Introduce a pressing style

There was plenty of scoffing and outrage when Southampton replaced Nigel Adkins with Mauricio Pochettino 16 months ago but it was not long before important people had been alerted to the Argentinian’s quality. Sir Alex Ferguson certainly liked what he saw when Southampton visited Manchester United in Pochettino’s second game. “They pushed on top of us and didn’t give us any time on the ball,” he said, admitting that United were lucky to sneak a 2-1 win.

That high-tempo pressing style, reminiscent of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, is the cornerstone of Pochettino’s managerial philosophy. Southampton’s players quickly and joyously embraced intense training sessions which were designed to improve their fitness and enable them to harass opponents, forcing them to concede possession in dangerous areas, and Adam Lallana was soon speaking in glowing terms about Pochettino.

Pochettino, a former centre-back, favours an expansive approach and he says that he wants his teams to defend by winning and then keeping the ball. That may sound familiar to Tottenham fans, who grew tired with their team’s aimless, sideways passing under André Villas-Boas. Yet Pochettino’s sides can rarely be accused of sterile domination. Southampton have been a pleasure to watch, playing with pace, adventure, authority and invention, so expect to see attractive football at White Hart Lane.

Improve expensive signings

Villas-Boas struggled to construct a cohesive side after Tottenham spent £107m on seven overseas signings last summer and Tim Sherwood was often critical of his squad. However, Pochettino will inherit a flawed but talented group of players and one of his biggest challenges will be to coax improved performances from Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela, neither of whom has lived up to expectations.

Soldado was supposed to lift Tottenham’s attack to new heights when he joined them for £26m from Valencia but he was a major disappointment last season. Only two of his six league goals were from open play and he has been unable to cope with the power of English football. It is too soon to write him off, though, and Tottenham will reap decent rewards if Pochettino can help Soldado rediscover his finishing touch.

While the fans appreciate Soldado’s effort and still sing his name, the £30m signing of Lamela from Roma has been an unmitigated disaster. The 22-year-old Argentinian has failed to settle in England, which is hardly a surprise given how much persuasion it took for him to leave Italy and become Tottenham’s record signing at £30m, but he is young enough to become a success and the hope is that Pochettino can develop a bond with his fellow countryman. An encouraging number of Southampton’s players have improved as a result of Pochettino’s coaching.

Develop a positive mentality

It was an ordeal for Tottenham against the top teams. They were humiliated by Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool while they lost to Arsenal in the league twice and the FA Cup. That is unlikely to happen under Pochettino. Southampton beat Chelsea, City and Liverpool convincingly in his first season and they won 1-0 at Anfield last season.

Tottenham’s defending was awful last season but Pochettino should tighten it up based on his work at Southampton, as long as he accepts that a back four containing Michael Dawson cannot play a high line. Southampton were leaking far too many goals before Pochettino arrived but he shored up their defence and helped the occasionally erratic Polish goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, to excel on a consistent basis.

Pochettino has also shown an impressive willingness to react during matches and his tactical flexibility can keep opponents guessing. He mostly used a 4-2-3-1 formation last season but, when his midfield was disrupted by injuries, he changed to a 4-3-1-2 formation against Everton in April and Southampton won 2-0.

Command the dressing room

A common misconception is that Pochettino cannot speak English because he conducts press conferences in Spanish and uses an interpreter. Yet while Tottenham will want him to address the press in English, the truth is that he has already shown he is a fluent speaker away from the cameras, so he will not have a problem getting his message across. Pochettino can be evasive when asked difficult questions but on the whole he is personable and engaging and should be strong enough to handle some of the more awkward characters in the Tottenham squad, which ultimately proved beyond Sherwood and Villas-Boas.

It was said that Villas-Boas’s youth worked against him. However, Pochettino’s age is unlikely to matter. The 42-year-old has shown he is not afraid to make difficult decisions. It would have been easy for him to back Dani Osvaldo when the Italian, a favourite of his after their time at Espanyol, clashed with José Fonte in training. Instead he earned the squad’s respect by not dishing out any special treatment and Osvaldo was banished on loan to Juventus.

Show faith in youth

Pochettino has promoted several players from Southampton’s brilliant academy into the first team, giving chances to James Ward-Prowse, Calum Chambers, Harrison Reed and Sam Gallagher. It will not be as easy to do that at a club like Tottenham, where the demand for success is greater, but Pochettino is a great believer in the power of youth. “I had a similar kind of philosophy at Espanyol, where I was fully focused on young players,” he says.