"The club is not focused completely on winning titles," says Mauricio Pochettino
What's the story?
In a bold statement released by Mauricio Pochettino during the weekend, the Argentine has confessed that in-spite of having ensured Tottenham's best start to the league, he is far from happy and is left with the "worst feeling" he's had at Tottenham which he admits is strange.
In case you didn't know
Tottenham's construction of the new stadium is taking its toll on the finances and Daniel Levy has been heavily engaged in meeting financial demands elsewhere. Hence, his focus at the moment has shifted away from developing the squad.
Tottenham did not make a summer signing and their net expenditure is £29 million during Pochettino's tenure which is the lowest amongst the top 6 and a club like Tottenham cannot be expected to challenge the top dogs with such a low net-spend.
The feeling of home has been taken away as well with the club making use of the Wembley stadium as the revelation and the use of the new stadium got delayed due to reasons owing to the construction.
The heart of the matter
Pochettino's men have competed hard to grind out seven victories this season but the boss is far from happy. In a majorly bold statement released just before the Manchester City game, Pochettino said:
My feeling is the worst feeling. Out of nearly five years of starts to the season, is the worst but is the best start for the club ever in the Premier League. It's strange, no?
He also went on to say:
The club is not focused completely on winning titles. Today we spend a lot of energy on many things. One is to win games but it is not the priority to win games. The club needs to be more focused on winning titles.
It's about to learn to compete, it's about to learn to be better, to change something that maybe we need to do different or maybe we are never going to learn because we have some quality but we cannot cross this level.
Making a straight throw of the darts aimed at the board and at the issues, Pochettino has made it clear that the club needs to prioritise winning titles and needs to have more funds. Thereby implying more backing financially in the market to bridge the gap between them and other top clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.
The 'home' factor and the presence of the new stadium in 2019 is going to play a huge role in the club's current era and in-spite of having some world-class players at his disposal, Pochettino finds himself to be fighting hard against the odds, almost like a loner wanting more glory and not the basic comfort.
What's ext?
The timing of the press conference is key as it comes, coincidentally or not, directly at the time when Real Madrid were minutes away from sacking Julen Lopetegui. Mauricio Pochettino did sign a new contract but the world's biggest clubs are going to change their managers soon enough and one of them apart from Real Madrid could be Manchester United themselves.
A world-class manager like Pochettino would now feel that he's laid the foundations for Tottenham and he needs a new elevation in his career which he deserves. It's going to take a lot of promise from Daniel Levy and others to make the Argentine stay.