Away Day Misery - Is Criticism of Pochettino Justified

Article by Jason McGovern @e_spursthailand

I will state at the very outset of this piece that I am very much a fan of Pochettino, and for me personally, criticism of him anything other than very mild is way off the mark. Fair expectancy for Pochettino’s 3 seasons would be year 1 top-6, year 2 top-6 with a top-4 challenge, and year 3 top-4. Targets for years 1 & 2 have been met, and we are currently on target to match this season’s, unless of course you were one of those that believed we should be targeting to actually win the league.

As always however, reaction on social media of our performance was predictable and understandable, and there were plenty of those that had Pochettino as their target as much as the team. As the head of the team, of course he is responsible for our away performances, and therefore even us very much in his favour have to understand the anger of some, even if we don’t agree with it. Certainly, the performances Old Trafford, The Etihad (for most of the game), and at Anfield were very poor and way below the level we expect.

Saturday saw yet another miserable away day at Anfield. Our record now stands at just 8 wins in 83 matches (in all competitions). 2 of those wins were in the very first 3 games, Even our great & very good managers, Arthur Rowe, Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw have a combined Anfield record of P24, W0, D9, L15, so in respect of Anfield alone, Pochettino record is no worse than most. That famous “This is Anfield” sign has haunted us ever since 1912.

I hate looking at football purely in the premier league era, but unfortunately, it’s that era that has made the top-4 so important, and comparisons between teams based very much with that top-4 in mind. In PL seasons since it started, Blackburn have won it, Aston Villa, Norwich, Blackburn, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Everton have all finished within it along with the now established clubs. However, it is against the now established top clubs and those we are competing against this season that Pochettino’s away record is judged against.

Our away record against Woolwich, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool since the PL started, and against Manchester City since they became serious top-4 contenders is:

Full record: P108 W8 D28 L72 F86 A222 Pts per game 0.48
Pre-Pochettino: P93 W7 D22 L64 F72 A194 Pts per game 0.46
Full record: P15 W1 D6 L8 F14 A28 Pts per game 0.33

Therefore, as much as us Pochettino supporters would believe, those against him are indeed right to point out his away record as poor. It can be argued that if we look purely at the past 2 seasons when we can say it was a true Pochettino side, that record is P10, W1, D 5, L4 and the points per game climb to 0.80. There is no doubt that even that figure is not good enough, and this average per season needs to be at a bare minimum of 1 point per game, (reflective of W1, D2, L2).

In all 5 games, even those we may well go on to lose, we should be competitive. Title winners may well target a minimum of 7/8 points from the top-5 away games. Last season, our overall return from them was ok, W1, D3, L1 but this year our return and performance overall have not been good enough.

In all areas of those games, individual ability, tactically, mentality, game craft and confidence wise we have to make improvements, and Pochettino has to play the major role in those improvements, and the doubters and critics will remain until we do so. Pochettino has indeed been able to rectify our home performances. Our win ratio against those clubs at home has increased from 27% (1.20 pts per game) to 46% (1.77 pts per game).

If Pochettino can indeed manage that upturn at home, I have confidence that he can improve us away.

It’s not just our away record against those top-6 clubs that has come under fire, his critics have pointed out our away record against all of the top-10. Again, whilst he has been in charge for 3 seasons, it’s these last 2, when it’s been a true Pochettino side, that I have looked at. It’s not fair to just look at the current table and the top-10 within that, some may have dropped out of it from when we played them, some on a great current run may have entered that top-10. Therefore, I have looked at our away games against teams inside the top-10 on the day that we actually played them (and their league position going into our game is shown).

08/08/15 - Manchester United - 4th* - L 0-1
22/08/15 - Leicester City - 2nd - D 1-1
08/11/15 - Arsenal - 2nd - D 1-1
28/12/15 - Watford - 7th - W 2-1
23/01/16 - Crystal Palace - 8th - W 3-1
14/02/16 - Manchester City - 4th - W 2-1
02/03/16 - West Ham United - 6th - L 0-1
02/04/16 - Liverpool - 7th - D 1-1
18/04/16 - Stoke City - 9th - W 4-0
02/05/16 - Chelsea - 9th - D 2-2
15/10/16 - West Brom - 9th - D 1-1
06/11/16 - Arsenal - 2nd - D 1-1
26/11/16 - Chelsea - 1st - L 1-2
11/12/16 - Manchester United - 6th - L 0-1
28/12/16 - Southampton - 7th - W 4-1
02/01/17 - Watford - 10th - W 4-1
21/01/17 - Manchester City - 5th - D 2-2
11/02/17 - Liverpool - 5th - L 0-2

* - finished 4th previous season, match played on opening day of following season.

Our overall record in these games is P18, W6, D7, L5, F29, A20, Pts 25 (1.39 pts per game). That away form falls short of being title winning, but is very much in line with what you would expect from a top-4 side, and therefore, to me criticism of his away form against the top-10 clubs is indeed harsh. Just 5 defeats from 18 away days against the top-10, all of which have been against top-6 clubs shows just how competitive overall our away form has been.

The fact that some, even if at the moment it’s a relatively small minority are criticising Pochettino, labelling him as clueless, and tactically inadequate is criticism in my opinion that is way over the top. He has taken us from a side that was never talked about in the same sentence as title challenging, to a side that is expected to finish within the top-4 and put up some fight for the title.

He has turned us into a side most neutral’s would say is very good, and a side where our major weaknesses are highlighted as what happens when we have injuries, rather than any major weakness in our actual best eleven. That for me shows the progress we have made since he took over, and why he continues to be the right man for the job. In the event we have reached the ceiling under him, it is still important to remain at that ceiling level for the longer-term future of the club, rather than changing managers and risk going backwards.

There are improvements Pochettino can make himself, improvements he needs to make, but they are improvements I believe he is capable of and believe he will make. They are improvements I am more than happy to allow him more time to make.

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