Whenever things start going wrong at a football club, fans and the media alike are very fast to attribute blame to whoever has been underperforming. Often that man is the manager, and many a gaffer has been sacked when their players have been letting them down.
At Tottenham, we’re not expecting Mauricio Pochettino to be sacked anytime soon despite the poor form as of late. However, that hasn’t stopped the Argentine from being blamed for the issues, and whilst he obviously has to hold his hands up at times, with every passing game he’s becoming less culpable.
After the manager has set his side up, drilled his tactical approach and messages into his players and put them out on the pitch, when they cross that white line there is very little he can do barring in-game changes to have an impact on the pitch, and it’s his players that are letting him down.
In recent weeks we’ve seen some shocking mistakes from a number of the Lilywhites’ trusted stars. Hugo Lloris, Serge Aurier, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose and Davinson Sanchez have been directly at fault for some goals that have been conceded this season, and that’s nothing to do with Poch.
Whether or not the players care is a different matter, but considering the options that the manager has at Tottenham, there is only so much he can do. We’ve seen him tackle games with a 4-4-2 diamond shape in midfield and it hasn’t worked, so we’ve seen a return to the three at the back in recent weeks.
That change is massive, Pochettino has seen the problem and made a conscious effort to rectify it with a change of shape and system, yet the players continue to make mistakes and whilst the pressure is building on Pochettino, with every passing game he’s becoming less culpable as his players let him down.