Pochettino highlights inability to guarantee playing is a problem



Question:
How hard is it to push someone like Harry Kane? You're asking a striker to come where he's not going to play. That's been the problem, hasn't it?

Mauricio Pochettino:
"No I think this is almost as important because Harry Kane knows very well that when he was behind Soldado, or Adebayor, he knows very well what happens when, in a moment, you have no focus. If you have in behind another who is pushing, if you don't give your best then maybe...

"And he knows that his manager is about the performance not only in the game but during the week. And that is important, the players that combine to add to the squad know that if they are better and challenge and deserve to play then they play.

"It is true that it is difficult now that you cannot guarantee to the player that they play when they sign but you can guarantee that your provide good tools to challenge our players."

He makes a very important point. Footballers from Europe are guaranteed starters for their clubs and asking them to come to a club and fight for a place isn't always easy. Many players stay in Europe and get guarantees of starts.

We heard from Etienne Capoue how he expected to be a guaranteed starter when he came to Spurs and didn't react well when he wasn't, as he later admitted. If a player is guaranteed a start in Europe and you are a young developing layer, how important is it that you play?

For the majority they will say it is, which makes signing them for Tottenham difficult. Mauricio Pochettino has shown he can develop players and that is a selling point, but if that means not playing regularly for a season, a season prior to a World Cup, and that carrot doesn't look so appealing.

It has been a difficult window for fans who equate spending with improvement, which isn't always the case.

COYS

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