Daniel Levy must change Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that one of the goals upon his appointment was to change the mentality at Tottenham, which is the same aim that Andre Villas-Boas had but failed to achieve.
That tells you there is something wrong with the players, which is what Tim Sherwood said about them but fans didn't want to hear.
I have been writing about our weak mentality for a couple of years and nothing has changed. I read that Gary Neville has criticised Spurs mentality so I sought that out to have a listen.
Quite why some fans bury their heads in the sand and think mentality plays no part in sport they should sit down and watch the start of that second half, a start the side couldn't recover from. Mentality is everything. I've said it time and time again, you get yourself mentally ready before you cross that white line, not afterwards.
The whole atmosphere around the team is laziness, we'll do things in our own time, we don't have to try hard because we are better than the opposition.
Newcastle would have targeted that start, they would have spoken about Spurs not being ready at the start because, as Gary Neville says, we have seen it before. The performance and that start have nothing to do with skill, everything to do with mentality.
It's simple to say they shouldn't do it or it's easy to stop but why haven't they done it, why if they have been caught out before like this are they doing it again? It's their mentality. It's the same with the play, no urgency, all slow pedestrian, they never look like they are actually trying to win a game of football.
Gary Neville is the best analyst on TV but it doesn't take a genius to see the problem. Pochettino was charged with changing it but in 5 months nothing has changed, the weak mentality is still weak. He revealed this was one of the aims when he was appointed to change the club mentality.
All we fans are getting are meaningless PR words. I went to the website before the game to have a look at what the club were giving out to the fans before the game. We had the regular Ben Davies view, a brief Mauricio Pochettino view telling us, wait for it, shock horror, it will be a tough game.
But then we had Erik Lamela giving his view when everyone knows he isn't going to even be starting the game. He only came on because Aaron Lennon was injured. Why were we not getting the view of someone who were actually going to start, instead of PR words about a collective we when the we talking may not take part?
Spurs TV gives me the impression of a bunch of guys just out to enjoy themselves without a thought for anyone else. They seem to be more interested in being around the club and the players for their own benefit than for the fans. In my view the material that they produce is poor but there have been signs of improvement in that area but I don't think they fully appreciate why they are there.
Lip service and total belief or a passion are totally different things. That tells me that the mentality throughout the club is wrong, not just the players. It's like a cancer and the staff don't even realise they have it too.
In my Spurs Need to Go Mental series back around April time I spoke of continually making tiny little changes that on their own do hardly anything but together, over time, improve the club.
It's the Japanese Kaizen method, continuous incremental improvements introduced by Japanese management. The England rugby team under Sir Clive Woodward used it to win the World Cup but didn't continue with it when he left and have gone downhill since.
The culture throughout the club must change, not just the players.
It is imperative any player we bring in we analyse mentally. We are spending millions on a single purchase and it's incredible to do that without spending peanuts to make those checks through a trained professional. It would happen in business, it should happen in football.
We have catching up to do when it comes to transfer buying, why would any decent player want to come into a lazy culture? Why would any decent player want to stay?
The club is more interested in being nice and being a friend that it is in achieving anything.
I am not a Daniel Levy knocker, I support him and the work he is doing but I have to be honest, club culture comes from the top, it comes from Daniel Levy and the board. They are the ones who must change the club ethos, they have to break down, seek improvements for and implement improvements in the purchasing process.
Everyone is far too happy in their comfort zone and it's about time the club snapped out of it.
That tells you there is something wrong with the players, which is what Tim Sherwood said about them but fans didn't want to hear.
I have been writing about our weak mentality for a couple of years and nothing has changed. I read that Gary Neville has criticised Spurs mentality so I sought that out to have a listen.
"If we see this now and we have seen this before with Tottenham before at kick-offs. It's as if they are never ready.
"Just before kick-off now, Danny Rose, Vertonghen talking, Kaboul (captain) looking down at the floor, he's (midfielder) doing some sort of stretch or doing his laces, Dier has just come on late and he is looking the opposite way.
