IT took Mauricio Pochettino five years to reach the peak and just six months to come crashing down.
Tottenham have sacked arguably their best ever manager, even if their 2-0 Champions League final loss to Liverpool in May was a gloomy glimpse of the slump to follow.
Ex-Southampton chief Mauricio Pochettino has overseen arguably the most successful five-year spell in the history of Spurs but now been sackedCredit: PA:Empics Sport
This season’s mediocrity on the pitch and murmurings off it snowballed this month, leading to Tuesday night’s shock sacking at the end of the international break.
Pochettino himself had heightened the speculation and discontent with an uneasy mix of weary words, frustration and optimism after the last few matches.
Relegation form of 25 points in the last 24 games, combined with a Carabao Cup humbling by League Two Colchester and a 7-2 home loss to Bayern Munich, are stark stats.
And it is also thought the pressure on Poch became stronger after Jose Mourinho’s team reportedly suggested the ex-Chelsea and Manchester United chief would welcome the Spurs job.
BLEAK NOVEMBER
But Pochettino’s main ‘mare is Tottenham’s shocking Premier League start, which further weakened his once rock-solid relationship with chairman Daniel Levy after what so far looks like a failed summer spree on Tanguy Ndombele and Ryan Sessegnon.
Spurs are 14th, 11 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City, after just three wins in their opening 12 games.
And Poch has raised eyebrows with some of his comments in a bleak and now fateful November for the 47-year-old.
Spurs’ month started with a 1-1 draw at Everton overshadowed by Andre Gomes’ broken ankle.
Tottenham failed to cling onto Dele Alli’s opener after Son Heung-min was wrongly sent off for his part in Gomes’ terrible injury, Cenk Tosun heading the Toffees’ leveller midway through ten minutes of stoppage time.
Poch can be spared analysis for this game as it hinged on the plight of Gomes.
Jose Mourinho’s team have reportedly hinted he would be interested in the Spurs job, perhaps putting Mauricio Pochettino under more pressureCredit: PA:Press Association
But he said: “Talking only about football, it was a very difficult game. We were good but the game changed after the incident.”
Next came what seemed, briefly, a rejuvenating 4-0 Champions League triumph at Red Star Belgrade, Son Heung-min scoring twice.
Poch enthused: “We are happy for the performance.. the team was fantastic.”
But even then he could not resist adding: “We have a big squad and when you have plenty of options you have problems too because someone is happy and someone is not.”
And last up for Poch was the type of game so typical of the contrast between the woes of this term and the exciting, flowing progress under him in previous campaigns.
George Baldock’s freak equaliser deservedly earned Sheffield United a 1-1 draw at Spurs.
And it left Poch desperately looking to the longer term like so many struggling managers do when they suspect time could be running out.
As if struggling to give himself a vote of confidence, the ex-Southampton chief insisted a top-four finish was still achievable.
He said: “If we are capable of finding the right balance to start performing in the way we expect, of course it’s still possible.
“We need time to get everything right because we went back to five years ago where we were in terms of position, situations and stuff like that, so it takes time.
“But we cannot move the club forward quick, to accelerate things, we can’t.
“We need to stay calm and work hard because there is not another way to change this dynamic.”
But now we know levy disagreed. He believes there IS another way to change.
But axing Pochettino, arguably the best manager in Spurs’ history, might just be the biggest gamble he ever takes.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
