No Mr. Poch! – Domestic Cup Competitions Are More Important Than What You Think
In the 1-0 win against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup, Mauricio Pochettino fielded a completely different team from the usual XI that he plays in the Premier League and Europe, which he considers as his priorities this season.
“For a big team to win trophies is to win the Premier League or Champions League. If we try to win the Carabao Cup or FA Cup and forget the Premier League or Champions League, it’s a big mistake.”
These were the thoughts of the Tottenham manager regarding the club’s ambitions this season, which clearly do not include Cup competitions like FA Cup or the EFL cup. Although Pochettino’s decision to focus on the big competitions is understandable, but labelling other domestic Cup competitions as unimportant might be a huge mistake.
For a club like Tottenham who are on their way to bigger ambitions under Pochettino, winning silverware, let it be any silverware, will be an achievement. It’s been a decade since Spurs last won a trophy and they should be going for every silverware available this season.
Jose Mourinho, for example, understands the value of winning silverware and has made it a habit to win competitions, throughout his career, let it be the League Cup or the Champions League. Pochettino should take a page from Mourinho’s book and aim to win everything, no matter how small or big the competition is.
Mourinho and many other managers in football have managed to win multiple trophies despite taking part in Europe and there was never a question about fatigue or domestic cups not being important.
Having come so close to winning the League in recent seasons, Spurs will know how big a boost would winning a trophy give to the team. Spurs fans would want nothing less than a trophy this season and the Carabao Cup is certainly one competition where they really stand a good chance of winning.
But, it could also be that Mauricio Pochettino might be sandbagging, having every intention to win all competitions, similar to former Spurs manager, Bill Nicholson who won the First Division and the FA Cup during his reign.
Winning the FA Cup or the Carabao cup would be massive for a club like Tottenham, who are only just making their way up to the Europe’s elite. How can you become a big club in Europe without really dominating the domestic scenes? It just wouldn’t happen!
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