Spurs 2 Munich 7 is one of those rare sporting results that everyone following knows at an intuitive level is just more significant than others.
This is from football.london. I am very impressed with Niko Kovac's generosity of spirit. And with Mauricio Pochettino's stab at answering the question. Pochettino is Argentine so the English is not perfect but I have heard the first thought from him before: butch up. The players have to feel this nightmare and never stop feeling it. His second point is, move on. You have to move on, you have no other choice. That is pretty much standard coach-speak. It is hard to do the first and the second both. But you have to. Third, don't talk about it. I think that is brilliant. It is de rigueur in American tackle football for coaches to review the film of the game with the players. But sometimes they just burn the film. Never talk about it again. That is also very Chinese. Pochettino's fourth point is specific to this team at this time after this match: We have to stay together. That means Pochettino saw, Rob Moore, one of Guardian's readers saw and The Guardian's writer, Nick Ames, saw the opposite: a team flying apart. I don't know what the internal dynamics are but everyone, even me, were looking at this and asking "What is wrong?" Look at Pochettino below. That is puzzlement. He does not know what is wrong.
If as Ames and his reader hypothesize, there are some Spurs players who do not want to be there then Pochettino must butch up brutally and get rid of the players. If that is to be done, Pochettino is correct this is not the time to think about it, but if that is to be done after calm, analytical reflection then Pochettino must be absolutely ruthless in doing it.
More from Poch
...”The team were playing so well and nobody expected what happened to us in the second half.”
Was this a freak result rather than something deeper?
“To be honest after the first 30 minutes it was my best moment managing the team this season. That is so difficult to accept that the second half changed things. But when you have the talented players Bayern have, they were clinical and we need to give credit to them. We need to move on. We’ve lost three points and we need to move on and face Brighton and then at this stadium again in the Champions League next.”
Is this his biggest challenge?
...”You need to show your quality like a man first. To face it like a professional is like a man. You need to put your quality and how strong you are to face it like a person. We need to face it like men and be stronger and bounce back and change the feeling.”
Poch on how to fix it
“The most important thing is to move on. Of course to assess the team always and our players is the most difficult job for us. I think after five years, I think to be clear and to try to work like always, trying to give solutions to my players. We are very critical with ourselves. We need to move on. It’s now psychological and it’s more damaging to talk among each other. We need one analysis, one assessment and then stick to it and improve from there. This type of result is tough but now it’s to not rush into judgement or assessment. My feeling was good after 30 minutes and nobody expected that result at that point. It was a strange game and a little bit unlucky for us.”
More from Poch
...”When you concede seven goals you have to stand up and be tough.”
Poch is here and he's asked what he's just said to the players
“ Now it’s a moment to stay all together. We cannot talk now. Today is a moment where we know how we feel, all disappointed. The feelings are not so good. Now is a moment to be calm. After a result like today, there will be no shouting or talking when the emotion is on the skin.”
Kovac on the score
“I have compassion for my colleague but this doesn’t happen every week. I wish Tottenham the very best and my colleague the best for the future.”
Niko Kovac is here
“It looks like London is a good town for me. It was a great evening for Bayern Munich and German football here on the island. We were lucky in the first 30 minutes. We knew Tottenham would put a lot of pressure on us, that is the mentality of this club. We were too passive and did have some nervy moments. Then we dominated the game. In the second half we performed extremely well.”
This is from football.london. I am very impressed with Niko Kovac's generosity of spirit. And with Mauricio Pochettino's stab at answering the question. Pochettino is Argentine so the English is not perfect but I have heard the first thought from him before: butch up. The players have to feel this nightmare and never stop feeling it. His second point is, move on. You have to move on, you have no other choice. That is pretty much standard coach-speak. It is hard to do the first and the second both. But you have to. Third, don't talk about it. I think that is brilliant. It is de rigueur in American tackle football for coaches to review the film of the game with the players. But sometimes they just burn the film. Never talk about it again. That is also very Chinese. Pochettino's fourth point is specific to this team at this time after this match: We have to stay together. That means Pochettino saw, Rob Moore, one of Guardian's readers saw and The Guardian's writer, Nick Ames, saw the opposite: a team flying apart. I don't know what the internal dynamics are but everyone, even me, were looking at this and asking "What is wrong?" Look at Pochettino below. That is puzzlement. He does not know what is wrong.
If as Ames and his reader hypothesize, there are some Spurs players who do not want to be there then Pochettino must butch up brutally and get rid of the players. If that is to be done, Pochettino is correct this is not the time to think about it, but if that is to be done after calm, analytical reflection then Pochettino must be absolutely ruthless in doing it.
In reverse order:
More from Poch
...”The team were playing so well and nobody expected what happened to us in the second half.”
Was this a freak result rather than something deeper?
“To be honest after the first 30 minutes it was my best moment managing the team this season. That is so difficult to accept that the second half changed things. But when you have the talented players Bayern have, they were clinical and we need to give credit to them. We need to move on. We’ve lost three points and we need to move on and face Brighton and then at this stadium again in the Champions League next.”
Is this his biggest challenge?
...”You need to show your quality like a man first. To face it like a professional is like a man. You need to put your quality and how strong you are to face it like a person. We need to face it like men and be stronger and bounce back and change the feeling.”
Poch on how to fix it
“The most important thing is to move on. Of course to assess the team always and our players is the most difficult job for us. I think after five years, I think to be clear and to try to work like always, trying to give solutions to my players. We are very critical with ourselves. We need to move on. It’s now psychological and it’s more damaging to talk among each other. We need one analysis, one assessment and then stick to it and improve from there. This type of result is tough but now it’s to not rush into judgement or assessment. My feeling was good after 30 minutes and nobody expected that result at that point. It was a strange game and a little bit unlucky for us.”
More from Poch
...”When you concede seven goals you have to stand up and be tough.”
Poch is here and he's asked what he's just said to the players
“ Now it’s a moment to stay all together. We cannot talk now. Today is a moment where we know how we feel, all disappointed. The feelings are not so good. Now is a moment to be calm. After a result like today, there will be no shouting or talking when the emotion is on the skin.”
Kovac on the score
“I have compassion for my colleague but this doesn’t happen every week. I wish Tottenham the very best and my colleague the best for the future.”
Niko Kovac is here
“It looks like London is a good town for me. It was a great evening for Bayern Munich and German football here on the island. We were lucky in the first 30 minutes. We knew Tottenham would put a lot of pressure on us, that is the mentality of this club. We were too passive and did have some nervy moments. Then we dominated the game. In the second half we performed extremely well.”
