Pochettino Points The Finger At Spurs’ Preseason

Mauricio Pochettino has claimed that a late start to pre-season is responsible for Tottenham Hotspur’s run of poor form.

Spurs secured a morale-boosting 5-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League last night, but this was only our fourth win of the 2019-20 campaign, across 13 matches in all competitions.

The widespread belief is that a failure to refresh the squad and an unsettled dressing room was the main factor behind the slump, a theory given credence by Pochettino admitting there was “different agendas” within his squad, as The Mirror reports.

However, the Argentine now seems to have backtracked and has blamed a lack of preparation time in the summer, caused by reaching the Champions League final, for Tottenham’s disappointing performances and results. He is quoted by BBC Sport as saying:

“In football we try to find a reason from nowhere. The problem was on the pitch and that is all. It’s normal to see problems on the pitch, and you try to find a way to spark the team.

“But things happen in football you can’t explain. It is so difficult and complex to explain. My theory is we started late in our preparation.

“We used pre-season not just to settle our principles of play and build fitness, but also to build a dynamic of the group. I believe that was affected because we started so late [because of the Champions League final].”

While it is a more comforting explanation than ‘half the players don’t want to be here and the manager is fed up with not being backed by the tight chairman’, Pochettino’s reasoning does not stand up to scrutiny.

Tottenham’s troubles go back to last season when we lost 20 games and only the European fun masked a drastic dip in form after the Christmas period.

What is more, a lack of pre-season doesn’t account for players not trying, an unbalanced squad, the manager picking guys who are on their way out over those who have signed new contracts, and an absence of playing identity.