In the briefing on Friday, I outlined the strengths and weaknesses of Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough, our upcoming opponents, who are languishing in the lower reaches of the table. I also told the players that they knew as well as I did what had happened in the previous three games (against Wycombe in the FA Cup, and Chelsea and Sunderland in the league), and that I was expecting a different demeanour from each and every one of them.
On Saturday afternoon, Chelsea beat Arsenal 3–1 to move 12 points ahead of us – we’re still second.
Ours was the late match that day. It turned out to be a decent display. We controlled the game and created twenty chances against a team who sat very deep. We didn’t make the breakthrough in the first half, but Kane scored a penalty in the second. Middlesbrough didn’t threaten once . . . until the last minute. We nearly dropped two points.
Following back-to-back draws, we finally got back to winning ways in the league in what was my 100th game in charge of Tottenham. We remain the only side who are still unbeaten at home. Next up, we take on Liverpool at Anfield.
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Everton’s Ross Barkley celebrated a goal against Bournemouth before scoring, after rounding the keeper but before having put the ball in the net. It was their sixth goal and in the 94th minute (6–3 was the final result). Sport gives you grounds to cry and rejoice, but we must never forget that it’s our duty to promote good values: you must never disrespect your opponents. You should want to win, to destroy them, but there are lines that can’t be crossed.
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Adam Lallana has told me that he has very fond memories of the dinner that Nicola Cortese organised in his honour after he signed his last contract at Southampton. Adam, his wife, his family and the coaching staff were all there. Lallana had spoken very highly of me to his dad, but we were yet to meet. We enjoyed the meal, accompanied by some fine red wine, and his father, who is a real gentleman, witnessed our great rapport with his own eyes. We both went away with a good impression; it made me better understand why Adam is the way he is. His son is going to be a mascot at Anfield this weekend. By the way, Adam hasn’t trained for Liverpool all week, but I’m convinced he’s going to come back to haunt us.
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This period of the season has confirmed certain impressions that we’ve had about the team for weeks, months even. That we can only compete with the best if we’re firing on all cylinders. When we go off the boil, we can get steamrollered, as was the case today at Anfield.
It’d been a while since we’d felt this powerless.
You can get a feel for a match’s outcome and what sort of mood our players are in within the opening 50 seconds. Liverpool went into the game defiant, their pride dented after a run of three points from a possible 15, including a loss to Hull last time out. The Reds were sensational, displaying conviction and ambition going forward, and making the most of their quality in central midfield and up front. They could’ve scored three times in five minutes, when we’d conceded only 16 goals in our previous 24 league games.
We once again succumbed to the backlash from a wounded powerhouse. Mané, Lallana and Wijnaldum all showed us up with their ability, their pace and their mental strength.
Our team structure, the organisation, papers over many cracks when individuals make mistakes. Today was one of those days when taking action can only make things worse, so you’re best off doing nothing. You just have to keep calm.What can you do?
The verdict is clear: having been unable to haul in Leicester City last season, it’s going to be at least as difficult for us to reel in Chelsea this time round. Not because of Chelsea’s level, but rather because we need to give much more.
In the last three seasons, we’ve won only once away to the top sides, which was against Man City. That stat was doing the rounds in the press today, but we actually analysed it a couple of weeks ago. We’ve also fallen short in the Champions League. It’s the same old story. And after games like today’s, we’ve got to do some deep and honest soul-searching. It’ll be painful, but we’ll come out of it stronger.
Both attitude and ability matter, but where does one begin and the other end? Who is responsible for the mistakes? Every time they caught us out they got a shot off, and as time passed they made us feel small, breaking us physically and psychologically. The opening 25 minutes made us think that we’re not ready to win the title.
I didn’t rant and rave at half-time, or gesticulate wildly. I didn’t even raise my voice, but I made myself clear: we all knew what was missing. ‘Lads,’ I said, ‘this isn’t good enough. This isn’t what football’s about.’
We came out with a better attitude in the second half, but we were 2–0 down by then (Mané got both goals, incidentally) and all we were able to do was keep them at bay.
Manchester City have leapfrogged us, so we’ve dropped down to third place, level on points with Arsenal and ten behind Chelsea. It’s very tight around us: we’re two points ahead of sixth-placed United, while fifth-placed Liverpool are a point away.
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It’s Sunday today and we’ve got the day off. I took the time to check out some statistics earlier. Unlike what the press have been doing over the last few days, I didn’t limit myself to the last three seasons; rather, I delved back ten years in order to get more perspective. And it turns out that the club’s struggles against the top sides have been a constant. But that’s not all: Tottenham have actually been faring better in these fixtures in recent times than in the past. We’re competing increasingly well against the heavyweights; they’re no longer putting four or five goals past us, which used to be a common occurrence. We’re measuring up better than ever, even though we’re still failing to beat them away from home.
Now we’ve got to lick our wounds, wash the bitter taste out of our mouths, build ourselves up again and talk shop with our leading lights.
We’ve got a great opportunity to advance in Europe and the FA Cup, with three cup games coming up before we return to Premier League action. I’ve decided to leave Vincent Janssen behind for our trip to Gent.
