While he didn’t win a single piece of silverware in over 5 seasons with the club, Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure with Spurs can still be considered a success.
The news of Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking sent shockwaves through the footballing world on Tuesday, as the move certainly came as a surprise to many, and confirmed Spurs’ displeasure with their current position in the Premier League table.
The general reaction from football fans on social media has been pretty split, with a good amount of them criticizing Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy for sacking a man who took them to a Champions League final just 5 months ago, and the other set of fans claiming that the decision is a correct one, and that Pochettino won’t be missed by Spurs.
In reality, the answer is somewhere in the middle. It’s true, Spurs cannot afford to continue the sort of form that they are in. Continuous Champions League qualification is important, to maintain financial stability and convince top players like Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son to stick around. Perhaps sacking Mauricio Pochettino was the only way to prevent the slide from continuing.
On the other hand, Pochettino is the most successful Spurs manager in recent memory, and the success he found with the club – yes success – means that he should have been handed more time by Levy to right the ship.
Yes, it’s true, Mauricio Pochettino didn’t win a single piece of silverware during his 5-and-a-half years with Spurs, but that should not hold us back from referring to his tenure at the club as a success.
After all, before he came around, they were a rather dysfunctional and stagnating team, who were never really taken seriously by their rivals, even when top players like Modric and Bale graced White Hart Lane. Before Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs finished in the Premier League top 4 just twice since the competition’s introduction in 1992. Under Pochettino, Spurs finished top 4 in four out of five seasons, with the odd season out being his first at the club.
Expecting José Mourinho to be announced as new Spurs manager tomorrow. Mauricio Pochettino victim of his own success. Sacked just five months after leading his team out at Champions League final
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) November 20, 2019
Not only did Pochettino turn Spurs into perennial Champions League qualifiers, but he also had a hand in developing some of today’s household names, like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and Heung-Min Son. His teams were difficult to play against and pulled off some famous wins as well.
In the end, the fact that some people are criticizing Pochettino for not winning any silverware with Spurs actually does prove how far he took the club. Before him, nobody truly considered Spurs as contenders for any major trophies, and any manager that didn’t win trophies at the club wasn’t berated for it.
At the Argentine’s peak, he took the North London club to a Champions League final, which one could certainly argue they were unlucky to lose, and even a 2nd place finish in the Premier League back in 16-17. At the end of the day, Pochettino might actually be a victim of his own success. Because of his excellent management over the last 5 years, Spurs’ expectations became so high that they booted him out at the very first signs of incompetence.
If you need further proof of how talented Pochettino is as a manager, wait a few months and take a look at the clubs that will no doubt show some interest in securing his services. They will likely be bigger clubs than Spurs, which may very well signal a massive mistake made by the Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy for letting him go so easily.