Tottenham v Juventus: 5 harsh lessons learned by Spurs
5. Pochettino must learn
Let me be clear, I’m a firm believer that Mauricio Pochettino is the best manager for Tottenham. Losing one, albeit crucial, match against Juventus doesn’t cause my belief to waver in the slightest.
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With that being said, it’s obvious that Massimiliano Allegri got the better of him yesterday. The Juventus boss made a bold tactical shift to strengthen his attack and it paid off with two massive goals. Pochettino did not have a tactical answer to Allegri’s shift.
In previous weeks, Tottenham fans would have given Pochettino a pass due to the lack of options available on his bench. That wasn’t the reality for Spurs yesterday.
Yes, Pochettino was without Toby Alderweireld (injury) and Serge Aurier (suspension) but otherwise his squad was all available. Having the likes of Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura and Victor Wanyama on the bench give Pochettino more than enough options to change the game.
It’s reasonable to expect Pochettino to learn massively from being out foxed by Allegri in this one. I’m sure there are things he’d do differently if he received a mulligan. Just as Tottenham’s players will learn from the loss, the Spurs manager must do the same.