Ronald Koeman vs. Mauricio Pochettino: Breaking Down the Manager Battle
At a point where they were probably expecting their sides to push on, Southampton and Tottenham bosses Ronald Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino are having to re-evaluate.
Relatively barren runs for both teams have tempered the optimism created by standout autumn victories. In what is shaping up as an extremely competitive and unpredictable Premier League season, past and recent form only counts for so much.
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These Saturday opponents were both among the best of the rest outside the division's elite in 2014-15. Getting back to even that point could do with the boost of a productive run over the festive period.
Both Koeman and Pochettino know winning the manager battle at St. Mary's Stadium this weekend would be a good start.
The Past Was Theirs, The Future's...?
There is a lot of goodwill toward Leicester City right now. Concerned with relegation just months ago, the surprise title challengers are capturing hearts and headlines as they take on the Premier League's best in rip-roaring style.
Admiration and respect for the job Claudio Ranieri is currently doing will extend to rival coaching teams throughout the land. But given how it is unsettling the English football landscape, it will be of the begrudging variety.
The top-half form of Leicester and others like Crystal Palace and Watford is showing Southampton and Tottenham respective seventh- and fifth-place finishes last season are not necessarily going to count for anything this time around.
Like Leicester, Southampton were one of the pleasant surprises of 2014-15. They also lost a manager—Pochettino—only to then overcome serious doubts about their ability to survive, let alone thrive in the top flight (though the misplaced fears were more to do with replacing departed first-team players than the Dutchman's capabilities).
The fruits of their labour were recognition for an ingrained structure of detail-focused assessment and recruitment (typified by their now famous "black box"), praise for previously unheralded replacements such as Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle, and a return to European football.
Saints' swift exit from the Europa League at the hands of FC Midtjylland coincided with a mixed beginning to the campaign domestically. If the latter facet was interpreted then as a consequence of European efforts began in July, subsequent months have proved it has much to do with the enhanced difficulty of the Premier League.
Good as Koeman's first year was, Southampton are still configuring their grand plans with short-term realities. Pochettino arrived at Tottenham with a certain quality level already established—the club a near-perennial top-four contender with resources and status an outfit like Southampton are still working to regain.
There was plenty on show in the 14-match unbeaten league run lasting up until last week to suggest the north Londoners are capable of improving on fifth place. But in the struggle to turn some draws into wins, notice was served that genuine progress will not come easily.
Breaking Out of Winless Runs
If the bigger picture surrounding Southampton versus Tottenham is reigniting the process of re-establishing their upper-echelon credentials, the more immediate priority is just securing a win.
Both are in the midst of winless runs and three points would provide a welcome boost.
Southampton's sequence is the slightly more concerning right now, as no victory since the November international break has left them in 12th place—albeit only five points behind a Spurs side currently occupying fifth.
Up until that point, they had won four from their previous six league games, recording respectable if somewhat frustrating draws in the other two against Leicester and Liverpool (plus another two in the Capital One Cup).
One point from four subsequent matches, plus the ignominy of being thrashed 6-1 by the Reds in the League Cup, has left them scratching their heads at the momentum-slowing run.
Preparing for the return of Pochettino, Koeman has looked to focus attentions firmly on what is ahead.
"In my opinion the next three games are a key point to how we get on in the season," he told Southampton's official YouTube page (via above). "We know the situation and it’s all about what we like to show, what our ambition is and that’s about winning games. We need a win."
The Tottenham side Koeman will try to secure that win against are attempting to decipher their own current slump.
After returning from the international break with a brilliant 4-1 defeat of West Ham United, they have failed to build on the impressive result.
While there was some satisfaction from the point against Chelsea (the derby occasion overruling the Blues' current more desperate struggles), there was clear disappointment at the failure to beat West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United.
Good Europa League showings against Qarabag and Monaco have tempered the urge to categorise the overall picture as anything worrying just yet.
Nonetheless, Pochettino was definitely keen after the Newcastle loss to "assess and analyse" why "the second-half the feeling is not the same."
The inability to confirm a winning position—or at least see out a game—against less high-profile opponents especially, has been the difference between his side's current position and a lofty, Leicester-like placing.
"Maybe it’s my feeling because, to be honest I think it was a game to win for us," the head coach added after Newcastle, before changing tact slightly and conceding, "but you know always in the Premier League it is difficult."
Familiar Foes
The challenge for Koeman and Pochettino is who can pitch the better response to these recent travails. Who can anticipate what will suitably stop the other's rectifying attempt.
"I'm a little bit worried at the moment about the performance, about scoring goals and get the total performance that we need to win," the Southampton boss told his club's official website. "We're working hard, but it's always about confidence and winning games—and that makes it easier."
The added factor in this attempt to regain winning confidence for both Saints and Spurs is their shared DNA of Pochettino's influence, and whether familiarity still means anything.
Southampton have more than got by since the Argentinian's May 2014 departure. If their 1-0 defeat at White Hart Lane last season reflected his lingering insight into aspects of their personnel—although not Koeman's interpretation of his offensive playing style—the 2-2 at St. Mary's suggested Southampton had moved on.
The home side were the more assertive and were certainly good for the second time they took the lead through Pelle. Only the momentary quality summoned to set Nacer Chadli up into a scoring position earned Spurs a point—one they were lucky to hold onto as they barely resisted a late flurry of pressure.
Southampton have shown this season they remain a tough opponent. Despite their recent scoring struggles, they boast a considerable wealth of attacking talent to be handled. But deploying the likes of Shane Long, Mane, Pelle and Dusan Tadic is not so simply done against teams themselves rejuvenated in ways similar to Koeman's side were last season.
Tottenham—also seeking to prove their more youthful identity can deliver them to the heights they have hinted at previously—will be a test of the Dutchman's ability to reinvigorate them. To prove that they were a worthy upper-echelon competitor to the capital club last year and that they can be again.
For all Spurs' disappointments so far in December, they remain a team much of the Premier League aspires to matching. The best of the rest outside of the more regular title winners and Champions League participants. They certainly remain a marker for teams like their opponents this weekend.
Sussing out Koeman's Southampton in the way Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace and even Remi Garde's Aston Villa have in the last two weeks will be a timely tonic to Tottenham's own recent blues. One that will point out to Pochettino whether he still has his team on the right track in 2015-16.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
