Welcome Mauricio Pochettino

[YorkshireBlue 3,279]

How can I be lowering standards? I'm just a fan, I just don't sit here saying we are better than what we are because ATM we are not, and I don't put it all on the manager.

[robsblubot 3,595]

6 minutes ago, lucio said:

Anyone who wants Poch long term is either lowering their standards for “stability” or is deluding themselves into thinking he’s gonna win something 

ofc the club have already lowered the standards , Roman wouldn’t even have considered Potter a candidate 

sure, but that's orthogonal to the roster point. You can't win anything without a good manager and a good squad.
You cannot even play decently without a good squad. I've seen good managers park the bus and get results with poor squads before (Scolari, Jose), but they play like shit and that only works in smaller cups.

You talk about silverware, and the manager does not get on the pitch and play. We need players so that the better manager can actually build something: improve short-term and perhaps get us to be competitive in a season or two.

From what we hear they are not even allowing managers to have much insight into transfers, so I'm not sure how a better manager will address the gaping holes in the roster. He'd point out obvious and will get another kid... hmm project to fill that.

Good luck winning titles with kids. That will be a first, so we will make history alright. 😅

[Vesper 30,224]

Neville’s ‘blue billion-pound bottle jobs’ line will immortalise Chelsea’s pain

https://theathletic.com/5298821/2024/02/26/Chelsea-blue-billion-bottle-jobs-pochettino/

Not all losses are created equal — and no defeat in football is worse than a banter one.

“In extra time, it’s been Klopp’s kids against the blue billion-pound bottle jobs,” said Sky Sports co-commentator Gary Neville, succinctly and indisputably establishing the dominant narrative of a surreal Carabao Cup final almost as soon as Virgil van Dijk’s glanced header had settled in the far corner of Djordje Petrovic’s net.

Liverpool had not just beaten Chelsea at Wembley (again), they had done so in a manner that validated the “mentality monsters” culture that Jurgen Klopp has cultivated — apparently throughout the age groups at Kirkby as well as the first team — over the last nine years, while mercilessly exposing the fatal flaws in the lavish investment project at Stamford Bridge funded by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital over the past two.

In the bowels of Wembley after the match, a despondent Mauricio Pochettino wearily assumed the task of pointing out the nuance in the narrative. “I don’t hear what he said but if you compare the age of the two groups, I think it is similar,” Chelsea’s head coach said when asked about Neville’s line. “Look, I have a good relationship with Gary. I don’t know how I can take his opinion, but I respect his opinion.

“We are a young team. Nothing to compare with Liverpool because they also finished with young players. It’s impossible to compare, and he knows that the dynamics are completely different. We were playing Liverpool and Chelsea, Chelsea and Liverpool, and I don’t think it’s fair to speak in this way.”

The youth vs experience dynamic at Wembley was not as clear-cut as Neville made out. Liverpool’s on-pitch XI had an older average age than Chelsea’s at the start of the match and at the start of extra time. Van Dijk, a 32-year-old now with 11 major trophies to his name, was the outstanding outfield player throughout and found the net with two headers worthy of winning a final, only one of which survived VAR review.

But the counter-argument becomes hard to sustain when the other team includes two 19-year-olds, Bobby Clark and James McConnell, who have each played fewer than 10 professional games and another (Jayden Danns) who was making his second senior appearance. Chelsea undoubtedly lost to several kids; the more important question is: did they bottle it?

Chelsea showed unmistakeable signs of nerves at Wembley. Axel Disasi twice ignited Liverpool transition attacks by fumbling the ball under little pressure. Malo Gusto, usually so sure-footed, controlled passes straight out of play on several occasions. Levi Colwill booted an attempted pass out to Ben Chilwell miles upfield and had to be told to calm down by Enzo Fernandez, who played sloppy passes with startling frequency.

Further forward, Conor Gallagher wrestled with an eerily similar cocktail of bad luck and poor composure in front of goal that afflicted fellow Cobham graduate Mason Mount against the same opponents in the same stadium in 2022.

