Saving Our Saints – Pochettino’s magical work at Southampton

When Mauricio Pochettino arrived at St. Mary’s mid-season, he had his work cut out for him. At that point, Southampton had been promoted at the beginning of that very season to the top flight of English football and were just three points clear of the relegation zone with demotion looming over their heads. Nigel Adkins had completed roughly two and a half years at the club, taking them from 22nd position in League One along with two back-to-back promotions to their first English Premier League appearance since 2005. Despite his commendable work, Nigel Adkins was shown the door by owner Nicola Cortese (who is running the show for the Liebherr Family) which was met with skepticism by fans and supporters alike. However, Cortese stuck by his decision citing that he had Southampton’s “long term ambitions” in mind and paved the way for Pochettino to take over the reins at Southampton.

Pochettino had been hailed as a coach of substantial quality, an astute tactician and a brilliant man manager but not without good reason. At Southampton, he has shown himself to be bold, fearless and hungry for success. He spent the remaining part of the season with just one aim in mind: Keep Southampton clear of the relegation zone and ensure their return to the EPL next season. Along the way he experimented with the line-up, forged relationships and really got to know the players that were playing for him. He pushed a 17 year old Luke Shaw in at left back and dropped the underperforming Gaston Ramirez. Come summer, he augmented the existing line-up with just three key signings who have, in their own way, paid off big time for Southampton. Dejan Lovren has come in to strengthen the Saints’ defence and along with Jose Fonte has formed a formidable partnership at the back for Southampton. Victor Wanyama arrived from Celtic FC to strengthen the midfield and Pablo Osvaldo (who many people refer to as Johnny Depp’s look alike due to his uncanny resemblance to the Hollywood star!) was snapped up from AS Roma to partner Lambert up-front.

The best part about Pochettino (and the reason I believe Southampton have done so wonderfully well this season) is that he is never afraid to try out new things. He adapts to the situations incredibly fast which reflects in how Southampton have played so far this season. Southampton have been seen to change formations mid-game shifting seamlessly from a 4-2-3-1 to a more orthodox 4-4-2 and then back again in flash. Pochettino has shown immense faith in the South Coast Club’s youth academy just the way he did during his time as Espanyol’s manager which does not just bode well for the club but also for the English National squad as well. Young players offer him more aggression, intensity and hunger but most importantly they are more malleable giving Pochettino enough room to mould them into roles that he has envisioned for every one of them.

Being a defender himself, Pochettino has sorted out the Saint’s defense remarkably well. The inclusion of Lovren has given the defense a depth that has previously been unseen and to top it off the defensive line presses, almost attacks, up-field always in an attempt to gain possession and maintain it. This obviously means that everyone in the squad has to work harder than before but no one is complaining. His experience as a defender definitely guides the way he implements tactics on the field. When you are a defender, you know the kind of attacks that you hate to face and what Pochettino does is that he tries to replicate and implement those with his team.

As a manager, Mauricio drives his players really hard, always urging them to take control of the ball, to maintain the pace and always keep on pressing. His style has been termed as ‘dynamic, brave and attacking’ and it is certainly causing oppositions problems. Daniel Pablo Osvaldo played with Pochettino at Espanyol and joined him again at Southampton joked “He makes you suffer like a dog and at the same time you hate him for it but by Sunday you’re grateful because it works.”

Currently Southampton are poised at fifth position in front of Manchester United and six points adrift of league leaders Arsenal. The coming weeks are crucial for Southampton if they want to secure a place in the European Championships but they really need to pull their act together and prevent lapses of concentration, most recently being goalkeeper Boruc’s shocking (and painful) display of his dribbling skills against an oncoming Giroud who promptly dispossessed him of the ball and scored into an open goal. If you analyze the statistics of that match, it was a much closer fight than the score line reflected with Southampton actually keeping more possession than Arsenal and having more shots at the target. They travel to Stamford Bridge to face an in-form Chelsea team from where they must take away points to maintain steam as they near the January transfer window. I’m sure that Pochettino is far from giving up on his dream of securing a European Championship berth and he definitely looks like a man with a plan.

Mauricio Pochettino is the man to watch out for this season and Southampton, the team to look out for.