and Spurs/City are better.

  13. Even as an arsenal fan I can tell you that your article is completely biased,he has overachieved at spurs,gave them an identity/stadium,he improved the players already there and turned academy kids into premier League players,he never had the tools,he didn’t get the players he asked for and never had the tools,the cracks were already there before the cl final(unhappy players,poch tried to get them better contracts but as you guessed it levy refused),the average age of the team when he took over was 24 perfect for the style of football he wants to play today 28, without forgetting that during those 5 years the other clubs were buying more and better players!whose fault is it?his I don,t think so and the few players he bought all got injured on top of that they need time to adapt in the meantime Mourinho spent over 300M net at manure while poch in 5 years at spurs net spend 110/115, don’t forget Wembley the new stadium, Mourinho bought trophies poch didn’t; Jose didn’t manage espanyol, Southampton,.. properly backed up poch would have and will win trophies trust me and by the way levy had been talking to Mourinho for 3 weeks nice going and for those with short memory Jose speech was the same he gave at manure, humble,learnt from his mistakes..for a humble guy he uses I,MY….a lot, my club,my fans,false modesty I didn’t make an impact,it’s not about me but my players,I could have written his speech for him!!😂😂

  14. …another goal that would surely have been disallowed against Liverpool.
    But it’s not as if I’m supporting ManU – just stating the obvious.

  15. Lemme put it this way..any gaffer would be better than Emery. It was so obvious even last season, but hey! do they care?!
    Everyone slams Wenger for his last few years without recognising the fact that the timeline when Kroenke took over completely will match with the last few seasons under Wenger. These yanks have no love for football, so it’s just a business venture for them. We can gnash our teeth all we want in our naivety, but those guys have minted their money for this season already. They are treating us fans the same way they treated Wenger.
    Admin Martin, I was being nice. Again.

  16. To those who dismiss Pochettino for not having won a trophy,well Emery has won a number and has proved to be a disaster.To take Spurs to the Championship League final, is a considerable achievement in itself..If any Manager took Arsenal to the final of Europe’s top competition, I would be over the moon.Let’s forget about the Spurs connection and focus on his ability , and the fact that he is currently”available”Lampard ,who as a Manager has yet to win a trophy has his young Chelsea team playing fast, attractive football which I would like to see at the Emirates.Being a winner is not the be all and end all.

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