No Signings, Hardly Had a Stadium, but World-Class Pochettino Still Delivers

Pochettino has always been criticized for lacking trophies, but his world-class management skills have shown this season under difficult circumstances.

When the transfer deadline of summer 2018 ticked down, and Spurs hadn’t spent a single cent on new players, many believed that the club would struggle to compete for top 4, and especially not for any significant trophies.

After all, Liverpool and Chelsea eclipsed the £100 million mark in spending the same summer, with Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United all spending between £60 and £80 million, with the latter 2 always having more cash readily available to spend. See, Spurs didn’t have the free cash to spend, as they were still in the process of paying for their heavily-delayed stadium, which would continue being delayed until just a couple months ago.

So, Mauricio Pochettino headed into his 5th season as Spurs manager without any new players, and without the new stadium that he was promised. It seemed that another trophyless year was heading Spurs’ way, and while it still might end up that way as things currently stand, the fact that Pochettino has managed to take Spurs to a Champions League final against all the odds, is an achievement within itself.

This is a manager that’s constantly been criticized for not being able to get Spurs over the hump. Arsenal won their meaningless FA Cups, and so did Manchester United, and all of them were stupidly waved in his face as if they were some sort of higher-ground, when in fact, they were meaningless to Pochettino all along. The entire time, he was frying bigger fish – far bigger fish.

We’re seeing that now. Just a few months ago, Pochettino was put to the stake by media and fans for getting knocked out of both domestic cups in the span of a single week. The question now is – why on earth does that matter? Arsenal and Manchester United won have won 4 of the last 5 FA Cups, and where did those victories get them? Absolutely nowhere.

In fact, the last 3 winners of the FA Cup all failed to qualify for the Champions League in the same year they lifted the trophy. If that isn’t a clear sign that these trophies don’t matter whatsoever in the long run, then I don’t know what is.

If you weren’t convinced by Mauricio Pochettino’s management skills before Spurs’ run to the Champions League final, then you better be now. For 5 years he has patiently built this Spurs team from the ground up, finding gems for such minimal fees, creating an efficient footballing system that succeeds against different types of opposition, and not relying on his owner’s chequebook to get him by. Simply put – he deserves our respect, just as much, if not more, than any other manager in football.

It’s difficult to think of a single other manager who could go through his club not giving him a single cent to spend, and not having a home stadium to play in, yet still keep his head down and continue his work without saying a single negative word about the hardships of it all. It doesn’t matter if he wins or loses the Champions League final – it doesn’t change the fact that he is a brilliant manager who has defied the odds this season.