Pochettino's pressing philosophy outwits Mancini's limited tactical nous

The biggest story of the recently completed Premier League weekend was the 12 point gap established between Manchester United in first and Manchester City in second after the champions lost 3-1 at Southampton, and the Red Devils comfortably beat Everton at Old Trafford 2-0. The current narrative is that United have been consistent and have always found a way to win this season, while City have been extremely poor, and the trophy will now undoubtedly be heading to the red half of Manchester.

It's a real pity that one of the great stories of this weekend is being overlooked, that of Southampton's brilliant performance against the champions. The Saints victory was rooted in new manager Mauricio Pochettino's pressing philosophy, with the players working extremely hard to get the ball, break at speed, use possession of the ball smartly to create plenty of chances and most importantly press Man City's midfield and defence in their own half. City were clearly second best in all aspects of the game, and even Roberto Mancini couldn't come up with any excuses to defend his players, declaring it as the worst performance by his players in his three years at the helm of the club. 

The truth is that top teams generally do tend to have such performances quite frequently, but very rarely do mid-table and lower end teams have the gumption to expose the poor performances of the league's best teams. Too often teams under their managers instructions, sit back and invite pressure when they have a chance to win against the best, and more often than not they end up paying the price. 

This is where the young Argentine manager has displayed an outlook that is quite different from most of the current managers in the Premier League. Pochettino encouraged his charges to attack and look for more goals against the Citizens, who were clearly rattled by the constant surge of attacks. Their relentless search for goals did result in the home side conceding an avoidable goal on the counter, but ultimately they earned the rewards that their efforts deserved. 

The most encouraging aspect of the display for the St. Mary's faithful was that they were not surprised by the quality of the display from their team. After spending three years as a manager in La Liga, Pochettino belongs to a school of managers who believes in attacking the opposing team irrespective of their standing in the league, specifically more so at home. He has brought this outlook to the Premier League, which is a refreshing change from the standard mediocrity amongst managers that perpetuates across the league in terms of tactics, mindset and cliched post-match interviews. 

It's not often that Sir Alex Ferguson admits that an away team completed dominated Manchester United at Old Trafford, but that's what exactly he did in the aftermath of an extremely lucky 2-1 win against Southampton. On hearing this, Pochettino simply declared that Ferguson's words were of no consolation to him. He knew his tactics were spot on, and that his team were clearly superior and should probably have had their first win under him that night at Old Trafford.

Many were quick to judge the decision to recruit the new manager in January, simply because the popular Nigel Adkins was ruthlessly sacked in the middle of a good run. What is starting to become evident is that Saints chairman Nicola Cortese is not your regular boardroom chief, and when he says he wants Southampton to consistently challenge at the top, he also understands that there has to be an evolution in style along with an increased aptitude for tactical sophistication displayed by the players on the field. 

Pochettino is clearly demonstrating that he is the man to deliver Cortese's vision. Southampton are now 6 points clear of relegation, and more importantly the team displays the body language and mindset of a club that is intent on climbing up the table. Merely avoiding the drop simply won't do. In his limited time at the club, Pochettino has proved that with the right mindset, one does not need to have stars in the team to challenge the best in the league. As long as there is a strong belief in a good football philosophy allied with tactical prowess that brings out the best in his players and exposes the flaws of the opposition, Southampton fans have every right to be excited and ambitious about the future, two traits that are synonymous with their new young manager.

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Spurs face significant challenge against resurgent Newcastle

Andre Villas-Boas' confident Spurs team will look to cement their place in the top four and apply further pressure on a stuttering Chelsea, when they take on a galvanized Newcastle at White Hart Lane, in what is the fixture of the weekend.

Spurs are on a tremendous run, unbeaten in their last 9 matches since the stunning collapse at the end of the match against Everton at Goodison Park. The streak also includes 4 draws, and while Spurs would ideally have liked to pull clear of Everton and Arsenal in the race for the Champions League with more wins, draws against league leading Manchester United and a resurgent QPR away from home are fixtures where Spurs have tended to lose in seasons past.

