The Pochettino formula

Success can be taught, but to do so you have to educate the brain. People will always revert to default reactions unless they are taught differently, thus someone who in childhood does their homework at the last minute will grow up in adulthood to have the same trait. Equally if they are conscientious as a child they will grow up to be as an adult.

It is easier for the conscientious to be successful than the last minute, possibly fly by night character. A parent has a greater responsibility than many quite realise, you are dictating your child's future by how you develop them, it is after all your responsibility, not a schools to teach your child. Schools give them facts, you mould their future.

Understanding how you think controls what you do can lead to change, otherwise it is the rat race for them with it's levels of perceived success, when in fact what people are doing is working to make someone else rich while they themselves usually remain comfortable at best. You'd accept that that mentality isn't going to make you an industry leader or for want of a better word, a winner.

Tottenham has been that rat race worker. We had a successful period, but we didn't appreciate to be successful on the field there has to be a successful company off the field funding it. We went into decline, just as Manchester United did and rebuilding from there is no easy task. You will recall Manchester United fans wanted Sir Alex Ferguson out as he hadn't done anything in three years. Well he had, he had changed the culture of the club and was building it. 

Tottenham is being built in the same way. Fans calling for Pochettino to go know little of what it takes to be successful, they simply don't understand the importance of the club off the field. In 18 months Pochettino has worked wonders, with the backing of Daniel Levy. It was he who agreed to the ostracising of players to force them out the club, given our history of being unable to move players on.

Players have had to grasp a new mental approach, they have had to adopt the traits of a winner. Now you know as well as I that if you don't believe in something you can not put everything into it, there is always something you hold back. It is one of the key elements of any success formula. A chap called Napoleon Hill interviewed hundreds of successful people to find a formula, from Presidents of the USA to the richest people in the States and points in between. One of the conclusions from this was having a total unwavering belief in what you were doing. If you had that you would find a way to make it happen, but the belief had to be absolutely total, not a shred of doubt as that would put a spanner in the works.

Do Tottenham need players who are rat race workers or do they need industry leaders with total belief?

The answer is pretty obvious. One can perform very well, get good rewards, but not be the top dog, where the other is a leader with everyone below him or her.

The more players we can get together of the 'leader' type the greater our chances of success and the greater chance of us keeping hold of them as a result. Big clubs will always want top quality players so it's a good thing when we hear that they do, what we have to create is an environment where they feel they can achieve at Spurs. having like-minded players is a step towards that and why talent is simply not enough, a talented head is a prerequisite os success.

Mauricio Pochettino is instilling that in the youthful squad he has assembled, you can see it clearly in the players, they believe and the result is they are surprising a few people. I would suggest that this is the first manager that Daniel Levy has had total faith in, no accident give the extensive background research we did on his football, his character, his philosophy, his life. The signs of backing are consistently there, the fact we hear less about Levy is a result of having faith in the man in the hot seat. With total faith, Levy can just let him get on with it almost.

For those who feel Levy has meddled too much you need to appreciate that he has a burning desire for Tottenham to win trophies and as such has a vision of how things should be done. When you have that total belief trusting someone else isn't easy, they have different ideas and see things being done in a different way. Whatever path is taken though it always has to lead back to the Levy vision of success which is through generating our own talent. A conveyor belt of youth players is more sustainable than purchasing players unless you have the financial backing and that requires off the field success.

You listen to Pochettino and everything is no excuses, we have to face challenges. We have heard the same message from him after the Qarabag game head of the Chelsea clash. Complaining about a lack of time between games doesn't change anything and it puts doubt in players minds, if he is worried by it then I am too. The result is you perform to your expectations, if you expect it to be a problem it will be a problem, you won't perform at your optimum. Focus on the challenge and you will.

“I am happy that a big club want our players – this is because they show they are a top player with top performances. It is good when they are linked. 
“But Harry, like Hugo Lloris, wants to stay here. He is one of the best players and he is very happy. He wants to grow up with us and try the next few years to try for the top four and win titles with Tottenham. This is his challenge. 
“We are through to the next round and this was our objective. 
“The objective is gone now. We will make sure we will arrive in a good condition to play Chelsea. We have a strong squad and a strong mentality, with the maturity. 
“It is true we arrive maybe not in the best condition to compete in the right way but respect to our medical staff for what they do – they will work during the flight and (on Friday) we have a day off. On Saturday we will assess.”

Gary Neville was a supremely successful footballer at Manchester United, he knows how a successful club operates and what it takes from an individual point of view to be successful as a player. He is now one of the top, if not the top, pundit on TV. Farr too many of them just give us waffle, we want to know what is going wrong and why or what is going right and why.

He provides that on TV and he provided more of it in his recent column in the Telegraph.

"Fans should be going to matches thinking they are getting some level of value. One measure of that is players who care for the badge, the shirt, who run around an awful lot, who look as if they hurt when the fans hurt. And a manager who is giving opportunities to the club’s own talent, making them dream. 
"Tottenham fans now can walk to the game thinking: ‘Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier – they are young English lads; I could be that player one day.’ Pochettino is looking after English players a lot more than many of his Premier League counterparts. It sickens me to think a coach could come to work in this country and start out believing English players are no good."

He discussed in that article the mental change in Tottenham players he now sees turning up for international duty, there is a desire there now there wasn't before. Player express themselves where before they were more in the background, don't make waves and I'll stay here, a do everything to please approach. If you have total confidence you express yourself, Pochettino is giving the players that belief.

It is early days yet, these are the beginnings, some players will kick-on, some won't, some transfers will be successful, some won't. All the while the system, the philosophy won't change, you buy into that and handle the pressures thrown at you, especially the mental ones when you are not playing, or you leave for a comfort zone elsewhere.


Tottenham is no longer a comfort zone, it a challenging zone. Pochettino will embrace those who embrace a challenge. Changing some of our fans from a losing mentality to a winning one is an even bigger task, changing limiting ingrained beliefs takes courage. Not everyone has it in them to do it. Do you?


Further Tottenham Reading
Stats suggest Spurs will finish above Chelsea -Chelsea will not make the top 4
Premier League more important than Champions League - link to an excellent article discussing the clear indications
Shots leading the league - a look at shooting, Spurs are the most accurate team in the league and Harry Kane the most accurate striker
Lloris: A punching analysis - link to an excellent article that reveals Lloris punches more than any other keeper in the top 5 European leagues
Spurs continue to scout Townsend replacements - we are casting our net far and wide in search of a new inverted winger

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