Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has admitted his side are in a similar position to the one he faced five years ago.
Pochettino took over from Tim Sherwood in the summer of 2014, with the team having finished sixth in the Premier League after losing Gareth Bale to Real Madrid the previous year.
Are Spurs experiencing deja vu? Five things to know…
- Pochettino took charge of Spurs in 2014.
- The Argentinian has since overseen a massive overhaul of players since.
- They are now Champions League regulars, reaching last season’s final.
- But Spurs have won just two of their opening eight games in all competitions this term.
- And Pochettino believes he is now in a similar situation to the one he faced five years ago.
The Argentinian’s first transfer window saw Spurs sign six new players, including Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Benjamin Stambouli, while the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Iago Falque, Michael Dawson, Sandro and Heurelho Gomes were allowed to leave.
Since then, Pochettino has seen Spurs vastly improve, turning the club into Champions League regulars – which included them reaching the final of last season’s competition, despite not signing a single player.
Transfer business returned to Spurs this summer, with Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon, Jack Clarke and Giovani Lo Celso all joining, but the club were also tasked with keeping key man Christian Eriksen.
The north London side have started the new season poorly, with just two wins from their opening eight games in all competitions which included being knocked out by Colchester United in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
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It extended Spurs’ poor away form, with Pochettino’s men yet to win on the road this season. And the Argentinian believes he is facing another big rebuild at Tottenham.
“It’s a similar situation [to my first season] but different circumstances,” he told reporters.
“Similar situation but with a different solution and a different way to operate.
“[My first season] was more difficult. When I arrived in 2014, I didn’t know a single player, Daniel [Levy] didn’t know me – he needed time to understand my philosophy, my ideas, how I need to work and why I didn’t reply when he sent text messages to me!
“He needed time to understand me. But now, Daniel knows how I am. We needed to create a channel to communicate with each other. Many things like this [made it more difficult than now].”
After three consecutive games on the road, Spurs finally return to home comforts and will be looking to return to winning ways when they welcome Southampton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend.
Kane questions Tottenham’s “maturity”
Pochettino is not the only person to draw comparisons to the Spurs of now and the one which existed in his first season in charge.
Speaking after Tottenham lost a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Olympiacos in the Champions League – having also done so against Arsenal in the Premier League – Harry Kane questioned the maturity of the club.
“We’ve all played in big games for club and country,” he said.
“I can see why the manager is frustrated because he’s been here for six years now and we’re still making similar mistakes to the ones we were in his first year. We’ve got to find a way to get around it and improve.
“I don’t doubt the mentality of the team. We’ve come through a lot in the last few years, including reaching the Champions League final after being down and out in the group. But a bit more maturity will help.”