Lack of character. Nothing new about that when talking about Spurs of course, but it has to be the most worrying part for Pochetino, as far as I am concerned. Exactly because he's had much more time working there than Guardiola at City. The difference between the 2 teams in terms of confidence, personality etc, was huge, even though City's energy levels were far from ideal tonight. Which was expected, they could not have been, as simple as that...
Despite clear instructions of establishing a rational build up from the back, the Spurs players failed to deliver. Very rarely did they feel comfortable on the pitch, on the contrary they seemed uncertain in their moves w / wo the ball in most parts of the match. Lack of communication, wrong decision making, misplacing passes, easily losing battles, occasionally panicking etc, you name it. Totenham cannot handle the pressure, tonight's performance was clearly another sign of a fragile mentality...
I seriously doubt they believed much in themselves tonight. I mean from the beginning. Watching the match I could not control my frustration with the amount of opportunities City wasted. But at the same I never felt any kind of fear with their game. Just frustration and nervousness: as long as it remained 1-0 anything could have happened, we've experienced it million times. And the moment Kevin scored the 2nd they completely surrendered. Last season's match at the same stadium was a different story, wasn't it? Which shows you the level of progress the team has achieved under Guardiola. Despite physical fatigue, the team individually as well as a unit never lost its determination, fighting spirit, high work-rate, composure, organisation, control of the match. City players knew they had Spurs in their pockets...
There's no doubt Totenham have indeed improved under Pochetino. But as long as he fails to deal effectively with the mental issue, his team will never make the bigger step. As it stands, challenging for a top 4 position will remain Spurs' realistic objective. In order to be more ambitious, you need consistency. Which in turn requires a different mentality...
Despite clear instructions of establishing a rational build up from the back, the Spurs players failed to deliver. Very rarely did they feel comfortable on the pitch, on the contrary they seemed uncertain in their moves w / wo the ball in most parts of the match. Lack of communication, wrong decision making, misplacing passes, easily losing battles, occasionally panicking etc, you name it. Totenham cannot handle the pressure, tonight's performance was clearly another sign of a fragile mentality...
I seriously doubt they believed much in themselves tonight. I mean from the beginning. Watching the match I could not control my frustration with the amount of opportunities City wasted. But at the same I never felt any kind of fear with their game. Just frustration and nervousness: as long as it remained 1-0 anything could have happened, we've experienced it million times. And the moment Kevin scored the 2nd they completely surrendered. Last season's match at the same stadium was a different story, wasn't it? Which shows you the level of progress the team has achieved under Guardiola. Despite physical fatigue, the team individually as well as a unit never lost its determination, fighting spirit, high work-rate, composure, organisation, control of the match. City players knew they had Spurs in their pockets...
There's no doubt Totenham have indeed improved under Pochetino. But as long as he fails to deal effectively with the mental issue, his team will never make the bigger step. As it stands, challenging for a top 4 position will remain Spurs' realistic objective. In order to be more ambitious, you need consistency. Which in turn requires a different mentality...