Football News

‘Pochettino looks more frustrated now Spurs have spent money’ – Tim Sherwood

By Ben Green

Published: 19:51, 5 September 2019

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood believes Mauricio Pochettino looks more stressed now than when the club kept its wallet closed.

Spurs went from penny pinchers to high rollers this summer, moving away from 18 months of inactivity to become the 15th-highest spenders across Europe for 2019.

Why is Pochettino frustrated? Five things to know…

  • Prior to this summer, Spurs went two successive transfer windows without signing a single player.
  • Their last purchase was Lucas Moura from PSG in January 2018.
  • Despite this, Pochettino kept Spurs competitive, reaching the 2018/19 Champions League final.
  • The club spent just south of £100m this summer in preparation for the new campaign.
  • But, after a sluggish start and rumblings behind closed doors, Sherwood believes Pochettino would have been better off not spending.

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Across the past window, the Lilywhites spent just shy of £100m on new recruits, including record-signing Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon and Jack Clarke, as well as a loan deal for Giovani Lo Celso.

That flurry of activity came after the club opted against spending in the two windows prior but, despite that, Pochettino managed to guide the club to consecutive top-four finishes in the Premier League as well as the Champions League final.

However, in the formative stages of this new campaign, Spurs have looked lukewarm at best, with Pochettino himself describing his squad as “unsettled”, leading Sherwood to explain how the Argentine looks more frustrated now than when the club wasn’t spending.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Debate, he said: “Pochettino has looked more frustrated when Spurs have spent money, which is normally the opposite way to managers.

“When they haven’t spent money, Pochettino is happy with his squad. He knows he has a group who are fighting in the right direction and buying into his long-term project.

“Now he’s brought in loads of new players who all want to start, and that causes headaches for a manager because you have to be the bad man in the end.

“You can only pick 11, but it will benefit him in the long run because of injuries down the line. He has a thicker squad to choose from.”

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‘Spurs need to win a trophy’

While many have lauded Pochettino for his tactics, youth development policy and ability to work on a shoestring budget, a trophy has thus far eluded his career, and Sherwood believes now is the time to break that silverware duck.

He added: “He needs to concentrate on this season. He cannot look ahead to next year because he doesn’t know what sort of squad he will have.

“In previous years he’s known what type of squad he will have for the next two or three seasons, but now there are a few players at a crossroads.

“Spurs themselves are at a crossroads because of the uncertainty of some player’s futures, but they’ve just got to get on with it.

“For me, they have to just get their heads down and win a trophy and maybe those players will then want to stay.”