WHY SAY ANYTHING?

One gets the distinct impression that some Tottenham Hotspur fans would not be too disappointed if Mauricio Pochettino left for Manchester United in the Summer. One also gets the distinct impression that, if Spurs could get Ole Gunnar Solskjær to make the reverse trip, these same fans would be very pleased indeed.

The Argentinean has very recently fallen foul of a few of the faithful by stating that trophies are not important, that they are just “ego-boosters” and don’t necessarily reflect a team’s long-term success. That may be true but his “ambition” to finish in the top four of the Premier League in preference to winning a trophy is hardly likely to endear him to those Tottenham supporters who shell out their hard-earned cash to go and watch the team every week and will shell out even more in the coming years if the club ever move to their new stadium.

His words also sound a little hollow coming, as they did, after Spurs had been knocked out of two cup competitions within a week. Both of these competitions should have been targeted as winnable by the club particularly as they held a first leg lead against Chelsea and beating Crystal Palace had become habitual, until now of course. With Arsenal and Liverpool already gone and Chelsea playing Manchester United in the next round meaning one of those two would be departing the arena, this could have been Spurs’ year.

But never mind. It’s not important and those two cups would only have detracted from what a fantastic job Pochettino is doing by keeping the club in the top four!

Ole Gunnar Solskjær, on the other hand, is busy telling anybody who will listen that just finishing in the top four isn’t good enough and that United should be winning a trophy every year!

Should he be given the job now? That is a question being asked by a lot of people and a lot of those same people think the answer is yes, he should.

We beg to differ though. As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. José Mourinho appeared to have broken Manchester United beyond repair but Solskjær has flown in on his magic carpet, granted the wishes of players and fans alike and has, apparently, managed to reinvigorate all at Old Trafford to such an extent that it would be a surprise now if he won nothing this season and failed to finish in the top four! So it doesn’t need fixing again.

In fact, if a direct swap between United and Spurs involving Solskjær and Pochettino was suggested right now, then we reckon that 99% of United fans would reject it and around 50% of Spurs fans would take it.

So leave things as they are for now. There is still a chance Pochettino could be offered the United job at the end of the season but, in truth, he is not doing very well with his own club at present and his recent remarks are certainly not what ANY Manchester United supporter would want to hear if he were in charge at Old Trafford. It would be too much like having David Moyes and his defeatist attitude back in Manchester.

By the start of next season we fully expect the Norwegian to still be in charge, with a contract as full-time manager, and a squad willing to run through walls for him. Then we can all sit back and watch the trophies start to appear.

And finally…..

Guillem finally works out what WSA has known for ages. (There are leaders and there are followers)

We have published some articles recently whereby, when discussing José Mourinho, we have used analogies such as him being a lover of Subbuteo as opposed to Football Manager 2019, and also an analogue manager whilst others have embraced the digital world.

It appears that none other than the great Guillem Balague agrees with us as he has finally come to the same conclusion himself, it has just taken a while longer.

Here is his recent article for the BBC, well worth a read.