Jan Vertonghen is convinced Mauricio Pochettino’s analytical approach will eventually pay dividends at Spurs.
The Argentine succeeded Tim Sherwood in the summer having shone at Southampton, leading the south coast club to an eighth-placed finish last season and playing plenty of attractive football along the way.
But his methods are still to be fully embraced by his new troops at White Hart Lane, where Tottenham have suffered four defeats in their last five league games.
Juande Ramos was given the boot the last time Spurs lost four home league matches in five, in October 2008, and after seeing his charges booed off on Sunday, Pochettino admitted he would need to ‘change the mentality’ of his players before they next take to the field against Hull following the international break.
In the aftermath of their latest setback - beaten 2-1 by Stoke - striker Emmanuel Adebayor claimed the team ‘are not getting the message’.
He approaches everything in detail and in the end we will profit because of that
But Vertonghen, an unused substitute against the Potters, believes the Spurs supremo will come good if he is afforded the time by chairman Daniel Levy.
“Pochettino loves to analyse games and gives more tactical meetings [than Sherwood],” he told FourFourTwo.
“He approaches everything in detail and in the end we will profit because of that. He loves a good conversation and detail and I think he is good for us.
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“We try to play more from the back, with more pressing and a new formation so it takes some time. We have a lot of players so he needs time for everyone to fit.”
Jan Vertonghen wears the Nike Magista Opus available at Nike.com
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Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
