When Mauricio Pochettino arrived at White Hart Lane none of us really knew what we had. He wasn’t the manager most wanted. Many had plumped for the stellar names of Van Gaal and de Boer; but some unproven disciplinarian Argentine… nah. Poch was a risk.

But what do football fans know? Quite a lot it seems.

Southampton fan Sotonian visited The Fighting Cock forum on 27 May 2014 and posted the following:

Saints fan in peace. To those of you bitching and moaning about MP let me give you some context. I am and have been a Saints fan for over 30 years. Season ticket holder since I was 7 (With the exception of two separate years – when kids and finances dictated) and have seen players and managers come and go, which is part of the game. I’ve seen players like Channon, Ball, Shilton, Wright, Keegan, Williams, Wallace, Shearer, Hoddle (You lot again) Walcott, Bale, Chamberlain etc. etc. all leave. Not one of those departures hurts as much as this one. I genuinely think you now have one of the best managers in the league. He is completely different from anything else you have seen. Not all players will survive his arrival – Including big names, but for those of you that are moaning….. take yourselves back to the first half at White Hart Lane against the Saints…… We battered you, humiliated you and then gave away a bizarre goal and let you back in. Your squad won’t let that happen – More maturity, depth and quality. Enjoy the ride – And you will get one.

We remember reading this at the time and getting overly excited. And it was only revisiting it 18 months later how spot on this Southampton fan was. Everything he said has come to pass, which suggests that none of this is a fluke. We are where we’re meant to be because everyone is doing their job – the soldiers are listening to their general, and they’re making ground.

It is all intentional, a part of some masterplan that Pochettino has to reinvent the pressing game. The famous quote is that, ‘you need two hearts and three lungs’ to play for Pochettino – never a truer word spoken.