“Every season it’s, 'OK, let's see what we can do this year', and time has passed, managers have passed and Tottenham are still the same. I would like a more committed objective stated publicly, so everybody's on the same level. This year, for example, our objective is to win a cup. Then fans know that the manager is making decisions based on what he thinks creates the best chances of winning a cup.
“If the main objective is Europe, you play your best team in Europe. There were a few years under (Mauricio) Pochettino where the aim was Champions League football and that worked very well,” the former Tottenham midfielder points out. He played three years for Spurs, after making the rare transfer from rivals Chelsea. The Blues have been struggling a bit since Christmas which was almost bound to happen, according to Poyet.
“At the beginning of the season, there were many question marks but then the team went on a good run and became really competitive. Even changing eight players from Europe to the league worked out, but, talking from experience, it is normal that a dip in form happens. Now, the question is, how long that dip lasts, and that’s where you need to be careful. They need to recover now,” warns Poyet who played over 100 games for Chelsea. After 16 league games this season, Chelsea were two points behind Liverpool, but results started going awry more or less as soon as manager Enzo Maresca publicly stated they were certainly not title-contenders. The wrong statement to put out perhaps?
“That’s a difficult one because you need to be in his position. As managers, sometimes we say something for a reason and then it becomes completely the opposite. Sometimes, something you say can affect the team one way or the other. We are convinced that something is realistic, like Chelsea not winning the league, which is realistic, but you don't know how it affects the players, especially individuals, because we are so different. We have a saying in Spanish; “we are a prisoner of our own words”, and just look at Ange Postecoglou and his 'I always win a title in my second season'. Well, that means he has to win the Europa League now.”
In love with Bellingham
Watching on from his current base in South Korea, Gustavo Poyet took notice of Vinicius Jr assisting the winning goal for Real Madrid at the Etihad after being taunted by Manchester City supporters.
“When I was a player, I remember certain games, especially in Spain, when before the game we used to say “don't fight with this guy too much because if you fight him, he's going to start playing. If you're having a quiet night, leave him alone. Maybe that’s what we saw from Vini. He was coming from a bad spell and maybe that banner switched on the fire,” wonders Poyet who was enthralled by the show Manchester City and Real Madrid put on.
“The best thing about that game was the quantity of chances. It was an amazing offensive game. There were moments where you thought, 'OK, Man City is going to win it', then you think, 'no, Real Madrid is going to win it'. Back and forth, back and forth. And then comes Bellingham. I love that guy. I absolutely love him. He's a very special player. Always at the right time and the right place. It's really amazing what he's doing.”
While Vinicius Jr assisted the winning goal, Kylian Mbappé levelled the scoreline, when he made it 1-1, but of the two who is the more important player for Real Madrid?
“Two years ago, I would have said Mbappé was the better player. There was something missing in Vinicius' game, But, then Vinicius started being the player, he's been the last year and a half. I think now it's a question of accepting the responsibility at every level. Mbappé did it at an international level for France, now I’d like to see Vinicius go to Brazil and be the main man,” says the current Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors manager, who would love to try and fit Vinicius Jr and Mbappé into the same line-up.
“You here all this talk about it being a 'problem' having two players who want to play in the same position. Well, what a nice problem to have when you’re talking about those two players.”
- Gustavo Poyet was talking to Tribalfootball on behalf of Encyclopedia Dramatica