Nevertheless, as the clock ticked towards the end of 90 minutes it was Chelsea who looked likelier winners, with Cole Palmer picking apart a Liverpool team whose legs appeared to have gone. It was at this point that Klopp made a decision that arguably no other elite coach would have made: to place the fate of a major trophy in the hands of unproven youth rather than go into retreat with experience and play for penalties.

His choice transformed this Carabao Cup final into the spiritual sequel of Chelsea’s bizarre 4-1 win over nine-man Tottenham Hotspur in November: a situation where convincing victory is the only acceptable outcome and anything less brings total humiliation. Pochettino had to guide his team through 20 nervy, aimless minutes that night before they overcame the fear of looking ridiculous — of being on the receiving end of a banter loss — and got on with winning the game.

Klopp’s own “it’s just who we are, mate” moment seemed to sink Chelsea into a similar mental crisis at Wembley that lasted for most of extra time, compounded by their fading energy levels. At half-time of their pitifully tentative showing in the added period all of Chilwell, Disasi and Moises Caicedo could be seen prostrate on the pitch receiving attention for cramp.

Not losing superseded winning as Chelsea’s top priority. “The team started to feel that maybe the penalties will be good for us,” said Pochettino, making an admission of weakness that is being held against him and this group of players in the acrimonious aftermath.

Finals define the clubs, players and coaches who contest them. Klopp has lost his fair share over the years but never through passivity, and that ironclad commitment to the idea of who Liverpool are carried the day at Wembley. Chelsea’s identity as expert winners of finals began to slip in the final years of Roman Abramovich’s ownership; this is now seven cup final defeats in their last eight visits to the national stadium, and six in a row.

Doubts about Pochettino’s ability to reverse that trend will only intensify. In five years at Tottenham, he built impressive teams who fell just short of winning and despite his avowed emphasis on the power of positive energy, his callow Chelsea were undone by Klopp’s peerless mastery of psychological momentum.

Liverpool at full strength are vastly better than Chelsea but they won the Carabao Cup final not through superior talent, but superior mentality, coupled with an unmistakeable sense of identity that binds the first team and academy together — in other words, things that Boehly and Clearlake’s money cannot simply buy.

“They need to feel the pain,” Pochettino said of his Chelsea players. The pain of this banter loss will be hard to shift, immortalised by Neville’s brutal words.

[Fernando 6,585]

I'm with @YorkshireBluethe manager should continue I think if we do some small buys in the summer we will improve next season.

First season was going to be rough but there's been many games where I seen what Poch can do. 

So I prefer we deal with players this summer then deal with a manager and have to wait the let me assess them nonsense. 

[TheHulk 2,483]

I'm quite surprised how this thread is still very active discussing if Poch should stay or not, the loser had a dream cup run all the way to the final with half the Liverpool squad injured and a bunch of kids fielded and still managed to lose it.

Edited February 28, 2024 by TheHulk

[YorkshireBlue 3,279]

5 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

I'm quite surprised how this thread is still very active discussing if Poch should stay or not, the loser had a dream cup run all the way to the final with half the Liverpool squad injured and a bunch of kids fielded and still managed to lose it.

Yeah it's amazing what a team can do even with thier best players out when a manager has been there what 7 years? Imagine having a club run the same way for seven years! Every one knows exactly what the style is and the standard, mean while our fans are still calling for a new manager every six months and wonder why we are never consistent. It's a real head scratcher.

[lucio 5,418]

1 minute ago, YorkshireBlue said:

Yeah it's amazing what a team can do even with thier best players out when a manager has been there what 7 years? Imagine having a club run the same way for seven years! Every one knows exactly what the style is and the standard, mean while our fans are still calling for a new manager every six months and wonder why we are never consistent. It's a real head scratcher.

You have to hire someone good. You can’t let shite like potter or Poch stay for several years and get the same result 

[Chuckso 17]

9 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

I'm quite surprised how this thread is still very active discussing if Poch should stay or not, the loser had a dream cup run all the way to the final with half the Liverpool squad injured and a bunch of kids fielded and still managed to lose it.

It truly beggars belief.

I guess some people enjoy pain and not being No.1. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

Rome wasn't built in a day. Blah, blah, blah. 

Pretty sure Rome wasn't being handled by an average architect. 

