You must only go back four months to find Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final. They ultimately lost the game to Liverpool but it was a massive achievement by Mauricio Pochettino to take the club that far in European football’s premier club competition.
However, to some it was seen as another failure. Another great opportunity to win a trophy with Spurs slipped away. Having joined the London club in 2014, the Argentine has yet to win a single trophy and that is a statistic which is used against Pochettino by those who believe he has taken Spurs as far as he can.
During the last few months of the 2018/19 campaign, Pochettino was being linked with a move away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It was believed Real Madrid were interested in taking Pochettino back to Spain, where he featured as both a player and manager for Espanyol. There were also links with the Manchester United job but that was handed to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Pochettino stayed with Spurs and having kept his best players over the course of the summer transfer window plus added Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso, big things were expected of Spurs this season. However, it has been a disappointing start to the 2019/20 season and the rumours of a potential departure for Pochettino have resurfaced but this time for different reasons.
With the second international break of the new season underway, Spurs find themselves 9th in the Premier League table. For a club who were expected to challenge at the top of the league this season, 11 points from a possible 24 available is a bad return.
Trends show Spurs have lost four of their last five games in all competitions. They have tasted defeat at Leicester City and Brighton in the Premier League plus Colchester United in the League Cup. However, the biggest loss came at home in the Champions League to Bayern Munich. Despite taking the lead in the match, Spurs went on to lose the game 7-2 in what was a devastating night for the club.
The fact Spurs responded to that loss with a 3-0 defeat at Brighton in the Premier League only added fuel to the claims that Pochettino’s time could be up.
With Watford at home to come after the international break, only a win will do. The Hornets have endured a terrible start to the season and Spurs fans will expect nothing less than a big win. Pochettino loves to see his team press, putting the opposition under extreme pressure when they have the ball and attacking with fluidity when the ball is won back.
We have not seen that from Spurs this season. They are not winning the ball high up the pitch and have become easier to play against as a result. If their poor form continues, Pochettino could find his reputation as one of the top managers in the game comes under scrutiny, in addition to his continued position at Tottenham Hotspur.