Pochettino: Let’s Try and Keep This One, Shall We?
*fanfare*
The eagle has landed. Mauricio Pochettino is the new Spurs manager and his barely concealed distrust of the British tabloid press has already made him a firm favourite in this household.
Argentine speaks English with players and club staff but uses a translator in press conferences, despite arriving in England 17 months ago, blurted the Mail last week, in yet another in a long line of top scoops.
It all seems perfectly reasonable to me. And if Louis Van Gaal can get away with openly ridiculing the media bullpen before he’s even been appointed, then at the very least our new leader can choose not to talk to them in English, lest his words be misquoted and manipulated by, ooh stab-in-the-dark here, Neil Ashton.
A deadpan, bare minimum line of communication with the press is fine by me. For a change it’ll be nice to focus on the actual football, rather than assessing the entertainment value of the post-match interview, the trump card so often played by Mauricio’s predecessor.
We’ve had enough of empty vessels making lots of noise and handing over sound-bites like they were goddamn hors d’oeuvres; what we’ve been starved of recently is a stirring brand of attacking kickball. High-energy, vibrant, cavalier; the sort which Pochettino was cooking up on the south coast for the majority of his 18 months there. The sort which Spurs have been known to play on occasion, way back when fish first sprouted legs and crawled onto the shore. Or at least that’s how long it feels. All very encouraging. To heck with it: his teams look like they have fun.
Here’s Mauricio talking. I’ve gone to the trouble of translating it for you English-speakers out there. Lollypopz.
“This is a Club with tremendous history and prestige and I am honoured to have been given this opportunity to be its Head Coach.
“There is an abundance of top-class talent at the Club and I am looking forward to starting work with the squad.
“Tottenham Hotspur has a huge following across the world and I have great admiration for the passion the fans show for this team. We are determined to give the supporters the kind of attacking football and success that we are all looking to achieve.”
Pretty dry, that. But the bit about abundance of top-class talent is interesting. No doubt plainspeak for making sure that the hundred million we confidently whalloped on the table last summer hasn’t gone entirely up in smoke. Getting the most out of Lamela and Soldado must be one if his most pressing assignments.
What’s not mentioned, but something I’m sure Spurs fans are excited by the prospect of, is his nurturing of the younger players. For all his goofballing, it can’t be denied that Sherwood didn’t give the kids a chance- his unswerving faith in the development graduates was a real highlight of Tim’s short reign- and hopefully Pochettino can use this as the bedrock to take the likes of Bentaleb, Kane and Rose onto the next level. All in all, room for cautious optimism. As if there’s any other kind at Spurs.
image: Old School Panini
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