As the days grow closer to Saturday, it is becoming apparent that Mauricio Pochettino’s job with Tottenham is under threat.
After revealing that this weekend’s clash with West Ham will be a ‘make or break’ fixture for Pochettino, The Telegraph have followed up by reporting that the Spurs manager held talks with Daniel Levy over his future with the club with players in the squad now bracing themselves for a managerial change.
Is Pochettino still the right man for Tottenham Hotspur?
Yes, absolutely!
No way, Poch out
This latest update seemingly means that anything but a win this weekend could see Pochettino sacked as manager of Tottenham, yet if this was the idea in the first place, Spurs and Levy have already missed the perfect chance to bring in a new man to take up the hot seat in north London.
Indeed, a glance at Tottenham’s upcoming fixtures before Boxing Day show that if the club are to appoint a new manager, they will be met with an extremely difficult run of games which include away trips to Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Wolves as well as a home match against Chelsea.
As well as a difficult run, the number of fixtures will be seemingly too much to handle for any new manager, with Spurs playing seven matches in the span of 26 days following Saturday’s clash against West Ham, an average of one game every three days before Boxing Day.
With all this in mind, it begs the question as to why Pochettino’s position at Tottenham wasn’t resolved during the recent international break.
The two-week break in the club schedule would have been the ideal opportunity for Tottenham to bring in a replacement for Pochettino as a new manager will then be given the time to adjust himself to his surroundings as well as the squad.
If Tottenham are to stumble again against West Ham and proceed to sack Pochettino, the congested fixture list and overall intensity this period of the season brings to Premier League clubs could make the situation and Spurs worse than it already is, and it could have largely been avoided had the north London side took the necessary measures during the international break rather than the first game after it.