Tottenham Hotspur

Major Honours: 2 league titles, 2 UEFA Cups, 1 Cup Winners Cup, 8 FA Cups, 4 League Cups.

Big Season For: Erik Lamela. Spurs have done everything they can to ensure their record signing has a successful season and pre-season form indicates Lamela will repay that faith.

Player to Watch: Christian Eriksen. Spurs’ player of the year last season should enjoy an even better campaign in Pochettino’s fluid attacking unit.

Generation Next: Harry Kane. The young striker broke into the first team last season and his fine pre-season form should convince Pochettino to keep Kane in his side.

2014/15 Season Preview

T here is a case for saying that each of Tottenham Hotspur’s last three managers were slightly unfortunate to lose their job at White Hart Lane. Ranked first, second and third in the club’s history in terms of league win percentage, Tim Sherwood, Andre Villas-Boas and Harry Redknapp were all sacked as much for off-the-pitch reasons as their results.

Redknapp’s open courtship of the England job and general lack of reticence with the press antagonised Daniel Levy and the board, Villas-Boas suffered from having exactly the opposite relationship with British reporters to his predecessor, and Tim Sherwood was/is, for lack of a better word, a clown.

Each of the three also presided over some poor results and end of season collapses, with only Redknapp able to nab the elusive Champions League spot that Spurs have now been competing for since Martin Jol took them within a dodgy lasagne of fourth place in 2006.

But there is a suspicion that had each manager said the right things and produced the right football, they could still be a in job now.

Under Villas-Boas Spurs were turgid, disconnected and, up until he left, heavily reliant on Gareth Bale. Under Sherwood, they were barely a team at all, but he at least managed to get a few more attacking players and one or two youngsters on the pitch.

Reduced expectations, more forgiving fanbase

In a way Mauricio Pochettino has found himself through on an open goal in taking over this summer. The Argentine combines the better elements of each of his predecessors; Villas-Boas’ tactical nous and Sherwood’s gung-ho attitude, and is likely to deal with a far more forgiving fan base.

For the first time in several campaigns, expectations of a top-four place are slim, with five teams likely to be competing for the Premier League title ahead of Spurs, and Everton looking even stronger than last season.

What the fans really want to see is a return to the attacking principles the club has always been associated with. If Pochettino delivers more or less the same results as Villas-Boas and Sherwood (perhaps losing only by the odd goal, rather than six, when facing the top three) but does it with more verve and class, the season will likely be deemed a success.

Pochettino’s attacking approach

The former Southampton manager looks the right man for the job in this regard. Renowned as a Marcelo Bielsa disciple, Pochettino’s sides play without fear with and without the ball. Pressing high the pitch naturally involves risking that the opposition will play their way in behind you, but allows his teams to win the ball in more dangerous positions.

A similar high risk, high reward strategy is inherent to Pochettino’s attacking play, which is based around quick, one-touch passing from the back in an attempt to create chances before the opposition has a chance to set up defensively.

At Southampton, Pochettino focussed almost entirely on his team’s own play, with instructions about specific opposition threats kept to a minimum. The message was clear: we play our way, whatever is put in front of us.

Contrast this with Villas-Boas’ meticulous scouting and cautious tactics. Neither approach is intrinsically correct, but one is a natural fit for Tottenham Hotspur, and one is not.

The Argentine will also enjoy being handed a squad where, for many players, the only way is up. The squadron of new faces signed last summer bore the brunt of public criticism in a difficult debut year in England, but considering that almost no player had a good season at Spurs bar Hugo Lloris – a revealing fact in itself – they have to be afforded time under a new manager.

The likes of Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado and Jan Vertonghen will find it hard to have a worse campaign than last year, and any improvement will be credited to Pochettino.

A promising pre-season has only added to the newfound optimism around the club. Fans expect to be entertained this season, rather than to find themselves in a Champions League place come May.

Of course those expectations can change, no-one would ever accuse football fans of being consistent. But, for now, attacking football should be enough for Pochettino to find favour at White Hart Lane.

(photo credit: Perico Dominguez via Flickr)