What Mauricio Pochettino Can Learn from Tottenham's Summer Signings in January

The arrival of Mauricio Pochettino as manager in May heralded another new dawn at Spurs. More than any other new manager in recent history, Pochettino appeared to be the spearhead of a new era. 

A disciple of Marcelo Bielsa, Pochettino was renowned for the energetic, aggressive nature of his teams and for how hard he worked his players. 

At Espanyol and Southampton, senior players had been sidelined in favour of lesser-known names that better understood his instructions. 

His first transfer window at Spurs was instructive. Each of the six players that were signed, it could be argued, were unlikely to break into the first team right away.

So it proved in the opening months of the season. 

Only Eric Dier, the young defender acquired from Sporting Lisbon, made an immediate impact, and he was largely the beneficiary of fortune.

Kyle Walker has missed the entire season through injury, while Kyle Naughton has twice been sent off. These enforced absences have given Dier far more time on the pitch than he would have expected. 

Instead of trying to squeeze the new signings in, Pochettino chose to focus on the players that had been at the club for some time. 

Players like Danny Rose found excellent form, while academy graduates like Harry Kane and Ryan Mason also demanded selection.

As the season has gone on, more of the summer signings have found a place in the team. 

Ben Davies, signed for £10 million from Swansea, lost his place in the Wales team because he wasn't playing regularly for Spurs. He was desperately poor in his early appearances in the Europa League and Capital One Cup but has now started five of Spurs' last six games.

Federico Fazio, the oldest of the summer signings also took time to find his place with Younes Kaboul and Vlad Chiriches both initially ahead of him, but now Fazio too has found a groove. 

Pochettino, a former player and manager in Spain's La Liga as well as an Argentina international himself, will not have been surprised by Fazio's particular strengths and weaknesses. Even so, it has taken some time for Pochettino to use him in the right way. Fazio is one of the slowest players in the Premier League and, when paired with an inexperienced full-back (Dier), can be badly exposed. 

The way Spurs' defence set up against Everton was perfect. Chiriches, usually a centre-back, was positioned at right-back but was able to tuck in next to Fazio when Everton had the ball. This was due to the presence of Aaron Lennon. Lennon effectively became a wing-back when Spurs dropped deeper. This set-up got the best out of Fazio, who personally had an excellent game. 

The obvious lesson from the summer transfer window is one that Spurs should have learned in 2013: New signings, even ones with experience in the Premier League, take time to adjust to a new club. 

When Spurs spent the gargantuan Gareth Bale transfer fee on seven new players, five of them were thrown into the first game (against Arsenal) after the window closed. Only Christian Eriksen and Vlad Chiriches, neither registered in time for the match, failed to see some action. 

Then manager Andre Villas-Boas persisted with playing many of his new signings while more experienced players sat on the bench. He was sacked and Spurs struggled through the season as the players scrambled to develop chemistry. 

Pochettino has managed to avoid many of the mistakes of Andre Villas-Boas and has been rewarded with gradual improvements from his team. Spurs remain unbeaten in cup competitions and, despite some frustrating results, are clearly growing as a force in the Premier League. 

As the transfer window approaches, there is always the temptation to spend big. Many managers will spend every penny their chairman will allow them, but it is a temptation that Pochettino must resist. 

DeAndre Yedlin will, according to the Standard, arrive from MLS' Seattle Sounders in January to help relieve Spurs' weakness at right-back. He is obviously a player who will take time to adapt to life in England. That is one task that already faces Pochettino. 

Every additional signing is more work and more distraction from the preparation of his team. Pochettino is known for his meticulous planning and attention to detail and a raft of January signings is likely to hinder those efforts. 

With Spurs having acquired Pochettino's former Southampton colleague Paul Mitchell, there are likely to be some deals done. With Pochettino having had six months to assess his squad, there will certainly be player sales. Emmanuel Adebayor is one that will be moved on if Spurs can find a buyer. 

The secondary lesson of Spurs' summer transfer moves is also an important one. None of the players that were signed in the summer were too big to be omitted. 

AVB was partially hamstrung by the size of many of the deals in 2013. Spurs broke their transfer record three times on Paulinho, Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela. AVB could hardly drop those players. 

In 2014, Spurs chose a different tactic. Benjamin Stambouli, a virtually unknown midfielder from Ligue 1's Montpellier, has yet to start a Premier League game but has been quietly making progress in European games.

Dier, Fazio and Davies have all been rotated out of the lineup when Pochettino has felt it to be appropriate and he has faced no criticism for doing so. 

If Spurs do intend to dip into the transfer market in January, they must remember the two lessons of their summer signings. 

It is very difficult to find players that will immediately thrive in new surroundings so it is ideal to avoid signing "undroppable" players. 

Tottenham do not need a revolution in January, they've had enough of those. Instead, Pochettino needs two or three new players. He needs a new central defender and a forward to replace Adebayor if he leaves. 

It's more important to give Pochettino time to work with the players that he already has than to add unnecessary new elements to a team that is showing signs of growth.