Tottenham’s European success all part of boss’ plan
In a recent interview Tottenham Hotspur’s talismanic striker Harry Kane revealed that the clubs European growth was always part of Mauricio Pochettino’s plan.
In the run up to the Champions League final many players on both sides are giving interviews. Most of these are a waste of time and a chance to employ PR agents, hopefully raising players’ profiles for marketing reasons. No true footballing news will be leaked by organizations as well run as Tottenham and Liverpool before a match of this importance. So the 24-hour news cycle goes on. By the way, the hypocrisy of this is not wasted in this article.
Harry Kane, though, did give an interesting tidbit in a recent interview. When discussing his manager, who is going through a golden-boy streak much like the one that Kane has experienced, gave away a few points about the Argentinian that reveals a certain amount of insight into the character and ambition of Pochettino.
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Given where Spurs were when Pochettino took over from Southampton, it would be forgivable to suggest the manager simply wanted to get the club to more of a secure footing. They were in rough economic shape, bouncing in and out of European football. They’d had several managers in the years previous with varying levels of success, at both the top and bottom of the spectrum, and yet Kane suggests that from the minute Pochettino arrived he had plans to take Spurs to the pinnacle of European football. That in and of itself is a huge statement of ambition.
In his interview he says:
"‘Since he took over he’s had a plan to become one of the best teams in Europe and now we’re not far away from the biggest game in Europe and in our club’s history. He’s done a fantastic job, he’s a great manager’‘All the players want to fight and play and do everything for him’ he said.‘That’s the standards he’s set, you see the way the club is now, the training ground, the stadium, playing in Champions League finals, that was the plan and now it’s to win it, and step on and to go on to win more and more. It starts on Saturday.’"
It is a truly remarkable change of fortune for Tottenham Hotspur to be where they are now. That is something that Pochettino should be given credit for. Having the bravery to believe anything is possible. He deserves even more credit for making it happen. That all coupled with the fact that he hasn’t spent any money for two transfer windows while the rest of his adversaries literally spent billions.
The truth is that there are not enough good things to say about the achievements of Tottenham Hotspur and their manager. Having done everything the right way, they don’t have a rich owner (that rich at least), they have a core of homegrown talent and play football in accordance with their club principles. It is the sort of thing that they should be lauded for regardless of the outcome of the final.
This is the sort of news that makes the recent overtures by Juventus all the more worrying. Tottenham Hotspur have a gem of a manager and they should do everything in their power to keep him, including opening financial resources to consistently compete at the top.