Meanwhile, my diet is going well. My weight has stabilised and even though I’m not exercising every day, I’m trying. When I don’t make it to the gym, it’s because I can’t, not because I don’t want to.
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I’ve just got a message from Jesús, who’s been watching the Africa Cup of Nations final. One of the players involved caught his eye. While we continue to search for that extra something to push us over the line and make us win more matches now, we’re planning for the future too. They are parallel processes.
What’s most important is for everyone at the club to agree that we need to make changes. And then stick by that decision.
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We lost 1–0 to Gent in the first leg of our Europa League last-32 tie.
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I asked for some videos to be cut. First I played the squad some footage of us at our best, and then I broke down where we could have done better against Liverpool and Gent.
I reminded them of our rationale, reiterating that we can’t afford to work less hard or play with less intensity than the opposition, because that’s what defines us as a team. Then I switched the monitor off.
‘Do you want to win trophies?’ I asked. ‘Have you got the same ambition to win that I have? If so, why don’t you show it? Not every match can go according to plan, but in my book, it should hurt when that happens. You’ve got to keep trying, even if things aren’t coming off. And you should be big enough to own up to your mistakes. There are some areas on the pitch where you have to tread more carefully, but mistakes are something we have to learn to live with, in fact, we learn from making them. If you’re not free to commit them, you curb your creativity.
‘Having said that, if you’re going to hoof fifty balls upfield from the back every game, I’m not going to be impressed, because that’s not what I’m asking of you. Why are you defending so deep when we’ve specifically asked you not to?
‘What do you wa
nt? For us to dwell on each aspect of the game and run the same drill a hundred times? I did that as a player; we’d practise a hundred corners the day before matches. I am sure you don’t. I am sure you want to be treated like adults – we explain, you listen, we practise, you improve. No rules off the pitch, no impositions, because if I don’t trust you to take responsibility and make decisions off the pitch, how can I expect you to do so on it? So, fine, we treat you like adults. But for that to continue, you have to behave like adults.
‘I’ve been here for two and a half years now and the progress we’ve made together is down to a certain sense of discipline that comes from doing everything collectively and with mutual respect for one another, as well as for the people around us who are here to help. Without that spirit, we’ll win nothing. I want more of that.
‘And lads, I really hope these things stand you in good stead in football and in life too, in every sense. I hope that one day you realise how wrongly you’ve been approaching so many things. You’ll thank me for it.’
Emotions run very high in football. If you’re in trouble, which is how I see it right now, you have to make sure the players know the score, yet reassure them at the same time. You’ve got to remind them that there’s a way out of the situation, but that even if we provide them with the solutions, ultimately it’s all up to them. It may just have been me, but they seemed pensive immediately afterwards while they were doing their pre-activation workout before training.
Will any good come of all this, this rehashing of things they already know?
Tomorrow we’re away to second-tier Fulham in the FA Cup.
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We won 3–0 through a Harry Kane hat-trick. We’re through to the FA Cup sixth round.
Tomorrow I’m going to play them a clip of the first two minutes of today’s match: we bared our teeth, winning three aerial duels in the first 50 seconds. Fulham didn’t know what had hit them.
I was asked about Janssen again. I left him on the bench throughout against Fulham, having previously omitted him from the squad entirely against Gent. After the first of those games, I said: ‘He needs to show more.’
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It is just a matter of minutes since the end of our return clash with Gent, which was played in front of 80,465 people – the biggest crowd in Europa League history. It finished 2–2. We led twice, only to be pegged back on both occasions. The first equaliser was a really ridiculous own goal. Dele Alli was sent off just before half-time for a high tackle.
We were going to change formation, but on being reduced to ten men, we decided to stick with our three at the back and simply attack, attack, attack. We took risks and gave it our best shot. It almost paid off. We held nothing back; our effort, intensity and teamwork were superb.
I never give post-match team talks, but this time I felt the urge to. I told them that I’m proud of how we played with ten men. This is exactly why I get so annoyed when we don’t show what we’re capable of; I told them that if we performed like this all the time, we’d never lose.
‘And one more thing . . .’
Dele Alli was down in the dumps. That’s why I told him, in front of the rest, that these things can happen to anyone and that he hadn’t let us down: ‘You simply made a mistake. There are other players who let us down all week long, from Monday to Sunday; they feature in plenty of matches, but it’s like being down to ten men because they’re passengers. They, the guys who hide, are the ones who are unforgivable.’
Dele never leaves us in the lurch. Now it’s my job to protect him at my press conference.
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Today, Saturday the 25th, we showed the squad some highlights from the Gent game to press home how well we started and also how dynamism can make up for numerical inferiority. You have to be willing to run risks, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I rounded off by putting on that Robbie Williams song, about loving your life and what you do.
Some of them were singing it as they left the room. Half-mockingly, I think. Bastards.
We went for the same starting XI in today’s league game against Stoke as against Gent. It was a calculated choice. We were 4–0 up by half-time, with Harry Kane hitting another hat-trick – his third in nine games – inside 23 minutes. No further goals were added in the second half. We’re back up to second in the table.
