Mauricio Pochettino Wants Tottenham to Play on the Edge This Year
Mauricio Pochettino recently spoke to reporters about Tottenham’s chances of competing for another league title and how they could achieve their goal if they play on the edge this year.
With next season fast approaching, Mauricio Pochettino has stated that Tottenham must be careful on how they manage their expectations.
After improving from their fifth-placed finish two years ago to securing third and a return to the Champions League for only the second time in the club’s history, an unprecedented run at the Premier League title has made Spurs title contenders once again.
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With both Manchester clubs welcoming new managers in José Mourinho for Man United and Pep Guardiola for Man City, respectively. Plus the addition of Antonio Conte for Chelsea, all three top-four hopefuls should experience a slow transition with a new league (Conte and Guardiola) as well as new players (all three managers).
That is to say, why can’t Tottenham once again challenge for the league title even with the addition of the Champions League?
“The Champions League demands more energy – physical and mental,” Mauricio Pochettino told the Daily Mail (via London Evening Standard).
“We need to be careful how we manage that and the expectation and the demands. For me our challenge is to be consistent and consolidate our club in the top.”
“And, is it possible to win the Premier League? Why not? We need to try again, no?”
A number of reasons why Tottenham’s title challenge fell short under Pochettino’s watch, was due to a lack of rotation and depth. Another was failing to close games out instead of settling for a draw. Or just losing games they should have won.
But one thing that other clubs, fans and media alike took away from Tottenham for the past few seasons is that they were labeled as soft.
A side that could be described as a pushover every time Tottenham was next on the schedule.
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But as soon as Mauricio Pochettino took over two years ago on May 2014, he has changed the club’s culture and the squad in a short amount of time.
Now they’re one of the most fittest and youngest teams in the Premier League.
They haven’t reached the stage where they are a team to be feared just yet, but after witnessing the May 2nd fixture against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Tottenham are certainly no longer a soft team who is a pushover.
Receiving a Premier League record of nine yellow cards in a single match, showed that Spurs can stand toe-to-toe with any club and won’t back down from anyone.
“We hear a lot about Tottenham and it’s always that we’re an easy team to play, who never show enough passion or aggression,” Pochettino said.
“But we’ve started to change our mentality. To be a winning club, you always need to play on the limit.”
“In football, to compete, to be a winner, you need to play on the limit. Always.”
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Following an August 5th pre-season friendly against Inter Milan in Norway, Tottenham’s third Premier League season with Mauricio Pochettino, starts off with an away fixture at Goodison Park against Everton on August 13th.
After finishing both meetings with a draw, Spurs will no doubt be looking for a win this time around. And with a league title on their minds, Pochettino will make sure his squad builds on the momentum they had last season when they were close in overtaking Leicester City.