Tottenham’s Pochettino: Winning the League Title is the First Step
Tottenham’s season through 17 matches this year has been better than last term, and for that reason Mauricio Pochettino is looking to aim for another league title.
After signing a five-year contract extension back in May, Mauricio Pochettino spoke of how easy it was to remain with Tottenham for the foreseeable future.
Being able to manage a club with his coaching staff and feel the “appreciation” of everyone who works and plays for Spurs was largely a deciding factor.
Simply put, this was the place to be for the Argentine boss and he is happy.
Continuing on with his press conference that happened seven months ago, Pochettino envisioned a bright future for Spurs. He didn’t necessarily outline what his plans would be, though he mentioned that finishing third in the Premier League was just the beginning of something special.
“We have enjoyed a great season and we believe this is just the beginning,” Mauricio Pochettino said. “We have a long-term project and huge belief that we can achieve something big here for the future.”
“This club has all the ingredients to continue to challenge at the very top in both the Premier League and in Europe and we want to be here to be a part of what I believe will be a special period in the club’s history.”
With eight more days left until Spurs return to football action on December 28th against Southampton away, Mauricio Pochettino talked about one of the first steps which would ensure Tottenham accomplishes something special.
And not surprisingly, it’s winning a Premier League title. A task that was almost completed before Spurs faded away from the title race last season.
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“It is our dream to win the Premier League. It is our premier competition. For us, it is our first step,” Pochettino said (via ESPN FC).
“I am very happy here — it is a big club with lots of supporters and it is a fantastic club to achieve big things with.”
“We finished third in the league last season. It was a tough summer because the way that we finished the season was bad. We showed some weakness at the end that we need to try and work out.”
“We are a better team than last season, and I think now we are in a good position to try to achieve good results.”
In terms of squad depth, there is no doubt that Spurs have improved in this area.
The combined talents of Victor Wanyama, Vincent Janssen, Moussa Sissoko, Géorges-Kevin N’Koudou and Pau López, before the season started looked better on paper.
But when compared to the players Spurs sold/loaned: Nabil Bentaleb, Clinton N’Jie, Grant Ward, Alex Pritchard, DeAndre Yedlin, Nacer Chadli and Ryan Mason. A majority of these players which were backups but not necessarily game changers.
Right now, Spurs’ investment in everyone except Wanyama is still a work in progress. Or in López’ case, he has not made a single appearance yet. Mauricio Pochettino has shuffled his depth by adding players who bring a bit more quality to the team.
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Whether Tottenham’s five summer acquisitions have impacted their position this year remains to be seen, but Spurs have done better this year when compared to a year ago through 17 games if you can believe it.
Last season after 17 matches, Spurs won seven times, drew eight and lost twice for a total of 29 points. It saw the north London club sitting in fourth place. Though the only real title contenders for the longest time were Spurs and Leicester City so it looks worse now — hindsight being 20/20.
Also, Mauricio Pochettino’s squad was mainly healthy and not coming off of a busy summer with no European Championship or Copa América Centenario. Drawing that many teams obviously affected their total points count before their late collapse. However, last season was still a success, all things considered.
This time around, Spurs have picked up nine wins, drawn six and once again lost twice.
Having 13 players playing in two summer tournaments, a shortened pre-season, not much rest, injuries since opening weekend and a downturn in form from October through November, Pochettino’s team has managed to pick up 33 points and are in fifth place.
One point away from fourth-place Arsenal and four points better than a year ago. All of this, with a much more improved Premier League.
And, despite the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City spending big to bolster their squads, the players that Spurs have brought in are enough for Pochettino at the moment to compete against the league’s best clubs.
“It is true that the Premier League is tougher than last season because all the big teams are improving their squads, but we are confident in ours.” Pochettino said.
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Another way to compete in England is to have a new stadium which will bring in more financial gains (naming rights). This would level the playing field a bit more.
“I think the new stadium can help a lot for us to fight for titles.” the 44-year-old added.
“A good challenge is to arrive at the new stadium and, at that moment, be in the position to fight for titles.”