 Moussa Sissoko,  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Newcastle have been transformed from relegation candidates to mid-table challengers in the space of the last week of the January transfer window. Boosted by the arrival of some proven French players purchased at bargain prices, the Magpies have an extra spring in their step after beating Aston Villa and Chelsea in successive games.

In the same fixture last year, Spurs thrashed Newcastle 5-0 at the zenith of Harry Redknapp's popularity. Sadly for the faithful at White Hart Lane, everything went downhill after that result. Newcastle on the other hand recovered fantastically to almost steal a Champions League spot at the end of the season.

After that game, Alan Pardew had admitted that he selected a formation that was too open, and would not make a similar mistake again. Pardew would do well to remember his words, as under AVB Spurs have become extremely compact and difficult to break down. In fact the last time Spurs conceded 2 goals in a Premier League game was exactly two months ago in the aforementioned defeat at Goodison.

Pardew also faces a selection dilemma with Cheick Tiote returning from Nation's Cup duty in South Africa. With Yohan Cabaye back from injury and more importantly in brilliant form, Jonas Gutierrez an ever-present in the midfield, and Moussa Sissoko the new darling of the Toon Army, Tiote might not slot straight back into the starting eleven. If Pardew does want to start Tiote, his best option would be to play Yoan Gouffran on the left and Guiterrez on the right, with Cabaye, Sissoko and Tiote in the centre, the latter acting as anchor.

 Lewis Holtby (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AVB has some tricky decisions of his own. Could it be that he has stumbled upon a solution in playing Gareth Bale in the centre, or will he reinstate Emmanuel Adebayor straight into the starting line-up on his return from the Cup of Nations? Logic suggests that Villas-Boas won't take Newcastle lightly and won't gamble on either option, primarily because the Togolese forward is probably still fatigued and also because he is likely to continue entrusting Clint Dempsey as an auxiliary forward. That being said, AVB could always switch Bale to the centre in the middle of the game, especially as the Welsh wing wizard faces a tough opponent in French international right-back, Mathieu Debuchy.

Ultimately the game will probably be decided in midfield. Scott Parker will be the defensive shield, with Moussa Dembele and Lewis Holtby providing the guile and creativity in support of the attacking trio of Bale, Aaron Lennon and Dempsey. If Holtby continues to build on his early promise, he can certainly add a dimension to Spurs attacking game by finding spaces in defence through intelligent movement and incisive through balls.

It should be a cracker of a game at White Hart Lane, featuring some artists in midfield and efficient forwards. Newcastle are certainly capable of getting something from the game with impetus provided by the return of Cabaye and the addition of Sissoko, but Spurs themselves are extremely hard to beat at home, and with the holy grail of the Champions League their sole focus, AVB's men should edge out a close encounter.

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Can Liverpool learn from Newcastle?

The Toon Army have a new footballing figure to adore in the form of midfield dynamo Moussa Sissoko. After a really good debut performance against Aston Villa, the Frenchman announced his arrival in front of the home fans with a superlative performance featuring two goals to help Newcastle beat Chelsea 3-2 at St. James Park. It truly was an outstanding display, and when you consider the fact that the Magpies paid only 2.5 million pounds for him, one has to credit the Newcastle United management for an astute bit of business.

While Sissoko grabbed all the headlines, they were also some very encouraging performances provided by two other new recruits in black and white, Mathieu Debuchy and Yoan Gouffran. Debuchy is a right-back of fantastic quality, and was possibly France's best player in their poor Euro 2012 campaign, along with being one Lille's most consistent players during their rise to the upper echelons of Ligue Un. Gouffran was purchased for 1.2 million pounds, and the forward has already displayed intelligence through some excellent runs and a determination to track back and help the defence. Finally, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was possibly the best centre-back in France last year, helping the underdogs Montpellier to win the league at the expense of mega-rich Paris St-Germain.

