Can Pochettino teach Rose too?
Ricky Lambert recently revealed the type of pre-season training that Mauricio Pochettino had Southampton undertake last summer. He also reveals he taught him how to be a lone striker, so can he teach Danny Rose how to be a defender?
Now if you asked Tottenham players to walk over hot coals last season they would probably have packed their bags and left but that's exactly what Pochettino had the Southampton boys do and did himself as Lambert reveals.
There is that phrase again, winning mentality. Last season we simply didn't have it, a leave of absence for a year, let's hope it returns next season because we won't make Europe without it.
I've seen several programmes on walking on hot coals, as Lambert says it's a mind over matter thing, a mental boost to show you you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it, that you can overcome any barrier.
Spurs certainly need to overcome their mental barrier to winning. I don't mean winning the normal run of the mill games but winning towards the end of the season, when the final race is on down the home straight as it were.
Some weaken, some gain in strength. In recent seasons we have blown it, weakened to let a mentally stronger Arsenal overtake us. That is the time for a winning mentality to come to the fore, that's when we have to stand up to be counted as the saying goes, but to often we've had a few go missing in action.
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Xesco Aspar, a motivational speaker and former coach of Barcelona’s handball team was the man instilling thet hot coals winning mentality. That included Pochettino as well, you can't ask your troops to walk on hot coals if you are not prepared to do it yourself.
Some call all this motivational stuff nonsense, usually from a lack of understanding, but it helps to build a team. We are all in this together, having a laugh and a joke it form bonds with teammates. Footballers don't all get on, you don't buy a player on the ground of who he will be friend with, yes you try not to buy someone who will upset the apple cart but many a team has had teammates who don't speak to each other. It's better if they all get on though.
Lambert talks of the journey he has made and you think to Spurs players and wonder who is going to make a journey with us, plenty of them need improving.
That does rather beg the question, how many other players are there like that who haven't actually been taught how to play the position. Has Danny Rose been taught how to play at Full-back or just shoved back there to earn?
Has Christian Eriksen been taught how to defend or did we just leave him last season to try and pick it up? You do begin to wonder.
Now if you asked Tottenham players to walk over hot coals last season they would probably have packed their bags and left but that's exactly what Pochettino had the Southampton boys do and did himself as Lambert reveals.
“That was the easy part, walking on hot coals!
“That was a relaxing afternoon. Mauricio Pochettino took us away for 18 days, including 11 days in Portugal, to do all the conditioning work.
“It was all very specific, it wasn’t just run to a tree and back. It was very well organised. On the coals he got some fella in to try and give us that winning mentality. It was very interesting. One of his methods was to walk across burning coal bare-footed. It was a challenge: mind over matter. You knew nothing worse could happen to you during the season.”
There is that phrase again, winning mentality. Last season we simply didn't have it, a leave of absence for a year, let's hope it returns next season because we won't make Europe without it.
I've seen several programmes on walking on hot coals, as Lambert says it's a mind over matter thing, a mental boost to show you you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it, that you can overcome any barrier.
Spurs certainly need to overcome their mental barrier to winning. I don't mean winning the normal run of the mill games but winning towards the end of the season, when the final race is on down the home straight as it were.
Some weaken, some gain in strength. In recent seasons we have blown it, weakened to let a mentally stronger Arsenal overtake us. That is the time for a winning mentality to come to the fore, that's when we have to stand up to be counted as the saying goes, but to often we've had a few go missing in action.
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Performance Analysis
World Cup Group B set for a shock
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Xesco Aspar, a motivational speaker and former coach of Barcelona’s handball team was the man instilling thet hot coals winning mentality. That included Pochettino as well, you can't ask your troops to walk on hot coals if you are not prepared to do it yourself.
Some call all this motivational stuff nonsense, usually from a lack of understanding, but it helps to build a team. We are all in this together, having a laugh and a joke it form bonds with teammates. Footballers don't all get on, you don't buy a player on the ground of who he will be friend with, yes you try not to buy someone who will upset the apple cart but many a team has had teammates who don't speak to each other. It's better if they all get on though.
Lambert talks of the journey he has made and you think to Spurs players and wonder who is going to make a journey with us, plenty of them need improving.
“It is quite the journey. The way it has gathered momentum, it’s frightening. Everything went my way at Southampton and each manager that came in improved me massively and especially Mauricio. He taught me how to be a different kind of player and I think that’s helping now.
“I never really got taught to be a striker in the first place and then I never got taught how to be a lone striker. He taught me how to be the lone striker and the thing that I was doing wrong most was the fact I thought I had to show for everyone on the pitch.
“Whoever had the ball, I felt I had to run over and show for the ball, get on the ball. He was saying ‘take your time’ and ‘wait until the right people have got on to the ball’ like Adam Lallana and others further up the pitch. After that, I had an understanding of how to play that position a lot better.”
That does rather beg the question, how many other players are there like that who haven't actually been taught how to play the position. Has Danny Rose been taught how to play at Full-back or just shoved back there to earn?
Has Christian Eriksen been taught how to defend or did we just leave him last season to try and pick it up? You do begin to wonder.
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