The Argentine returns to north London for the first time on Monday, but the man in the opposing dugout is ensuring Spurs are finally moving on
Mauricio Pochettino finally makes his long-awaited return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday, but in circumstances that few could have predicted; rather than a heralded return to the home dugout after four years away, he will be taking his seat as the away manager, in charge of Spurs' fierce London rivals Chelsea.
That would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the Tottenham support if not for his Australian counterpart, Ange Postecoglou, who has turned the north Londoners' fortunes around and guided them to the upper echelons of the Premier League table. In doing so, has helped the club to finally move on from Pochettino, ending years of clamour for his return. His early success is made all the sweeter by Chelsea's coinciding struggles.
In their brief time in charge of their respective London foes, Postecoglou and Pochettino have enjoyed/endured contrasting fortunes, but Monday night will be a significant waypoint on both of their journeys. So, how do the two tacticians compare so far, and what lies ahead?
GettyForging a togetherness
Both managers entered clubs that were close to breaking point in the summer, inheriting unhappy, disjointed squads that had underperformed significantly under the previous incumbents. Something that evidently topped their lists of priorities and underpinned their work throughout the summer and into the opening weeks of this season, then, was restoring some unity and fostering a togetherness. Both seem to have succeeded in good time.
Speaking recently, Pochettino said: "When you have an unsettled squad, always it's difficult and you lose time and then you need time to recover the time you lose. That's where we are. Maybe our performances are good but you need [something] extra, which is mental — a connection. It's energy to be all together, not to have different agendas in the squad. We need time to build that togetherness that you need when you are competing at this level."
Talking about the unity at Tottenham, newly-named club captain Son Heung-min said: "This is [being a] part of family. We are getting really, really tight in the changing room. Everyone is working for each other, running for each other, fighting for each other."
AdvertisementGettyTwo elite man-managers
As renowned man-managers, it's little surprise that both have already managed to lift the gloom in their respective dressing rooms, but it seems to be a story of two very different approaches that have both yielded success.
Pochettino clearly likes to be hands-on and familiar with his Chelsea players, and his handling of Mykhailo Mudryk – who was bereft of confidence when the manager arrived but has had his self-esteem restored over the weeks and months since – is a shining example of that. The Argentine has taken the Ukrainian under his wing, worked with him on a one-on-one basis, even playing crossbar challenge with the winger, and provided support as both a manager and a friend.
Postecoglou, meanwhile, has been watchful from a distance, giving the Tottenham players more responsibility off the field as a collective in an attempt to empower them as individuals. The Australian said recently: "A lot of it has to be player-driven. I can sit there and paint the prettiest of pictures but they need to believe in it, they have to buy into it. As I keep saying, it’s their dressing room. They go there every day. I don’t go into the dressing room. And the environment is going to be key to us being successful."
(C)Getty ImagesContrasting fortunes
That is largely where the similarities between the two coaches' journeys to this point end. After a slow start and having ridden their luck at times, Postecoglou has his side battling right at the top of the Premier League as we enter November and – more importantly in the eyes of many a Spurs fan – they are back to playing the front-footed, attacking brand of football last seen under (you guessed it) Pochettino.
Things have not been so smooth for Pochettino and Chelsea. On his return to English football, the Tottenham favourite oversaw the Blues' worst start to a season in 45 yearsin the midst of an injury crisis. There were always the shoots of recovery, though, as Chelsea vastly underperformed their xG, and they enjoyed a timely resurgence in October as they hallmarks of Pochettino's MO began to shine through.
However, a dire home defeat to Brentford seems to have knocked them back to square one.
Getty ImagesTargeted changes vs complete overhaul
One of the main obstacles to immediate success for Pochettino – as was always likely to be the case – has been integrating a raft of new signings after overseeing a fire sale of unhappy and unwanted players.
His north London counterpart benefitted from very few of the club's regular first-team starters moving on, and Postecoglou signed off on just a few targeted signings to improve the side in certain areas of the pitch, such as James Maddison.
Pochettino, meanwhile, has had to contend with 21 outgoings, including the likes of Mason Mount and N'Golo Kante, whom he surely would have wanted to work with, as well as 11 newcomers – the vast majority of whom were young and unproven in the Premier League. Getting them to gel was never going to be instantaneous, and the head coach has already lamented the amount of business done in the summer. "At the moment, I think we are a young team, a young team means too many changes in the summer because of the circumstances and we are suffering – sometimes good and bad results, but performances are consistent," he said.
When you also factor in the malaise that enveloped Stamford Bridge throughout a nightmarish 2022-23 campaign on and off the field, it is little surprise that it has taken four months to see even the earliest signs of improvement at Chelsea.
That is not to detract from Postecoglou's work, however; three of Tottenham's main summer signings in Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario, as well as returning loanee Destiny Udogie, have all been performing at an exceptional level from the off, which is a complete anomaly in the unpredictable world of transfer dealings.