Credit must be given first and foremost to chief scout Graham Carr, for identifying these outstanding talents. Derek Llambias has also played a crucial role in making the purchases at bargain prices and choosing the right moment to make offers to the clubs that Newcastle are buying from. In fact, one could objectively wonder, if there was a better tactical manager than Alan Pardew at the helm, the Magpies could conceivably be performing even better with their continental core.

Newcastle's excellent business in the transfer market does bring some scrutiny on the transfer dealings of another northern sleeping giant. While the upper management at St. James Park have set a new benchmark for excellent scouting and prudent financial sense in purchasing good players, Liverpool continue to overspend on unproven players, with a particular propensity towards overpriced British players. As the excellent transferleague.co.uk shows, the disparity between Newcastle and Liverpool is shocking. While Mike Ashley has simultaneously managed to make a profit in the transfer market and improve the team, Liverpool continue to make losses in the market while regressing in the league.

Let's use the summer of 2011 as a starting reference point. Ashley sanctioned 13.3 million pounds to purchase Yohan Cabaye, Davide Santon and Gabriel Obertan. Cabaye was the Ligue Un player of the year at the time as he orchestrated Lille's brilliant title-winning season, and to this day remains an extremely vital player for Newcastle. After a shaky start adjusting to the pace of the Premier League, Santon has become a mainstay in the team, with many on Tyneside even considering the Italian the best player in the side during the wretched first half of this season. Only Obertan has failed to prove his worth in a black and white shirt. During that summer, Newcastle also signed Demba Ba on a free. Ba had a blinding first half to the season. While Ba's goals dried up in the second half of the season, his compatriot Papiss Cisse was bought in January for 10 million pounds, and was the goal-scoring sensation for the second half of the season. All in all, a terrific year of investment at St. James Park.

Meanwhile at Liverpool, Kenny Dalglish banking on the goodwill of Fenway Sports Group's recent takeover of the club, was given a substantial transfer kitty. Jordan Henderson, who had a fleeting number of "promising" performances in central midfield for Sunderland, was bought in for 16 million pounds. Stewart Downing, whose only virtue seems to be having a left foot, was purchased for 20 million pounds. At the end of the season, Downing had contributed a grand total of zero assists and zero goals in the league. On the back of some recent victories against relegation threatened teams, many pundits seem to think Henderson and Downing are finally showing their worth, however the jury's still out especially in big games. Charlie Adam was signed for 7 million, in the hope that he would replicate Xabi Alonso's success in midfield. Adam is now pinging set-pieces at Stoke. Finally, the less said about the 35 million splurged on Andy Carroll, the better. The only decent bit of business that Dalglish did was signing Jose Enrique for 6.3 million, ironically from Newcastle.

To be fair, Ashley did stall in the summer transfer market this season. Whether the 6.7 million spent on Vernon Anita was wise is still up for debate, although the 3 million recouped by selling Leon Best softens the blow somewhat. One could be pedantic and judge the sale of Fraser Forster for just 2 million as a bad bit of business in light of his heroics for Celtic in the Champions League, but hindsight is always 20/20. While many fans were disappointed with the lack of incoming players, Llambias and his team were shrewd enough to negotiate better prices in the winter market for already identified targets. While they might not end up 5th again this season, Newcastle will certainly have a deep squad to start the 2013-2014 season.

At Liverpool, King Kenny was replaced by Brendan Rodgers. Rodgers wants to turn Liverpool into a team of style, and wants his players to embrace a philosophy based on possession of the ball and intricate passing. To back up his vision, his first two purchases were Joe Allen for 15 million and Fabio Borini for 10 million. After a decent start, Allen has regressed to the point of being replaced by Henderson in the starting eleven, and to judge Borini as extremely poor is an understatement. Even more damning is the fact that Rodgers made these signings on the virtue of the two players have already performed under him before. No imagination or scouting was put to use.