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Earlier in the week, the press reminded me that Tottenham have won only three trophies in 33 years (an FA Cup and two League Cups) and haven’t claimed any silverware since 2008. Then they asked me about what stage we are at in our process.
This was my reply:
‘We have pushed the expectations higher, and that is good. But maybe we are not ready [to win trophies]. It’s like the stadium: if we want to move today, we are not ready to play there. We need to wait, to put in the foundations. Our chairman is helping with it – new facilities at the training ground, a new stadium to help to be a better team and a bigger club. We are on the way to building one of the best clubs in Europe.
‘But we must be patient.’
9.
MARCH
There were only two league games in March (against Everton and Southampton, both at White Hart Lane), while Tottenham also hosted League One side Millwall in the FA Cup sixth round. The papers became rife with rumours about the future of some of the players (including Dier, Rose, Walker and Kane) and of Pochettino himself, after he was seen with the FC Barcelona president.
Jesús has just sent the following diagram in the coaches WhatsApp group. It’s a good reminder of the kind of leader I would like to be to the group. And, when in doubt, the kind of path I must follow.
Speaking of leadership and how to be a coach, Carlo Ancelotti gave a fascinating interview to Gabriele Marcotti for ESPN, which provided food for thought and warrants a few remarks.
The journalist quizzed Ancelotti about a recent comment by Guardiola about deriving more satisfaction from performances than from results. ‘The result is an empty thing,’ Pep had told NBC Sports, ‘The result is [that] I’m happy for the next two days and I get less criticism and more time to improve my team. But what satisfies me the most in my job is to feel emotions, the way we play . . . the process is the reason.’
‘Sure, he’s right,’ Ancelotti replied emphatically.
But does this really reflect the essence of Ancelotti’s and Guardiola’s thinking, and what our job is all about? Sometimes we change our tune depending on the situation. Like a rich person proclaiming that money can’t buy happiness, we tend to fall into the trap of saying that trophies aren’t important . . . except when we win them.
Where does enjoyment come into play? For those who climb Everest, suffering and gratification go hand in hand during their ascent. They reach the peak, spend a few minutes there and then climb back down again. It’s the same for me: I take pleasure in the journey. I only know of one path to the top of this profession: enjoying your work, being flexible and willing to evolve, and finding time to be alone and think creatively . . . although it’s getting increasingly difficult. But we all play to win; anyone who says otherwise is lying.
I hope I don’t change my tune when I win trophies. If I do, I’ll be a successful coach, but I’ll have lost moral authority.
Ancelotti went on to observe that, ‘The only thing a manager can’t control is the result. When it comes to our clubs, when you reach a certain level, we have almost total control. But this is an unpredictable, low-scoring sport where individual episodes have an outsized influence. And a manager can’t really control that. That’s the irony though, isn’t it? You as a manager are judged on results and not on the work you do and the performance of the team . . . not on the things you can control, but on those you can’t.’
Obviously it’s a results business and football revolves around the players. But we have a major influence on the decisions they make on the pitch, and that means eventually on the results too. I’d go further still: we’re constantly making decisions
that affect their lives off the pitch. I wonder how many families I’ve made happy in my eight years as a coach, and how many I’ve left frustrated.
Given that responsibility, decisions must be properly thought through. There is a tendency towards rash judgements, of which I was a victim during my playing career. During my first conversation with Daniel, he abruptly asked me, ‘What do you think the squad’s strengths and weaknesses are?’
‘I don’t know,’ I replied, ‘and I won’t until I’ve worked with them for six weeks.’ I hadn’t arrived with all the answers on a pen drive.
Ancelotti also said that, ‘The fact is on matchdays there’s very little a manager can do. You do your work during the week . . . As for reading the game and adjusting . . . I don’t know. First of all, you don’t see the game well from the dugout. When I watch our games back, I spot plenty of things I missed the first time around because I have a different vantage point.’
I strongly disagree with him on this front. I think we have a considerable impact on games. For starters, the image we convey to the players can give them peace of mind. Lots of coaches jump up and down on the touchline screaming out, ‘Calm, calm, calm!’ Is that really going to enable them to keep their composure?
I’ve always felt that it’s useless yelling at players to tell them to run this way or that; they just look at you and think, ‘Why don’t you come and do it yourself?’ Shouting accomplishes very little, especially if you lose. It’s basically total hysteria. Frankly, those sorts of coaches never put themselves in their players’ place, because if they did, they’d go bright red with embarrassment.
I’ve got to admit that I only learnt that over time, though.
The players don’t miss anything that goes on in the dugout. During the opening match of my second season at Southampton, away to West Brom, our goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, was about to play the ball out from the back. One of our full-backs was unmarked right out by the touchline, near where I was. I started gesturing to Artur with my hand: ‘Pass it here, over here, to the full-back!’ Artur went the other way, mishit his kick and the ball went out for a throw-in. I turned to Toni: ‘Son of a bitch! What the hell is Boruc doing?’
Brave New World Page 24
