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Premier League Headlines
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Sacked: Romance ends between Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino
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Players think Manchester United has overcome rough patch ?
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Can Leicester City continue to surprise after International Break ?
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Premier League Headlines ( In Details )
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Sacked: Romance ends between Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino.
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Tottenham have sacked manager Mauricio Pochettino after five years in charge of the Premier League club. Pochettino leaves after 5½ years in the job, during which he transformed the London club into a title contender in the Premier League and Champions League Finalist but never managed to win a trophy. Here are reactions from football fraternity on a very happening day for PREMIER LEAGUE FANS Pochettino’s working relationship with chairman Daniel Levy was at the heart of the split as they clearly had very different visions for the club moving forward and what it would take for them to take the next step and win major trophies.
Pochettino version: Pochettino, a former Argentina defender, took over a Tottenham team that was outside the established elite in 2014 and created one of the most dynamic and exciting young teams in recent Premier League history, despite being unable to spend lots of money in the transfer market as the club prepared to move into a new stadium. Spurs finished fifth in his first season and reached the final of the League Cup. They then battled 5,000-1 outsiders Leicester City for the title in 2015-16 but the Foxes won the race while the London club finished third to claim a Champions League spot for the first time since 2010-11. Pochettino continued to foster young players and the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier and Harry Winks all blossomed at the club and with England. The Argentine penned a new five-year deal in May 2016 and Tottenham maintained their upward trajectory, finishing second and then third again over the following two campaigns as well as reaching the Champions League last 16 in 2017-18. Poch saw the current season problems coming and feared if they did not react then they would fail. The manager wanted to rebuild his squad and his regular cryptic messages – like hinting he would leave if Spurs won the Champions League – highlighted all was not well.
Daniel Levy version: “We were extremely reluctant to make this change. It is not a decision the board has taken lightly, nor in haste. Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing. It falls on the board to make the difficult decisions – this one made more so given the many memorable moments we have had with Mauricio and his coaching staff – but we do so in the club’s best interests. Mauricio and his coaching staff will always be part of our history.I have the utmost admiration for the manner in which he dealt with the difficult times away from a home ground whilst we built the new stadium and for the warmth and positivity he brought to us. I should like to thank him and his coaching staff for all they have contributed. They will always be welcome here. We have a talented squad. We need to re-energise and look to deliver a positive season for our supporters.”
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Premier League Museum Editor Notes: We would like to start with quoting comments from Gary Linekar – “Pochettino had helped the club to punch massively above their weight for years. Good luck with finding a better replacement ….ain’t gonna happen.” Tottenham is a complex club with shrewd chairman Daniel Levy Daniel Levy has made Tottenham the club it is today, hiring the right manager, managing club finances, doing transfer business which is in best interest of the club and building a new stadium which is not an easy task as Arsenal’s legendary Arsene Wenger would tell. Stadium rebuilding takes up a lot of club finances and requires combination of consistent on and off field coordination as well as good work to get done. After 20 years of living in Arsenal’s shadow, it was Tottenham who had become top dogs in North London. It all came down to on pitch performances, consistency , young squad with not very high wage bill and talented manager Pochettino who fuelled the dream of a £1billion state-of-the-art stadium.Pochettino’s successor will have a tough act to follow, inheriting a squad potentially requiring a revamp and lacking in areas like full back and central midfield. It is the biggest gamble of Levy as he has sacked the fans’ favorite for a role that is much harder to replace compared to a player.
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Players think Manchester United has overcome rough patch ?
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Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford believe the signs are good at Manchester United as they have won five of their last six matches before the international break.
McTominay suffered an ankle injury during the final game before the international break – a 3-1 victory against Brighton and Hove Albion. It forced the midfielder to pull out of the Scotland squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers against San Marino and Cyprus. He believes the return of injured players – in particular, Anthony Martial – is key to them turning round their form. McTominay said “In terms of the team, I feel we’re much, much brighter. The signs are good, the signs are positive and we’ve talked about things that we can improve on and how we’re going to try to improve by the end of the season. I think people forget that we have had a lot of injuries as well, and you can see with Anthony coming back what a difference he makes. Which is what the manager has said about him as well. Everybody is looking forward to the next game and wanting that next game to come as soon as possible.”
Marcus Rashford was also positive on his outlook about Manchester United’s season and particularly his personal performances. Rashford said ” It has been a tough period and now I’m getting consistent games and playing week in, week out. As a forward that has huge importance. If you are not in the team and you’re in and out, you don’t quite have that confidence in front of goal. But when you’re having a run in the team it’s important to come up with the goods and once you start doing that it becomes second nature.”
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Premier League Museum Editor Notes: Pundits and critics have criticized recent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s interviews in same light as David Moyes after the performances on pitch started to tailspin. Solskjaer as during his playing days looks baby faced but doesn’t seem to suffer from any illusion on the demands of his bosses. He knows which players he would like to keep as well as those have no future under him. He is under no illusions that while he builds for the long term he has to still get results now.United are four points behind where they were at this stage in the league this time last season. However, in football especially for United fans who demand style and performances along with wins, 16 points from 12 games is awful. However, what has been different this season is an open positive communication from manager, clear indications looking at team’s performances that where issues are existing and what is needed in next transfer window to fill the gaps. However, given the availability of Pochettino now may change the dynamics as Manchester United have missed on some top managers before and they would know talented managers as well as coaches are not found easy in the market.
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Can Leicester City continue to surprise after International Break ?
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Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City beat Arsenal before the international break to make it four successive league wins, leapfrogging Manchester City in the process to become the number 2 team after Liverpool in the table.
Brendan Rodgers’ men return to action on Saturday afternoon when they take on Brighton and Hove Albion away from home. They have a easy run on paper at least with next four out of five games against bottom six teams – Brighton (a) – 11th, Everton (h) – 15th, Watford (h) – 18th, Aston Villa (a) – 17th and Norwich (h) – 20th. This could be defining period for Leicester City if the club and their high profile manager – Brendan Rodgers have serious top four ambitions. They should be looking to pick up a large chunk of points here. However a Premier League season is defined by no easy matches and foxes will have to tread carefully and keep a level head as they face matches with winnable probability.
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Premier League Museum Editor Notes: Brendan Rodgers has accumulated plenty of tools at his disposal this season. With a free flowing playing style from James Maddison to Youri Tielemans. James Maddison has proved to be one of the most shrewd signings of recent transfer windows in the Premier League.The 22-year-old has already scored four goals and assisted two in the Premier League this term. However the biggest difference from previous seasons ( other than title winning one) has been revival of their talisman Jamie Vardy. Vardy netted 24 goals in the famous title-winning season, and he’s almost halfway to that total already this term. While Leicester City may not get close to the title, a decent performance in next couple of months will very likely cement them in top 4 positions.
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