[ad_pod ]
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
TalkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino does not believe that Mauricio Pochettino will be Tottenham Hotspur manager at the end of the season.
What’s he said?
Pochettino hinted at frustrations with the club’s transfer policy on Tuesday after Real Madrid were beaten 1-0 in a pre-season friendly.
The Argentine claimed that he was not in control of dealings and that his job title should be changed from manager to coach, as he simply coaches the team.
And Cascarino believes that, following a season in which Spurs reached the Champions League final, Pochettino may have taken the club as far as he can.
He said: “We all question whether Frank Lampard will still be at Chelsea by the end of the season and if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will still be Manchester United manager next summer.
“But the one I feel is the more likely to go from the top six first is Pochettino.
“I look at Poch and I just feel from what’s happening and what he’s communicating, I’m not sure he’s going to be there at the end of this season.
“I just don’t see it.
“I think it was as good as it was going to get for them last year, with them getting to the Champions League final.”
He added: “I think there’s an element of frustration that his imprint in the club is still not where he thinks it should be.
“He’s been at the club a long time and they haven’t won anything and there’s frustration in the way he’s talking.
“When he used the words, ‘now my job is the coach’, he’s sort of saying it wasn’t that when he first joined the club and he had a much bigger say on who came in, but now he’s saying he’s just given the players and is coaching them and trying to improve them, which he is doing.”
Smart analysis
Spurs fans won’t like hearing it but Cascarino could well be right.
Now, of course, Spurs have spent a club-record fee this summer to buy Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon.
But they have yet to strengthen anywhere else; there have been no signings in defence and none in attacking midfield either, despite the persistent links with Giovani Lo Celso of Real Betis.
As it is, Spurs could be heading into the season with a weaker squad than last term.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
And that is sure to frustrate Pochettino, who called for a rebuilding job in north London at the end of the 2018/19 season.
One imagines it would be remarkably difficult for Pochettino to find himself sacked – it would surely take an incredible downturn in form – but frustrations could well boil over and the Argentine could take his leave.
It would be a jolt to the system for most Spurs fans but, at the same time, it may not be a surprise.
[ad_pod ]