It seems rather ironic that despite recent trends, many in the media have jumped on the bandwagon questioning Newcastle's identity and cracking supposedly witty jokes about Newcastle being a French club. In contrast, in part due to nationalism and partly due to the omni-potent presence of ex-Liverpool players in the media, the signings of Daniel Sturridge and Phillipe Coutinho have been labelled as great bits of business in many quarters. While no one can deny the talent and confidence of Sturridge, the stark reality of the moment is that Liverpool are buying a player who was considered a failure at Chelsea. Coutinho is even more unproven. The Brazilian has the ability to dribble in tight spaces, but unfortunately that ability has rarely translated to success on the pitch, except during a brief loan spell last season at Espanyol under current Southampton manager Mauricio Pocchetino.

Of course the pair do give Liverpool some much needed depth in the attacking third, and it is conceivable that in the long-run, Sturridge and Coutinho could become bonafide legends at Anfield. Yet, the fact remains, that in the January transfer window, Liverpool have splashed out 20.5 million pounds on two young unproven players. Meanwhile, Newcastle have spent 18.7 million pounds on Debuchy, Gouffran, Sissoko, Yanga-Mbiwa and Massadio Haidara. Except Haidara, all of the aforementioned are proven consistent performers. Furthermore, Newcastle also recouped 7 million pounds from selling Demba Ba to Chelsea.

Liverpool are currently 8 points ahead of Newcastle in the table, and realistically should finish the season above the Magpies. However, if Newcastle do manage a late season surge and challenge Liverpool in the battle for the best of rest, then the Magpies tremendous acquisition of proven quality players in the transfer window would surely be a significant factor.

If the Fenway Sports Group and Ian Ayre are indeed serious about delivering success at Anfield without breaking the bank on mediocre players, then they could do worse than looking east and try to emulate Newcastle's unquestionably high-quality scouting network and transfer negotiating system.

Newcastle's French impetus pose a huge threat to stuttering Chelsea

Newcastle host Chelsea at St. James Park this Saturday, in what is certainly the most intriguing clash of the day. A few weeks ago, this game would have been considered an away banker by Rafa Benitez's men, as Chelsea had been relentless away from home, and Newcastle were in free-fall with no wins in nine games, along with an injury-ravaged squad resulting in a crippling loss of confidence on Tyneside.

However, the last round of fixtures have resulted in a dramatic turnaround of momentum leading up to this fixture. Chelsea looked set to continue their impressive away record under Benitez since losing to West Ham at Upton Park. Up 2-0 against Reading in a match they completely dominated, they somehow contrived to throw away the win, by letting the Royals (more specifically Adam Le Fondre) score two equalizing goals after the 87th minute. The Chelsea players wore a shell-shocked and ultimately demoralizing look on their faces at the final whistle.

Meanwhile Alan Pardew's men boosted by the arrival of some shrewd bargains from Ligue Un, got a new lease of life by winning 2-1 against an admittedly poor Aston Villa. With the Demba Ba transfer now behind them, the Magpies finally reverted Papiss Cisse to his preferred central striking position. With the willing and talented Yoan Gouffran an ideal foil on the wing, and the impressive Moussa Sissoko probing from midfield along with creative fulcrum Yohan Cabaye, Newcastle looked close to last season's potent attacking team, especially in the first half. Once the new signings, in particular Sissoko and Mathieu Debuchy get completely settled in, Newcastle can genuinely aspire towards a very strong close to the season.

A confident Newcastle buoyed by an excited Toon Army can certainly cause Chelsea plenty of problems. It will be interesting to see the midfield battle between Newcastle's trio of Cabaye, Sissoko and Gutierrez and Chelsea's myriad of inter-changing midfielders. Benitez will probably have Ramires and Frank Lampard at the base of midfield, with the triumvirate of Juan Mata, Oscar and either Marko Marin or Ryan Bertrand supporting Fernando Torres. It seems despite clear evidence of Demba Ba's impact, Benitez remains stubborn in his selection of his compatriot in the starting line-up. In fact, one could easily assume Benitez having a pre-planned rigid explanation in the form of not pressurizing Ba in front of fans who might be hostile to him, considering how much they idolized him recently.

