Tottenham lost their way after the sacking of new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino in 2019. Photo: Getty Images/Justin Setterfield
In A season of dashed ambition and crushing disappointment for Tottenham Hotspur. Mauricio Pochettino's move to Chelsea was the final stab at the heart of their supporters.
This is also another major addition to the allegations against Tottenham, which seem to be a club torn apart not only by uncertainty, but also by unjustified vanity.
The fact that Spurs didn't even pick up the phone and talk to Pochettino. about coming back knowing he's open to the prospect is overwhelming. As shockingly and — yes — vainly as they let it be known that they had no interest in Julian Nagelsmann.
The former Bayern Munich head coach may well be, as feared, too expensive for the Spurs, and rightfully so. But he also had misgivings about the club and who would be its next sporting director — not that chairman Daniel Levy would probably use that title for whoever succeeds Fabio Paratici.
The Italian, suspended from the sport for 30 months for false accounting while he was at Juventus, had the role of «managing director of football». Whatever that means. But then much of what the Spurs do is mired not only in confusion but also in a lack of identity.
The brutal truth is that no one knows what the Spurs stand for. It's almost an existential question — and certainly a philosophical one — but what do «spurs» mean? There were so many seemingly reflexive, confusing decisions that their identity was lost. There are no more cultural markers for what the Spurs are, so it's no wonder it's hard to know which direction they're going in.
Kane was right when he said the Spurs had lost their value
The Spurs have some very good players and very competent staff, from Rebecca Caplehorn on the board of directors, director of football management and management, to director of football Gretar Steinsson and, not least, acting head coach Ryan Mason. where's the route map?
Harry Kane, with one year left on his contract and his own future uncertain, hit the nail on the head in recent interviews when he accused the Spurs of losing values and lacking culture in recent years. Mason agreed and everyone understood what they meant.
The fact is that since the dismissal of Pochettino, the Spurs have simply lost their way. In the last months of his life, they were moving in the wrong direction, but this was mainly due to a lack of investment in the team that was catching up.
After the dismissal of Pochettino, Levi was guilty of short-sightedness and short-sightedness. unsuccessful appointments as he hired a succession of short-term managers in a hopeless pursuit of immediate success: José Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte.
The set of players has been just as disappointing and the Spurs, with their great stadium and excellent training facilities, look like they are thundering in housing well above their standing.
And now their best manager in years, the same who helped them all but get rid of the Spurs' reputation, joined their bitter rivals. How will it look for Kane, who almost single-handedly led the Spurs to eighth place in the Premier League, if Pochettino lifts the trophy in this country before him?
Spurs seem to have no direction or personality under Daniel Levy. Credit: PA/Peter Byrne 
Protests against Levy have become commonplace in Tottenham. Photo: Action Images/Peter Ciborra
The Spurs could bring him back. Instead, it looks like Levi couldn't swallow his pride and do it. Instead, it seemed that he could not stand the return of the manager he unsuccessfully replaced, and he had to shell out tens of millions of pounds for those who followed him into the dugout and were also fired.
This, too, to unfortunately reeks of vanity for Levi, who seems to have made serious mistakes, not least after being so unnerved by Spurs' participation in the European Super League.
Arsenal stupidly signed up for it too, but — and it could hurt Spurs even more than Pochettino's move to Chelsea — they have now left their north London neighbors behind because they organized themselves properly.
< p> Just look at Arsenal. compared to spurs. The clubs have stadiums of the same size. They have similar budgets and similar scale. But that's where the comparison ends.
Arsenal bought Arteta like Spurs bought Pochettino
Arsenal bought Mikel Arteta in the same way that Spurs bought Pochettino and created an environment and support structure around him to succeed. There is a way. No one talks about the owner, the «silent» Stan Kroenke, anymore. Everyone is talking about Arteta, the players and using this season's unexpected title bid as a springboard, not an endgame.
In 2015/16, Spurs were close but didn't produce a result. The following year they finished in second place, but have already done well. The Champions League final seemed like the end of something, not a continuation, as was the case with Liverpool winning that game. This is the difference.
What the Spurs have done with the training facility, the stadium and the overall management of the club is impressive. Organic growth is to be commended.
Levi pushed them forward, made them competitive in an environment where they were up against clubs with superior resources. But they have reached a plateau, and this plateau is in danger of turning into a downward slope due to the shortness that has infected the club and for which the chairman must take responsibility.
Pochettino could help with a culture reset, a rediscovery of values, that the Spurs have to do, and perhaps Levy delegates to his new, de facto No. 2, Scott Mann, the new chief football officer, to do it. For Levy, that would make sense.
For the Spurs, it's much more than just getting a manager appointed. Whoever comes must have the right conditions; work under the correct name. Otherwise, he, like all Pochettino's successors, is doomed to failure.
Meanwhile, Pochettino returned to football and to Chelsea. For Tottenham fans, this will be a twist of the knife.
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