Poch Criticises Transfer Tardiness.
Talking to The Guardian Poch said some home truths, that may not go down well with our chairman..
It looks like a shot across the bows of Daniel Levy that he has to do better this January and summer and not leave getting deals done until the last few minutes of the last few days of a transfer window.
There really is not another way to read this for anything other than what it is; a stinging public rebuke that suggests that all is not well between them and that rumours of their relationship not being the love affair it once was having the ring of truth about it.
As Daniel reads this story, he certainly will not be applauding Poch’s honesty.
Pochs book made it clear that after he has agreed the targets with his team that the final machinations are fully in the hands of our Chairman, and speaking with the Guardian it’s clear he thinks that we pay a big price for our tardiness.
Poch has this to say;
‘This summer was a very good example because we signed good players but it was so late and with no pre-season [for them], you pay,’ Pochettino said. ‘You then need six or seven months for the player to be fit, adapt himself in everything and that is always against us.
‘The most important thing that we have been talking about is to identify our targets and, on 3 July, when we start our pre-season, they are here. If we don’t, it’s so difficult for them to help the team and then, during the season, you are going to pay. It’s so important today to identify your targets for the summer. If not and we wait until May and, before we sign, we sell, it’s so difficult to bring in players that can help.’
If you contrast those sentiments against the reality of our business in the summer we signed Davinson Sánchez, Paulo Gazzaniga, Juan Foyth, Serge Aurier and Fernando Llorente in the final two weeks of August. Foyth, Aurier and Llorente came in the last 48 hours, and Poch made it crystal clear he does not want to be put in that position yet again;
He sounds tetchy and responds aggressively to a question about the need to finish in the Top 4 again to attract the type of quality we need:
‘But you have the very good example of last season,’ he said. ‘How did we finish? In second place. And we attract? We attract?’
The questioner tried to be positive and highlighted how Sánchez had been signed. ‘We attract a 21-year-old,’ Pochettino said, pointedly. ‘Yes or no?’
The summer window will be a tricky one for ‘last minute.com’ Levy – because of the World Cup the window will close for incoming signings on the Thursday before the Premier League season begins?..which means if we leave our business late, it will be another managerial nightmare.
It raises the possibity of us having to, or at least trying to do some business for next summer in this January window – in which case our normal reticence to do deals in January will have to change.
And with a nod to the my info that Rose is off in the summer, it is suggested that Poch would like to get a deal in place for Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, even if it means loaning him back for the rest of the season, just as we did with Dele:
‘The Dele signing is a very good example of the need to anticipate,’ he said ‘We cannot be reactive because if we are, we are going to lose. If we are going to compete in the same period with City, United, Liverpool or Chelsea, then we are going to struggle to bring in the players we want. Maybe we need to sign the player in January and they can join in the summer.
‘We tried to make early signings last summer but we could not, for different reasons. Now, we are going to try again to do things early. If we cannot again, I am going to say: ‘Come on, we could not again!”
That really sounds a major kick up Levy’s backside, which as we know from the past, he really doesn’t react well to.
I can’t help but wonder if Poch is another manager that can sense Levy getting ready to stick another notch on his desk if the second half of the Premier league season doesn’t improve, or unless we go all the way in the Champions league..
Do you agree?
Share this article
