The invisible change Pochettino is making
It is refreshing to hear people within the club openly admit the mentality needs to change and that they are encouraging a winning mentality.
Regular readers will know how important this is in top level sport, every decision every single person makes is done with the brain, thus you improve the brain you improve the person. How you think affects what decisions you make, a confident player may try things but when someone is clouded with doubt they'll make tentative decisions, often playing safe and giving the responsibility to someone else.
Development Squad coach Ugo Ehiogu has spoken to the official Tottenham Hotspur website of instilling a winning mentality into the players. Let's be clear here, a winning mentality is not simply about winning football games, it is about personal progression.
You haven't got a winning mentality if your outlook is negative. Players have to make their own decisions, but they have to do it with a positive mindset, a negative mindset produces the wrong decisions.
If a player has a true winning mentality, like Gareth Bale, then they will try to become the best player they can be and will do whatever it takes to achieve that. Along the way, they will give everything in every game to win that particular game, as that helps them with their goal of improving themselves.
As a youngster, it is vital to have that burning desire to improve, the problem comes when they start to get selected regularly for the first team. This is the danger time, this is the time when some players will think they have made it and stop improving, they take their foot off the gas, which is solely down to mentality. They should be working just as hard to continue improving. Andros Townsend, for instance, has hit a brick wall, will Tom Carroll push on, how will Alex Pritchard react, or Dele Alli?
Harry Kane is a prime example of what the right attitude can achieve, as is Gareth Bale. Danny Rose has improved significantly, why because Pochettino built him up mentally when he first arrived. Rose has spoken that Pochettino kept telling him he would make him an England left-back which put Rose in a positive frame of mind when all around were criticising him.
A player who is prepared to make a mistake is a confident player, a player who will 'pass the buck' by passing sideways all the time instead of trying to create something himself is not going to achieve anything for you, unless he is given that defined role. Arguably you can have one of those players as a defensive midfielder passing the ball to a Luka Modric or Gareth Bale but the more you have the less creative your side are.
If you look at the players coming through, Carroll, Pritchard, Alli and the likes of Bentaleb, Kane, Mason you see confident players with a positive outlook. Old heads like Federico Fazio was speaking consistently about this prior to Christmas las season, Hugo Lloris was doing the same, as was Mauricio Pochettino.
It is important to not just have players with a positive mental attitude but the staff as well in every facet of the club. Ego Ehiogu appears to have been a good appointment in that respect.
Negativity will help you achieve nothing, that is not to say players like Emmanuel Adebayor may not thrive elsewhere, a different situation may be better suited to him but if a player hasn't bought into the Pochettino system then you have to offload them, whoever they are and retain the players who do believe in it. That way you increase your chances of success.
Everything takes time, instilling a winning mentality takes time, young minds can take mentality on board easier than the experienced pro who believes he knows how things should be done and is resistant to change. It's a human trait to resist change, to stay in the comfort zone of what you know, to create world class footballers that trait has to go out the window.
Nothing has ever been achieved without failure, you have to be prepared to fail and fail again to perfect something. Tottenham have taken that approach with the turnaround in players since Pochettino arrived, it is clear that we seek the right attitude in players, a refreshing trait we have at last adopted it would appear.
Installing the right attitude from the ground up is arguably it is the single biggest thing Pochettino will do at the club, it would be bigger than winning the UEFA Champions League because it would be the attitude instilled that makes that possible.
Positivity breeds success, negativity breeds failure.
Further Tottenham Reading
Can Spurs create another Gareth Bale?
A motivated team is a successful team - so the club should be doing more
You can help support THBN by buying your sporting goods through the following links.
If you need football boots for the new season try the SALE NOW ON at Lovell Soccer
If you need a new Tottenham shirt or sportswear try Kitbag Ltd
If you want an authentic autographed shirt or memorabilia try Icons
Regular readers will know how important this is in top level sport, every decision every single person makes is done with the brain, thus you improve the brain you improve the person. How you think affects what decisions you make, a confident player may try things but when someone is clouded with doubt they'll make tentative decisions, often playing safe and giving the responsibility to someone else.
Development Squad coach Ugo Ehiogu has spoken to the official Tottenham Hotspur website of instilling a winning mentality into the players. Let's be clear here, a winning mentality is not simply about winning football games, it is about personal progression.
“We’ve spoken about some of the habits we want the players to have - winning habits, not being afraid to express themselves and decision making."
You haven't got a winning mentality if your outlook is negative. Players have to make their own decisions, but they have to do it with a positive mindset, a negative mindset produces the wrong decisions.
If a player has a true winning mentality, like Gareth Bale, then they will try to become the best player they can be and will do whatever it takes to achieve that. Along the way, they will give everything in every game to win that particular game, as that helps them with their goal of improving themselves.
As a youngster, it is vital to have that burning desire to improve, the problem comes when they start to get selected regularly for the first team. This is the danger time, this is the time when some players will think they have made it and stop improving, they take their foot off the gas, which is solely down to mentality. They should be working just as hard to continue improving. Andros Townsend, for instance, has hit a brick wall, will Tom Carroll push on, how will Alex Pritchard react, or Dele Alli?
Harry Kane is a prime example of what the right attitude can achieve, as is Gareth Bale. Danny Rose has improved significantly, why because Pochettino built him up mentally when he first arrived. Rose has spoken that Pochettino kept telling him he would make him an England left-back which put Rose in a positive frame of mind when all around were criticising him.
A player who is prepared to make a mistake is a confident player, a player who will 'pass the buck' by passing sideways all the time instead of trying to create something himself is not going to achieve anything for you, unless he is given that defined role. Arguably you can have one of those players as a defensive midfielder passing the ball to a Luka Modric or Gareth Bale but the more you have the less creative your side are.
If you look at the players coming through, Carroll, Pritchard, Alli and the likes of Bentaleb, Kane, Mason you see confident players with a positive outlook. Old heads like Federico Fazio was speaking consistently about this prior to Christmas las season, Hugo Lloris was doing the same, as was Mauricio Pochettino.
It is important to not just have players with a positive mental attitude but the staff as well in every facet of the club. Ego Ehiogu appears to have been a good appointment in that respect.
Negativity will help you achieve nothing, that is not to say players like Emmanuel Adebayor may not thrive elsewhere, a different situation may be better suited to him but if a player hasn't bought into the Pochettino system then you have to offload them, whoever they are and retain the players who do believe in it. That way you increase your chances of success.
Everything takes time, instilling a winning mentality takes time, young minds can take mentality on board easier than the experienced pro who believes he knows how things should be done and is resistant to change. It's a human trait to resist change, to stay in the comfort zone of what you know, to create world class footballers that trait has to go out the window.
Nothing has ever been achieved without failure, you have to be prepared to fail and fail again to perfect something. Tottenham have taken that approach with the turnaround in players since Pochettino arrived, it is clear that we seek the right attitude in players, a refreshing trait we have at last adopted it would appear.
Installing the right attitude from the ground up is arguably it is the single biggest thing Pochettino will do at the club, it would be bigger than winning the UEFA Champions League because it would be the attitude instilled that makes that possible.
Positivity breeds success, negativity breeds failure.
Further Tottenham Reading
Can Spurs create another Gareth Bale?
A motivated team is a successful team - so the club should be doing more
You can help support THBN by buying your sporting goods through the following links.
If you need football boots for the new season try the SALE NOW ON at Lovell Soccer
If you need a new Tottenham shirt or sportswear try Kitbag Ltd
If you want an authentic autographed shirt or memorabilia try Icons
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