Respect - Townsend and Bentaleb

SPURS vs CRYSTAL PALACE



There are plenty of sentimental fans who want Spurs to keep players like Andros Townsend and Tom Carroll, see them given a 'chance', even though they get a chance in training every day. That kind of sentimental attachment to a player is no good for a manager who has to look at a situation with cold hard eyes.

Those same fans don't want us losing games, they don't want us dropping points, yet also want youth developed. We have found a manager who is clearly better than the average manager and perhaps tempers that desire some hold. He works with youth all the time so if he decides a talented young player has something missing or circumstances prevent their development, then their departure isn't as much of a blow to them perhaps.

Tottenham can't develop every player in the Tottenham team, thus some must fall by the wayside, Andros Townsend was one of those and today he'll be on the left wing taking on Kyle Walker and trying to provide crosses in traditional style. It is rare in this world of inverted wingers to see a left footer on the keft wing.

Pochettino let him go after 16 years at Spurs, a tough call but one that was needed to be made. He had little end product, he rarely scored and rarely created anything for others while being not up to the task defensively.

"I think the discipline is important. It is important that all players want to be part of the team, and play for the team. 
"The discipline and the realisation are very important for success .That is very important, to show respect for everyone at the club. That is one of the principle things that for me is very important. 
"I think that football is full of hard decisions. It is not about personal things or issues. We [Townsend and I] have spent nearly two years together here and had a good relationship. We took a professional decision. I think that it is not an issue. We split our ways and nothing happened. 
"As a manager, you take a lot of decisions every day. If a player's not happy because they want to play more, then they try to find another way to try to play. This is the difficult thing with football. Basketball is different - you can have a squad and change every five minutes or two minutes and everyone is happy. Football is different."

Respect for staff at the club is important to Pochettino. There is a chain of command and specific staff have to do specific jobs. Townsend showed disrespect to the fitness coach and that was the end for him. Adebayor, Kaboul, Capoue and to a lesser extent Lennon all challenged authority, all are gone.

We don't know the story but Nabil Bentaleb has clearly been left in no doubt he has no future at White Hart Lane. You get the impression that there has been a similar lack of respect for authority, rather than a purely footballing ability decision.