"How many times are Tottenham, this is a coach who had an alert team, a bright team last season, he's got to affect the culture of the football club, because if you look at this (showing videotape), the kick-offs about to be taken and they're still talking the left-back, I mean look Vertonghen is shocked, Dier's not ready, Rose isn't ready.
"It's so poor and it's what I think of Tottenham historically, it's what I always think of them, never ready.
"Weak, weak up here (taps his head), not alert and they have to change that culture. I think Pochettino needs to be given 2 or 3 years to run amok through that club to get rid of that type of attitude."
Quite why some fans bury their heads in the sand and think mentality plays no part in sport they should sit down and watch the start of that second half, a start the side couldn't recover from. Mentality is everything. I've said it time and time again, you get yourself mentally ready before you cross that white line, not afterwards.
The whole atmosphere around the team is laziness, we'll do things in our own time, we don't have to try hard because we are better than the opposition.
Newcastle would have targeted that start, they would have spoken about Spurs not being ready at the start because, as Gary Neville says, we have seen it before. The performance and that start have nothing to do with skill, everything to do with mentality.
It's simple to say they shouldn't do it or it's easy to stop but why haven't they done it, why if they have been caught out before like this are they doing it again? It's their mentality. It's the same with the play, no urgency, all slow pedestrian, they never look like they are actually trying to win a game of football.
Gary Neville is the best analyst on TV but it doesn't take a genius to see the problem. Pochettino was charged with changing it but in 5 months nothing has changed, the weak mentality is still weak. He revealed this was one of the aims when he was appointed to change the club mentality.
“In pre-season we pushed the players a lot to improve physically, tactically and in their mental condition too. We know that our challenge is to change this mentality and be stronger. This was the challenge from the beginning of the season.
“When we conceded the goals against Newcastle we tried to fix things in an individual way. We need to improve like a team.
“This is a period in which we need to be strong and calm, follow our way and work hard because we are sure that this dynamic will change.”
All we fans are getting are meaningless PR words. I went to the website before the game to have a look at what the club were giving out to the fans before the game. We had the regular Ben Davies view, a brief Mauricio Pochettino view telling us, wait for it, shock horror, it will be a tough game.
But then we had Erik Lamela giving his view when everyone knows he isn't going to even be starting the game. He only came on because Aaron Lennon was injured. Why were we not getting the view of someone who were actually going to start, instead of PR words about a collective we when the we talking may not take part?
Spurs TV gives me the impression of a bunch of guys just out to enjoy themselves without a thought for anyone else. They seem to be more interested in being around the club and the players for their own benefit than for the fans. In my view the material that they produce is poor but there have been signs of improvement in that area but I don't think they fully appreciate why they are there.
Lip service and total belief or a passion are totally different things. That tells me that the mentality throughout the club is wrong, not just the players. It's like a cancer and the staff don't even realise they have it too.
In my Spurs Need to Go Mental series back around April time I spoke of continually making tiny little changes that on their own do hardly anything but together, over time, improve the club.
It's the Japanese Kaizen method, continuous incremental improvements introduced by Japanese management. The England rugby team under Sir Clive Woodward used it to win the World Cup but didn't continue with it when he left and have gone downhill since.
The culture throughout the club must change, not just the players.
It is imperative any player we bring in we analyse mentally. We are spending millions on a single purchase and it's incredible to do that without spending peanuts to make those checks through a trained professional. It would happen in business, it should happen in football.
We have catching up to do when it comes to transfer buying, why would any decent player want to come into a lazy culture? Why would any decent player want to stay?
The club is more interested in being nice and being a friend that it is in achieving anything.
I am not a Daniel Levy knocker, I support him and the work he is doing but I have to be honest, club culture comes from the top, it comes from Daniel Levy and the board. They are the ones who must change the club ethos, they have to break down, seek improvements for and implement improvements in the purchasing process.
Everyone is far too happy in their comfort zone and it's about time the club snapped out of it.
5 comments
But there is never what we should do afterwards. Just another quopte from a plastic so-called Spurs fan.