Coaching Philosophies and the Mauricio Pochettino System

Have not gotten to 3-a-days, Yet.

 

Setting a new standard.

Get an inside look at Mauricio Pochettino's hiring in the latest episode of Behind The Crest, streaming Thursday.#USMNT x @VW pic.twitter.com/07gDed1iK6

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) October 9, 2024

 

If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

 

Good article on Poch's current vision.

https://sports.yahoo.com/mauricio-pochettinos-vision-for-the-usmnt-160020964.html

 

They also began, of course, with “basics,” with rudimentary movements, with introductory meetings. “The most important [thing],” Pochettino said last week, “is that we need to set a few principles, few concepts” — rather than “spend two, three hours talking about tactics.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/mauricio-pochettinos-vision-for-the-usmnt-160020964.html

"He was a game changer. He was very demanding, but in the right way," former Tottenham goalkeeper and current LAFC No. 1 Hugo Lloris told ESPN. "He wanted us to play with intensity. We used to train so hard so then games would feel easier. We would press so much, recovering the ball so high to attack straight away."

Overtraining part 2

During his spells with Saints and Spurs, it wasn't unusual for his players to have three training sessions a day during preseason. His teams regularly were in the top three in the Premier League in terms of distance covered per game.

Lahm part 2

The lack of tactical work is a criticism that resurfaced during his time at Chelsea, too. Moisés Caicedo publicly said training was pretty much all about running and largely bereft of tactical work. Other players in the Blues squad told ESPN the same thing. Pochettino relied on the physical ability of his players at Stamford Bridge.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41702811/playing-mauricio-pochettino-usmnt-expect-new-manager

 

🎥🇺🇸 From yesterday, Aaronson and Sargent spoke on the style of play Pochettino wants to implement:

- Play with Intensity
- Play in the other team’s half
- Possession
- If we lose the ball, recover it right away

To go over more tactical specifics today.
pic.twitter.com/2GJS9mIJbW

— USMNT NATION (@USMNTvsHaters) October 10, 2024

 

I would also like to think that none of our better players would fail to impress Poch, but we've also seen a lot of our "better" (totally subjective, by the way) players fail to maintain focus for 90 minutes. Or even 80 minutes. I can only go off the slivers that we get, but it seems like Poch will demand that his players be fully engaged for the entirety of their time on the field--something which we've seen...very, very little of in recent years. It doesn't mean that Yunus Musah, for example, will be kicked out for good if he doesn't meet the standard the first time, but it does mean that the pressure is higher for Yunus to NOT get lackadaisical at any point.

 

pretty sure Klinsmann did three a days in the run up to WC14

So you are telling me that the USMNT 🇺🇸 under Bob Bradley, Klinsmann, Bruce Arena and Gregg Berhalter never had a single training session that hit 2 hours? 😭😭😭 https://t.co/kUqzYzhVqO

— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) October 11, 2024

let's hope so

🗣️ “YOU LOSE THE BALL, YOU RUN!” pic.twitter.com/gQrl9HKUXq

— USMNT NATION (@USMNTvsHaters) October 10, 2024

I know this is a hard concept for many on this app to grasp, but the key component of this sport is being fit and being able to run. It’s not about inverting the fullback or playing one touch passes with your CBs.

He’s going to work wonders on this USMNT. https://t.co/MuFIyk7vAO

— Lawrence Kreymer (@kreyme8) October 10, 2024

 

His team are fit and run a lot, but they also play alot of the same positional play concepts Berhalter was fond of.

The three things I hope to see improvement of are a return to the defensive intensity and pressing from earlier in Berhalter’s tenure, guys doing a better job of movement to make themselves available to their teammates to get the ball passed to them, and the sort of central overloads and the like Pochettino has been known for with his past teams. But there’s definitely concepts that will carryover and be similar.

 

When I was younger I thought that this approach was stupid. Then I got one of these fitness and intensity based coaches who had literal fitness practices for 3 hours once a week on top of the regular fitness and execution practices we had during the week.

It was the best team I ever played on and he was the best competitive coach I had. We outlasted everyone, including the top teams, in the summer sun. He took us to the top of the league and into one of the best tournaments on the planet. Fitness and intensity were the reasons for the success.

