Mauricio Pochettino is the best thing that’s happened to Tottenham in decades but trophy stance is his Achilles heel
Mauricio Pochettinos focus is not on winning domestic cup competitions, something journalist and Tottenham fan Andrew Warshaw cannot get on board with. In fact, the boss comments ignores a proud history of winning
6Mauricio Pochettino is yet to win a trophy as Tottenham managerDriving back from an FA Cup game in the pouring rain a couple of years ago, I was listening to a radio phone-in and suddenly became so incensed by one particular caller, I gripped the steering wheel even more tightly in the treacherous conditions to avoid swerving into the path of another car in my rage.The caller, who supported one of the countrys wealthiest, most successful clubs and displayed an arrogance so common among Johnny-come-lately fans, described the worlds oldest and most revered domestic knockout tournament as a mickey mouse competition.It made you want to both weep and lash out in equal measure and those same feelings of stunned anguish and gut-wrenching disappointment came flooding back on Sunday and have pre-occupied me every waking hour since my beloved Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out of the FA Cup to complete a wretched, miserable four days.This time, my deep sense of frustration is directed not only at the legions of modern-day supporters who subscribe to the top four at all costs mentality but also, in part, at Mauricio Pochettino.Dont get me wrong. Pochettino is the greatest Spurs manager since Keith Burkinshaw and, one could argue, since Bill Nicholson. Hes the best thing that has happened to Spurs in decades. If and when he leaves, many of us fear the entire deck of cards could come tumbling down.
6Keith Burkenshaw holds aloft the UEFA Cup in 1984 after leading Tottenham to European gloryHe invariably comes across as a grounded, honest, sincere and respectful human being as well as being a tactically brilliant coach who has transformed our football club and made us feel proud again. All of us adore him, all of us dread the day he leaves. Indeed, when I met him briefly at an official function last year and had my photo taken with him like an excited schoolboy, I informed him where the song we sing about him (oohh, oohh, oohh hes magic, you know, Mauricio Pochettino) came from. For the uninitiated, the original was a huge hit by the band Pilot in the mid-1970s. Poch smiled and said he didnt know that. Whether he cared or not, he was politeness personified.But for all his attributes, too numerous to count, Poch has oneAchilles heel that keeps reoccuring seemingly failing to grasp what winning cups means to those of us who have followed the club since before he was born.His comments post-Crystal Palace, that winning trophies only builds your ego, is to ignore decades of tradition about our proud association with these competitions, especially the FA Cup which over the years has attracted full houses to White Hart Lane from the early rounds onwards (unlike at many other clubs where cup games havent had the same impact) even though we havent won it now for 28 years.
6Tottenham last tasted FA Cup glory in 1991
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Everyone knows what Pochettino meant. He has worked miracles at Spurs with a net spend that is a fraction of that of our rivals. In one sense, he is over-achieving big-time. No other manager could have done what he has. But as one newspaper remarked after the Palace game, everyone needs an ego boost from time to time.To suggest the so-called lesser trophies no longer really matter in the long term showed an uncharacteristic lack of understanding about what it means to write the clubs name into the annals of cup history, especially for those of us who may soon get too old to enjoy it. Call me a romantic old emotional fuddy-duddy, a deluded traditionalist. But its part of our psyche and in my blood.
A history of winning
Two league titlesEight FA CupsFour League CupsThe Cup Winners Cup (they became the first British club to triumph in Europe)Two UEFA CupsLet me ask those who disagree, including my dog-walking buddy Simon (who describes the FA cup as a second-rate tournament) and my local car tyre dealer Steve both equally as passionate as me the following questions. Can Spurs win the Premier league or the Champions League this season? Answer: highly unlikely. Was the FA Cup, with two-thirds of Premier League teams already knocked out, therefore a more realistic proposition? Answer: of course. In fact, following the semi-final League Cup defeat at Chelsea, it was perhaps the ONLY proposition.All the more reason to treat it with maximum seriousness. Of course had Tripps (aka Kieran Trippier) not missed that penalty, things might have turned out differently. Probably would have. He apparently rarely misses in training but he must have been feeling the pressure and there is a large body of opinion which feels it should have been taken by a more likely scorer. Had Christian Eriksen been on the pitch, would he have been the one to step up in Harry Kanes absence? But Eriksen, the only truly creative game-changer we had available, wasnt even on bench (too tired, too risky, said Poch), while neither Harry Winks nor Danny Rose came off it despite chants from the Spurs faithful to bring Rose on.Those travelling fans clearly knew what the occasion meant. It meant another step towards glory. Another step towards cementing that winning mentality Spurs have long been accused of lacking. But Simon and Steve, both younger than me, would still opt to win this weeks two league games rather than drop points and still be in the FA Cup.
