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Poch comes clean.

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Poch comes clean.

Edwards, not like Messi.

Poch has come clean about Marcus Edwards in the book by Journalist, pundit and author Guillem Balague see: The book On Pochettino, Brave New World.

As you should know by now, two books are up for prizes here on Vital Spurs, and as I`m reading it now, bit by bit a few burning questions from last season, are being answered.

It was mentioned here that rumours said to be from people connected to the club that not all was well with the ‘English Messi` of course then came an injury issue, plus another op that side-lined him, but even when this became clear, the rumours of all not being well persisted.

Again and again you`d see demands for Poch to ‘play Edwards` and at times a complete lack of comprehension and even rage at why he wasn`t being given a chance` Poch was somewhat ignorantly accused by some of not wanting to play him.

Now it seems there was a real foundation fo r[the rumours] his lack of playing time; ‘A Brave New World’ gives an insight into issues with what many Spurs fans believe will be a future ‘wonder player` and a game-changer, the sort that many think we lack now.

Poch says this in the book:

‘Sometimes I wonder whether it was wise to liken him to Messi. He’s only 17. At that age, Messi was making his debut for a Barcelona side featuring Ronaldinho.’

Perhaps one of the most stinging aspects of his comments are where he sees a clear cultural difference between a young English lad and an Argentina one; I wished he`d expanded on this so we could better understand what the criticism was really pointing towards; saying it`s ‘cultural` is a bit of a cop out for me, was it attitude, a sense of entitlement, a lack of work ethic, too much, too soon – was it a lack of parental guidance. How do Argentinian kids think and act differently?

But Poch said just this:

‘They’re from different families, backgrounds and cultures. One of them thinks like an Argentinian and the other like an Englishman. Marcus is still in the process of adapting to the rigours or being a professional, which require you to act and think differently, be disciplined and make sacrifices. He has authority and behavioural problems, and we have to look at the bigger picture to find out the root cause’

Perhaps shockingly Poch even suggests he might not have had a professional future at all;

“There was a time when it would have been seen as impossible for him to play professionally, let alone make it in the Premier League.”

‘Our challenge is to get him to accept the pathway we’ve laid out for him, and it’s our responsibility to make sure he behaves himself when he trains with the first team. He has no shortage of talent, but there are gaps to be filled: he has to learn to score ugly, run more and be committed.’

Poch explained why he even mentioned Messi as a comparison : ‘The reason why I said that he was ‘our Messi` is because Leo is the target. Marcus needs to have the conviction that he can become a top professional and believe in the journey separating him from that destination. It’s a shame that injury has now halted that process.’

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Off the reserves bench again.