Players got tired of it though, and he was fired. I never understood it.

 

You are being too kind.

Klinsmann started 3 a days in the early camp before the start of WCQ in May 2012, two years before the WC. Remember the infamous 5 game series at the start of WCQ where the 3rd match was the first WCQ vs A&B; the squad was dead tired and we only won W3-1.

That was where the overtraining memes started. It is going to be a very interesting next 2 years.

 

Poch on POTB: "We are going to try respecting our philosophy... but the priority always in soccer is to win and sometimes we need to be clever... people sometimes say 'no, that's my philosophy, my idea & I'm going to die with my idea.' No, I want to live, because life is amazing"

— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) October 11, 2024

 

Sometimes I feel 100 years old when I read social media. Can anybody tell me what he's referring to as POTB?

 

Playing Out of The Back?

 

Playing out of the back. Which I think the reporter abbreviated from Pochettino’s actual comments.

 

Thanks. I feel like I should absolutely have known that, and now the whole comment makes sense, but for some reason I was still trying to tie it to what he'd said about Pulisic above, and so the whole quote was just sounding to me like Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.

 

Ricardo Pepi speaks about the new Spanish-speaking coaching staff of the USMNT 🗣️

“They speak pretty good English. But when I communicate with them, it’s in Spanish.”

“There are also other Spanish-speaking players in the team, so it’s great to be honest.”

“There are some… pic.twitter.com/ymIBqkCZUF

— GOLZ TV (@golz_tv) October 11, 2024

 

#USA in possession under Mauricio Pochettino vs #Panama

- 3-2 base
- Referencing the half space trying to get midfielders to jump
- Playing in behind when the back line is high and 10s can’t be found

Made with @LiveTagPro

https://t.co/q1Leglbk8Y

— Modern Football Analyst (@VideosModern) October 13, 2024

 

I know this isn't the most important thing, but for some reason I expected him to be more cold and detached from the players...

How much does Poch believe in these .. one by one @USMNT #usmnt Poch makes a 4 man change after 1-0 lead. Out Pulisic, Sergeant, Robinson, Bussio pic.twitter.com/Xkc76slZwO

— SOY SAN ANTONIO FÚTB⚽️L (@Soy_SAF) October 13, 2024

 

#USA in possession under Mauricio Pochettino vs #Panama

- 3-2 base
- Referencing the half space trying to get midfielders to jump
- Playing in behind when the back line is high and 10s can’t be found

Made with @LiveTagPro

https://t.co/q1Leglbk8Y

— Modern Football Analyst (@VideosModern) October 13, 2024

Posted this in the post game thread but feel it fits here too.

I do think we saw more of a plan and composure when it came to build up, and a bit more risk taking as well

 

He has a mixed reputation but it somewhat fits the culture. He's known for wanting to get to know EVERY player off the field -- not just the stars but all the way down the roster. He's very new agey, very Ted Lassoing in his "belief," constant improvement and personal connection.

But he also apparently doesn't love explaining his PT decisions and has had trouble with feedback from players before -- he at least didn't use to like being questioned. That's all somewhat in line with a sort of younger, softer version of the traditional South American paternalism.

 

Poch talks a lot about being self confident, which will come with some growing pains. I thought Morris and Busio were very confident on the ball, even amongst multiple defenders, and at times they coughed it up. It was good for them to see that when that happened, it’s probably not the end of the world as long as you get on your horse and get behind the ball, maybe even win it back.
It’s going to lead to more progressive passing than we’ve seen in the past.

 

Agree. The big difference was that Puli, Brendo and Jedi came back for the ball more and came back very close as outlets, and there was clearly some quick, close in give and go patterns planned to both create an outlet but also get moving forward.

They didn't apply much pressure so it wasn't the toughest test.

 

I feel like he doesn’t like being questioned but he definitely tries to create a strong relationship with the players and have a good team environment. I haven’t read the book about but scuffed broke it down in a recent podcast and there’s some good stories in there. He’s definitely not the cold and distant type but there’s also a very clear hierarchy within the team and coaching staff.