The Pochettino Story | Season 2

Bad choice of words by Poch and something that might bite him later on, especially if the season goes south and this joke of a competition was the only realistic chance at success for a team such as Brighton: which is the reason the League Cup exists in the first place - many teams prioritize the league and FA Cup, leaving the spoils for smaller teams. So what Poch says here isn't necessarilly wrong or incorrect, it might even reflect correctly what people in England actually think, unless it's their team that is doing well in that cup tournament.

I'm a bit torn over this approach to the Mickey Mouse Cup.

On one part it's actually refreshing for a manager to speak up with honesty like this. And there IS a double standard in the demands of resting players, if one can't choose to do so in a lesser impotant competition like this one.

However, setting the team up to defeat is never a pretty thing to do, and it certainly undermines the accomplishment, if Brighton was to go and win it sometime later on. Good choice with the free access though, then the fans didn't pay for more than what was promised to them. Season ticket holders aside.

As the saying goes: No individual is bigger than the club.

Who is Poch to decide whether a team like Brighton ought to be happy with a good run in the League Cup or not?

I mean, I agree with the man: we're all talking about keeping the players fresh and avoid saturation. Instead, tournaments keep getting bigger and number of games keeps increasing.

But it's not my point. Poch is wrong to sit on the chair of the Football Deity and say which of those tournaments need to be axed.

I am a purist in that sense: Champions League ought to be 32 champions only and then a second European tournament for top 3 to 5 performers and/or cup winners (including a League Cup). Continental national team tournaments shouldn't exceed 16 teams, while a world cup with 32 teams is plenty. This way you decrease number of games, but you add value to the tournament for the League Cup.

Both are good points and one that I myself go back and forth on. I think the league cup in England should be only for teams not in European competitions personally. 

The club making tickets free was my way of showing the club agreed with Poch. We want to build something bigger at Brighton than a deep league cup performance and since that is not one of the goals set by the club, I feel the agree. 

Maybe in a year or two when the depth to rotate is there, we can try harder in this competition but for now, we have to pick our battles. 

Beating Man City, then losing to Everton; somehow it doesn't compute.

But neither does Man City being in 15th, although they have been known for being slow starters.

When I was doing my Ajax career, after season 1 I gave in to the bids on Brian Brobbey and got Strand Larsen as replacement: big mistake. His way of playing is nowhere his actual stats and within a matter of games I played Noah Ohio as first striker. He wasn't as clinical or prolific as the Norwegian from Celta, but Ohio was able to play in the team better. Strand Larsen is really a modern Inzaghi: no added value as a teamplayer, apart from sometimes being at the right place in the right time. With him, you play with a guy less on the pitch. My experience was really bad with him.

You got FIFA'd by Everton there. I think it's good to be held back once in a while, allowing you to make that surprise win vs City, but still finding yourself in a secondary position in the league.

I like your possible transfer targets there. Osman in particular. Especially with your recent success with Adingra in mind, signing another from FCN makes a lot of sense.

Edit: Once I wrote the above, a thought came to me. "Didn't he sign for them IRL?" And yes, he did do that. He'll join Brighton this summer.

Can I ask (and maybe treat it as a question from media or pundits) -

Why did Poch change tactics for such a big game?

If Brighton was doing so well in 4-3-3, it ought to be seen as a tactical blooper by the manager, particularly if Poch thought he would stand more of a chance with the tactics he chose instead. Or, were there different reasons? Injuries; lack of fitness; saving players for other games?

I second @Danimal5981 's question. Looks like Poch were a bit too afraid of the big game. Approaching the game with more confidence could perhaps have helped..?

I did the same a few days ago. Tried a few games with Bayern, just for fun. Won 4-0 in the first game, easily, with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Then tried a 3-4-3 next and was lucky to get 3-3 in the next game. Applying one more central defender was supposed to improve the defence. And the exact opposite happened. Sounds like you had similar defensive issues in your Chelsea-game.

Poch will be answering questions in a press release later today.  

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@JustinCase0110 wrote:

Won 4-0 in the first game, easily, with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Then tried a 3-4-3 next and was lucky to get 3-3 in the next game. Applying one more central defender was supposed to improve the defence. And the exact opposite happened.

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It all depends how you set up those wide players in FIFA / FC games: as wing backs they stay wide and return to defend. However, as RM and LM they always creep to the inside (even though you give instructions to stay wide) and they neither support defence or attack that much, which leaves the back three very vulnerable as centre backs are usually not very fast or agile.