6Kieran Trippier missed a penalty in the 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA CupFootball is all about opinions and I respect their views. I totally buy into the fact that there are mitigating circumstances. Our injury list to key players, caused in part by all those World Cup travails, is horrendous and longer than any of the other leading clubs. The playing staff is stretched to the limit, our ridiculous fixture congestion is energy-sapping and our resources hamstrung by the new stadium build. Not the ideal combination but it doesnt surely excuse the eggs-in-one basket attitude.Im all for resting your best players and rotating but horses for courses. This was a massive opportunity not just for the fans but also for players who, we are always told, join clubs to win things. At the risk of being accused of sacrilege, why not rest the likes of Eriksson and Winks for the odd league game instead? After all, cup games are must-win one-offs, league points are cumulative.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde (make that bastardise), to get knocked out of one cup competition may be considered unfortunate, to get knocked out of two smacks of carelessness. In other words, after being cruelly eliminated on penalties against Chelsea, here was a golden chance to make amends. With Arsenal and Liverpool already out, it was an eminently winnable competition and a chance for Pochettino to break his trophy duck wherever he has been. Instead we blew it and the long wait goes on. The other side of the argument, of course, is that in this money-driven world, the top four has to be the priority. Champions League prize money far outstrips FA Cup prize money. I understand how crucial that money is. How to remain successful whilst spending a fortune on the new stadium is an incredibly difficult and delicate balancing act and one Poch is negotiating better than anyone else could. Arsenal, in the aftermath of the Emirates being constructed, are a case in point as to what can happen if you do not get the balancing act right. Luckily we also have Pochs uncanny ability to turn home-grown young players into prized jewels to keep us competitive.But does top four have to be the only yardstick? Everyone, me included, wants our magnificent state-of-the-art new stadium to stage Champions League football. We cant wait. You only have to step inside the place to feel a tingling sense of anticipation. But there are another 15 league games to go to secure a top-four place and we are well-placed to do that.Im forever being told to look at the bigger picture but would a maximum four additional FA Cup fixtures really have jeopardised the chance of Champions League football next season? Is chasing the top four and at the same time going for the FA Cup really that unattainable and mutually exclusive? Couldnt they have gone hand in hand even with an injury-ravaged squad? Lets face it, in recent years, with a few exceptions, the FA Cup has invariably been won by a top-four team, or at least a top-six one. But, sadly, not Tottenham Hotspur.
6Tottenham’s new stadium will be open in 2019, having cost around 1billion to buildI have heard all the arguments about how the game has changed but that doesnt alter the fact that to give short shrift to a competition you have a realistic chance of winning is highly questionable. Spurs may have fielded virtually their strongest possible side against Chelsea but you get the impression that was because we were within touching distance of the final and could take the gamble. I would argue we should have done the same in the far more prestigious FA Cup on Sunday even though it was only the fourth round because we were playing Premier League opposition with all the risks that threw up.
Most fans, like Simon and Steve and the vast majority of the Spurs-supporting neighbourhood where I live take a more pragmatic view than me. For them, it makes no difference that the FA cup final is still revered around the globe. For them, its all about Champions League qualification whatever the cost in terms of trophies. That, for me, is warped logic. All Spurs fans share a burning desire to see us one day win the league title for the first time in over half a century. Of course its more likely to happen under Poch than anyone else — provided we can strengthen.But its not or shouldnt be – the be-all and end-all. I accept that football is a business these days and that to buy top players, you need to generate top money. But isnt the ultimate goal still to win trophies? If not, whats the point?Waiting for the off-chance that one day we might possibly land the Premier League or Champions League, Pochs preferred trophies, is all very laudable. But in the meantime, there are other far more attainable trophies to win. Or there were until Sunday.In a passionate press conference addressing this very subject as he looked ahead to the Watford league game, Poch spent six and half minutes uninterrupted setting the record straight about his desire to win trophies. Spurs, he argued, were a victim of their own success under his tenure and urged us all to keep the faith.
6Mauricio Pochettino insists top four takes priority over cup success for TottenhamWe see something and we want it straight away (but) football is about building, believing and to keep working hard, he said. Fair point. Anyone in their right mind would agreethat building a different mindset takes time. And that the club is unrecognisable now to when he arrived. And yet, for all of Pochs admirable talk about how hes the first person who wants to win things, how we need to have patience and how close we are to achieving constant success rather than picking up the odd trophy, every remaining round of the FA Cup will be a stark reminder of yet another season when Spurs are not going to Wembley and doing it again, as Chas and Dave famously sung.
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The fifth-round draw, seeing Chelsea locked with Man United, has made the disappointment even harder to bear and only re-inforced the sense of what might have been. It is interesting to note thatOle Gunnar Solskjrhas just reiterated how important the FA cup is to him. We’ve got to look at ‘can we win something this year? he said. Hear hearFootballmay indeed be a business and Spurs may have bigger fish to fry than concentrating on domestic cups. I welcome that wholeheartedly. What Poch has done and is doing is a massive achievement in the circumstances. Earning the right to be called Londons top club has been a long time coming and is largely down to him and his staff. Long may it continue after years of being overshadowed by Arsenal and Chelsea. But the last time I checked, history remembered trophy winners, not perennial top-four finishers.
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