Has pochettino brought something differerent to the table? (Hah!)

[Mr X]

In your opinion what does pochettino give saints that Adkins couldn't? Would Adkins have got the wins against the big guns? Are you happy with pochettino so far?

[Glasgow_Saint]

Big wins at the right time! he has continued the good work Nigel started imho

[pangy]

Still hard to tell as we looked like we were turning a corner under NA,Mo has us pressing the ball and pushing up that is the obvious observation,we have always been a good technical side imo and have always passed it around well and we still play like that,the one thing I have noticed that is different under him is that he seems to be getting the best out of J-Rod and having them switch positions during a game seems to be working well.

 

I would say he is the right man for the job,and I think with a few tweeks in the summer we can easily be a top half team next season.

[egg]

Without a doubt.

 

He's bought tactical thinking. Take our last sub today. Shaw wasn't 100%, ward prowse wasn't working on the right and we were being murdered down the left.

 

Poch made his decision only after a lengthy chat with the fitness fella. He then gave shaw cover, shifted ward prowse and used the energy of J Rod. Brilliant.

[Olallana]

Dont know if I have the stamina for another thread like this but....

 

- Players that really looks better is JRod and Davis to start with.

- Tactical changes during games much better.

- Not afraid to take command of the games, despite opposition. Dont think we did that in the same way earlier.

- Team selection is made from our own view, not focusing on oppsition at all. (Lambert should never ever ever start on the bench, as simple as!)

[Kingsland Red]

After seeing Adkins interview after the 0-1 surrender at Anfield he seemed content that we were 0-1 going into the last few minutes.

MP would have gone for the jugular.

NA, being the decent bloke he is, showed far too much respect for the opposition, MP's team goes for it.

[Katalinic]

Big wins at the right time! he has continued the good work Nigel started imho

 

So "Pinocchio" not so bad then after all Glasgow? Different level from NA in truth.

[St Chalet]

My one concern is that our game seems to work against good footballing sides. Wins against City, Liverpool, Chelsea and a stunning effort at Man U have been tempered by Newcastle, QPR and Norwich games.

 

Can't remember which poster said it was like Paper Scissors Stone game. Pressing high beats passing football from back, which beat hoofball, which in turn beats Pressing game. It is not as simple as that, but I would like to see strong performances against Reading and West Ham to convince me that MP has it sussed.

[Saint Garrett]

Good post ^. Definitely made us more effective and would say he's getting the best out of certain players.

 

I do worry about teams who put 11 men behind the ball though. Might be ok vs Reading as they've got to have a go, but West Hoof Utd will be a very tough game. Would love us to batter those ******s

[Mr X]

The way pochettino sets the team up with the high pressing makes for exciting football! Makes for nervous viewing on counter attacks though and a dangerous game to play! But it seems to be working at the moment so fair play, my only doubts is wether he is a one trick pony as we don't seem to have any other style but then maybe there is no need for a plan b?

[Lallana's Left Peg]

More than one way to skin a cat so not to say Adkins wouldn't have been able to achieve the same results but Pochettino has us set-up considerably more aggressively than Adkins plus it appears any efforts to stop the opposition playing is based on a default framework he likes his team to play whereas Adkins will change far more tactically to counter the opposition.

[Saint Garrett]

Be interesting when we play against a team with pace. Only team we've played under Poche with real pace was QPR.

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

The way pochettino sets the team up with the high pressing makes for exciting football! Makes for nervous viewing on counter attacks though and a dangerous game to play! But it seems to be working at the moment so fair play, my only doubts is wether he is a one trick pony as we don't seem to have any other style but then maybe there is no need for a plan b?

 

Plan B is always required. Life is all about how you handle plan B

[Turkish]

My one concern is that our game seems to work against good footballing sides. Wins against City, Liverpool, Chelsea and a stunning effort at Man U have been tempered by Newcastle, QPR and Norwich games.

 

Can't remember which poster said it was like Paper Scissors Stone game. Pressing high beats passing football from back, which beat hoofball, which in turn beats Pressing game. It is not as simple as that, but I would like to see strong performances against Reading and West Ham to convince me that MP has it sussed.

 

It's more about pace on the counter attack than hoof ball. As Newcastle and QPR showed we can be undone by long diagonal balls in between the centre halves and full backs but its only any good if they are going to players with pace and ability, which Cisse and Remy do. A long hopeful ball forward to the big man isn't going to work but getting it forward quickly can do, we just have to hope our centre halves and full backs do their job, which they didn't against Newcastle and QPR.

[Toadhall Saint]

Intensity.

[OldNick]

It's more about pace on the counter attack than hoof ball. As Newcastle and QPR showed we can be undone by long diagonal balls in between the centre halves and full backs but its only any good if they are going to players with pace and ability, which Cisse and Remy do. A long hopeful ball forward to the big man isn't going to work but getting it forward quickly can do, we just have to hope our centre halves and full backs do their job, which they didn't against Newcastle and QPR.

i assume Ponch will look to get some more defenders to counter this problem. There again if we can keep getting the decent results we are getting now, the odd defeat will have to be stomached

[Dibden Purlieu Saint]

I'm a big fan.

[Frank's cousin]

Intensity.

 

Greater intensity - and some subtle tactical improvements - mades subtle changes, and has somehow brought the best out of JRod and Davis.

 

We need to be greatful to Nige in a huge way though, not just for the promotions, but for the grounding - Poch, has been able to bring about his style rapidly, because the foundation for this style was already there - but going to a 4231 and having more mobilty up front have paid dividends... Plan B? Think its more subtle than a full on change.... next season will be interesting

[Turkish]

i assume Ponch will look to get some more defenders to counter this problem. There again if we can keep getting the decent results we are getting now, the odd defeat will have to be stomached

 

You'd hope so. We are lacking a really dominant centre half IMO. Someone that can command the defensive line and clean out those sort of balls. cisses goal for Newcastle was a classic example, it was a fantastic strike but watch Hooliveld. He's marking Cisse, then moves off him and loses him, he didn't challenge for the long ball either and got caught in no mans land leaving Shaw to have to challenge for a ball that the centre half should be winning and it dropped to the unmarked Cisse. A good centre half takes ownership of that and attacks the long ball. People blamed the ref for that goal and that is partly true but Hooliveld simply didn't do his job.