Pochettino's winning approach
Maricio Pochettino recently spoke to the Standard and his words were an echo of what i have been writing since last season, thus they are very welcome.
Football, as all sport is, is mainly in the head, players with skill are ten a penny, those that stand out and appear to have a higher level of skill than others simply have the mental attitude to continually look for improvements.
Gareth Bale had a dream to play for Real Madrid so has continually worked to take his game to a level where that wish became reality. Cristiano Ronaldo decided at Manchester United he wanted to be the best player in the world so set about a personal development programme and we have seen the results. Achievement like that takes the mind of a winner, you have to set a goal, turn that goal into a burning desire. Then it's simply a process and planning a strategy and putting it into practice. For a winner the outcome is inevitable so for anyone who wants to improve their life that's the formula.
The result is small improvements which added up over time make a massive difference. It is an approach I have advocated for Tottenham, the Kaisen method, not just for the playing staff but for the club as a whole and that means all it's staff, all it's purchasing, logistics, catering, everything.
It is an approach Mauricio Pochettino has brought to the playing staff, which has been a shock to some of them who were happy in their comfort zone trotting along. maintaining a skill level or a fitness level, or a game reading level, or a vision level, a decision making level, maintaining any level is no longer good enough, improvement is the order of the day.
Of course you can't improve every aspect of your game simultaneously, you try of course but some areas will take precedence and Pochettino has highlighted areas to each individual player to work upon improvements. Those that want to work and make progress could have a future even if some of them are being linked with a move away.
Players will have made their mental decisions at different times, some as recently as November and some will have decided such a regime is not for them. Thus some are further along the path and trusted more than others at the moment. I have a feeling that Mousa Dembele has finally made the mental switch required and is now working on aspects of his game, whether it is too late for him at Tottenham I don't know.
Think about it for a moment, improving a team is one thing, improving a system is one thing, but if you are improving say 15 of your 25 man squad then you have made a significant difference and the team performance will be enhanced as a result. Now if you improve just 5 areas of each of those players, even if they are just small, then you have made 75 improvements and any 11 selected will have 55 improvements.
If they all improve a little bit more then you repeat the results and the team improvement becomes even more pronounced, yet you haven't added a superstar to make the difference, you haven't crippled the club with a wage bill, you have just added the right mentality.
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Pochettino may not have convinced a section of our fans who don't seemed to have grasped money equals success. Spurs don't have it to compete but when things come together for a club with a smaller budget then they can have, usually an isolated success. Mauricio Pochettino has not had the chance for success given the constraints he has been under at other clubs so the fact he has no trophies to his name is irrelevant in today's game.
To find a way to beat money you have to have a strategy and Tottenham have one, they have sourced a head coach who subscribes to that philosophy and brought him in. They seek to continually improve the playing staff within the club, the next step is to continually improve the club as a whole and a part of that is a new stadium.
Tottenham are moving along the right lines, it may not be fast enough for some but we are going in the right direction after a turbulent period. Pochettino's leadership has been tested and he has come through, Levy's has been tested and he has come through, backing his head coach, who as I reported in the summer is here for the long haul.
The road will be paved with hills and valleys, let's enjoy the journey and I hope your journey in life faces a similar upward curve.
Football, as all sport is, is mainly in the head, players with skill are ten a penny, those that stand out and appear to have a higher level of skill than others simply have the mental attitude to continually look for improvements.
Gareth Bale had a dream to play for Real Madrid so has continually worked to take his game to a level where that wish became reality. Cristiano Ronaldo decided at Manchester United he wanted to be the best player in the world so set about a personal development programme and we have seen the results. Achievement like that takes the mind of a winner, you have to set a goal, turn that goal into a burning desire. Then it's simply a process and planning a strategy and putting it into practice. For a winner the outcome is inevitable so for anyone who wants to improve their life that's the formula.
The result is small improvements which added up over time make a massive difference. It is an approach I have advocated for Tottenham, the Kaisen method, not just for the playing staff but for the club as a whole and that means all it's staff, all it's purchasing, logistics, catering, everything.
It is an approach Mauricio Pochettino has brought to the playing staff, which has been a shock to some of them who were happy in their comfort zone trotting along. maintaining a skill level or a fitness level, or a game reading level, or a vision level, a decision making level, maintaining any level is no longer good enough, improvement is the order of the day.
“You can always improve in all areas and I have never set a limit. As with tactical situations, you can always improve your physical condition and you can always do better every day.
“That is our challenge: never to stop working, and after that we will see where the limit is."
Of course you can't improve every aspect of your game simultaneously, you try of course but some areas will take precedence and Pochettino has highlighted areas to each individual player to work upon improvements. Those that want to work and make progress could have a future even if some of them are being linked with a move away.
Players will have made their mental decisions at different times, some as recently as November and some will have decided such a regime is not for them. Thus some are further along the path and trusted more than others at the moment. I have a feeling that Mousa Dembele has finally made the mental switch required and is now working on aspects of his game, whether it is too late for him at Tottenham I don't know.
Think about it for a moment, improving a team is one thing, improving a system is one thing, but if you are improving say 15 of your 25 man squad then you have made a significant difference and the team performance will be enhanced as a result. Now if you improve just 5 areas of each of those players, even if they are just small, then you have made 75 improvements and any 11 selected will have 55 improvements.
If they all improve a little bit more then you repeat the results and the team improvement becomes even more pronounced, yet you haven't added a superstar to make the difference, you haven't crippled the club with a wage bill, you have just added the right mentality.
Recent Articles
Spurs future is a promising one
Italian interest at £12m not viable
Pochettino & Levy plan the way forward
Kaboul gives Spurs a problem
Spurs start to master off the ball running
Pochettino may not have convinced a section of our fans who don't seemed to have grasped money equals success. Spurs don't have it to compete but when things come together for a club with a smaller budget then they can have, usually an isolated success. Mauricio Pochettino has not had the chance for success given the constraints he has been under at other clubs so the fact he has no trophies to his name is irrelevant in today's game.
To find a way to beat money you have to have a strategy and Tottenham have one, they have sourced a head coach who subscribes to that philosophy and brought him in. They seek to continually improve the playing staff within the club, the next step is to continually improve the club as a whole and a part of that is a new stadium.
Tottenham are moving along the right lines, it may not be fast enough for some but we are going in the right direction after a turbulent period. Pochettino's leadership has been tested and he has come through, Levy's has been tested and he has come through, backing his head coach, who as I reported in the summer is here for the long haul.
The road will be paved with hills and valleys, let's enjoy the journey and I hope your journey in life faces a similar upward curve.
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