Ideally Chelsea should have too much tactical sophistication and experience to see out this game, but recent trends involving these two teams have defied logic. Just when Chelsea seemed to be gathering some sort of steam under Benitez, they have thrown away unexpected points. In the opposite direction, just as Newcastle seemed to be destined for a season-long relegation battle, they now have the impetus provided by new players to make a renewed push for a top ten position. With so much at stake, and both sides vulnerable and exciting in equal measure, it is simply a match that is too close to call.

Can AVB get the better of RDM?

Tottenham host Chelsea in the biggest game of the Premier League this weekend. It's a match-up that features two teams who haven't lost a game between them in the league since the opening weekend. The back-drop to the match is quite obviously dominated by Andre Villas-Boas leading Spurs against the team that he managed briefly last season, featuring some players who clearly disrespected him and petulantly let him down.

It seems like fans and pundits alike were waiting for AVB to fail at White Hart Lane, with many still bitter about the sacking of media darling Harry Redknapp. After a shaky and somewhat unfortunate start to the season, Villas-Boas' ideas seem to be transmitting through to the squad, resulting in improved performances, especially so in a brilliant 3-2 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

One of the most positive aspects of AVB's reign at Spurs so far has been his tactical flexibility and courage in trying different formations. A turning point in the tactical evolution came in the second half of their home fixture against QPR. After being completely over-run in midfield, Villas-Boas switched Jan Vertonghen to left-back, and Tottenham haven't looked back since. The Belgian's strong runs have added an extra threat going forward, also liberating Gareth Bale from too many defensive duties and allowing the Welshman to cause havoc further forward.

Spurs also have a settled midfield trio in Moussa Dembele, Sandro and Clint Dempsey, and this has contributed to the team having momentum and continuity in their play over the past month. Dembele is excellent at dictating the pace and direction of play, Sandro effectively complementing him with his strong tackling and sudden breaks into the attacking third. Dempsey works extremely well as the furthest forward in the midfield pivot, enabling retention of possession and an added goalscoring threat to support Jermaine Defoe in the box.

Up against AVB is his former assistant at Stamford Bridge, Roberto Di Matteo. Many would say that the only difference between AVB and RDM last season was simply luck. Di Matteo actually performed poorly in the league once he took over, but he got the rub of the green in club competitions culminating with victory in the FA Cup, followed by a miraculous win in the Champions League.

Back by Roman Abramovich's millions, Chelsea have radically re-shaped their squad. The additions of Eden Hazard, Oscar and the yet unseen Marko Marin were made with the aim of developing a more exciting style of play at Stamford Bridge. Hazard has made the biggest impression so far, although the advent of Oscar in the last month has really got the Chelsea faithful salivating at the prospect of his trickery and invention. More importantly however, Hazard and Oscar have reduced the creative burden on Juan Mata. The Spaniard has rediscovered his mojo, and has been absolutely brilliant creating assists either through his lethal set-piece delivery or imaginative through balls for his counterpart Fernando Torres.

In addition to the flair and fleet-footed movement of the afore-mentioned trio, Ramires continues to provide energy and dynamism in the engine room of the midfield. It wouldn't be an understatement to suggest that Ramires is the only player Chelsea simply cannot cope without. John Obi Mikel also seems to have a renewed lease of life, playing the role of anchor in midfield, but without compromising his vertical passing, an unnoticed facet that also contributes to Chelsea's flow.

Both managers face their toughest assignment of the season so far in the lunchtime fixture. As Andre Villas-Boas rightly put it, this game does not make or break either team's season. Nonetheless victory in this derby could provide vital momentum in a tough run of fixtures coming up for both teams.  Di Matteo and Villas-Boas will both believe that they can get maximum points, a confidence borne out of the knowledge of working with each other, albeit briefly. Ultimately, at least fans of both sides as well as the neutral watcher can appreciate a feast of flowing football featuring tactical sophistication from the two managers, along with lots of creative flair and possession oriented play on the ground provided by some of the most exciting, technical and versatile players in the league.