[Chuckso 17]

1 minute ago, lucio said:

You have to hire someone good. You can’t let shite like potter or Poch stay for several years and get the same result 

Excuses keep on being trotted out.

Providing examples of where it has worked just bounces off and is ignored. Just steadfast in beliefs. 

[TheHulk 2,483]

Just now, YorkshireBlue said:

Yeah it's amazing what a team can do even with thier best players out when a manager has been there what 7 years? Imagine having a club run the same way for seven years! Every one knows exactly what the style is and the standard, mean while our fans are still calling for a new manager every six months and wonder why we are never consistent. It's a real head scratcher.

Comparing Klopp to a loser like Poch, yeah right. Everyone could see what Klopp was trying to do from his first season at Liverpool, he reached the EL and League cup finals from his first season. Anyone who thinks he will magically turn it around is completely delusional he sucks.

[YorkshireBlue 3,279]

3 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

Comparing Klopp to a loser like Poch, yeah right. Everyone could see what Klopp was trying to do from his first season at Liverpool, he reached the EL and League cup finals from his first season. Anyone who thinks he will magically turn it around is completely delusional he sucks.

Pochs first season reached a cup final and European football is not impossible either. People thinking he will turn it round isn't half as delusional as people who think this roster as it stands is good enough to win trophies and achieve top 4 🤣

Edited February 28, 2024 by YorkshireBlue

[lucio 5,418]

1 minute ago, YorkshireBlue said:

Pochs first season reached a cup final and European football is not impossible either. People thinking he will turn it round isn't half as delusional as people who think this roster as it stands is good enough to win trophies and achieve top 4 🤣

It was good enough to win last Sunday , no one is saying he should be winning the league but sitting in 10th and bottling easy finals isn’t acceptable , especially when you only have a track record of being a loser 

[YorkshireBlue 3,279]

1 minute ago, lucio said:

It was good enough to win last Sunday , no one is saying he should be winning the league but sitting in 10th and bottling easy finals isn’t acceptable , especially when you only have a track record of being a loser 

Which team above us is our line up better than? 

And clearly it wasn't, we lost, we had the best chances and missed 4 sitters.

Edited February 28, 2024 by YorkshireBlue

[robsblubot 3,595]

lol good luck attracting a manager like Klopp with this roster and these owners. He'd ask for a striker and would get Brighton's Ferguson, with the goal of "make him world class so it can be sold for 3x!"

I'd give a few of our new players for Pedro Neto from Wolves without blinking.

Edited February 28, 2024 by robsblubot

[TheHulk 2,483]

2 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

Pochs first season reached a cup final and European football is not impossible either. People thinking he will turn it round isn't half as delusional as people who think this roster as it stands is good enough to win trophies and achieve top 4 🤣

No one said this squad is good enough for Top 4  but we should easily get top 6 and won that easy cup. This loser wouldn't go deep if we played in the Conference cup let alone reach the Europa League final from his first season like Klopp.

[YorkshireBlue 3,279]

2 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

No one said this squad is good enough for Top 4  but we should easily get top 6 and won that easy cup. This loser wouldn't go deep if we played in the Conference cup let alone reach the Europa League final from his first season like Klopp.

I'll ask you the same question, out of the teams above us, which squad is worse than ours? 

You are right though I can't compare.poch to klopp, klopps had 7 years to mold Liverpool into what they are, our gaffer has had half a season, sorry that was stupid on my part.

Edited February 28, 2024 by YorkshireBlue

[lucio 5,418]

1 minute ago, YorkshireBlue said:

Which team above us is our line up better than? 

And clearly it wasn't, we lost, we had the best chances and missed 4 sitters.

The four directly above us. 
if we had the best chances then clearly it was good enough lmao or we wouldn’t have had those chances. 

[TheHulk 2,483]

1 minute ago, YorkshireBlue said:

I'll ask you the same question, out of the teams above us, which squad is worse than ours? 

Newcastle, Brighton, West Ham and even Aston Villa all have worse squads. Even United have a trash squad.

[YorkshireBlue 3,279]

Just now, lucio said:

The four directly above us. 
if we had the best chances then clearly it was good enough lmao or we wouldn’t have had those chances. 

No that's where you are mistaken, a good team burrys them chances and doesn't waste every single one.