Both Nuno Espirito Santo and Mauricio Pochettino have had underwhelming starts to life at their respective clubs in Europe this season and it looks like the Argentine may still join his former club in London eventually, leaving the French capital where he has been in-charge of Paris Saint-Germain since 2nd January, 2021.
Whereas, the Portuguese Santo joined Spurs this summer, almost four months after Jose Mourinho was sacked by the club’s board for unsatisfactory results.
But, both of them have experienced a tumultuous ride this season so far in Enlgand and France as Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain have had mixed results in their bag.
And it would not be wrong to say that Mauricio Pochettino might eventually end up back in London after his sojourn in Paris with the Qatar-owned French giants in Ligue 1.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO MORE SUITED TO SPURS’ STYLE OF PLAY
Pochettino is the manager who has showcased that he thrives at clubs where he can tap into the academy for bringing talent to the first team. He displayed this quite deftly during his spell as Spurs manager when he brought to the fore academy talents such as Harry Kane for the Lilywhites in the Premier League.
The Argentine also reached the UEFA Champions League final in June 2019 with a team that had not spent even a single penny on transfers the previous summer in London. In comparison to Spurs, PSG are royalty in their own right – given that they are a state-sponsored club with Qatari interests.
Paris Saint-Germain splurged on a host of big-name football players this summer and will be expecting to win every competition that they play in this season given the amount of firepower that they possess in attack.
But, so far Les Parisiens have only won 1 match in which the trio of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe have started. The triumvirate made their first start in the Champions League away at Club Brugge, only for the Belgian club to fight it out bravely for a draw.
Then, all three of them started together against Lyon in Paris, but once more none of them were able to score from open play (with only Neymar scoring from a penalty kick).
And Messi was controversially substituted by Pochettino in the 76th minute of the match to bring in right-back Achraf Hakimi on the field – a decision that has attracted some flak from all quarters.
POCHETTINO’S TIME AT LES PARC DES PRINCES LIMITED?
With Nasser Al-Khelaifi and the Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) group desperate for success at the biggest stage of European football and dreaming of a Champions League win after the transfer window business they conducted this season, Pochettino will definitely be walking on eggshells this season in Paris.
And failure to bring about cohesion and chemistry between the players on the field might cost him his job in the largest metropolis of Europe. Therefore, he must quickly and efficiently find a solution in Paris to make the squad click together, especially for the upcoming Champions League visit of Manchester City to Paris.
NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO FINDS LIFE DIFFICULT IN LONDON
Nuno Espirito Santo’s situation in London can be described as a microcosm of Mauricio Pochettino’s plight in Paris. The Portuguese is more adept at managing mid-table clubs such as Wolverhampton Wanderers rather than managing Tottenham Hotspur which is higher up in the food chain in both England and Europe (whenever they qualify for European competitions).
Early results were in his favour at Tottenham, including the opening day win over league champions Manchester City in the Premier League, and helped to signify the success of his approach in North London.
But chastening defeats against Crystal Palace and Chelsea have put him in jeopardy of losing his job in the British capital. If the results don’t get better soon, he might as well pack his bags for departure.
In the Portuguese’s place Mauricio Pochettino may come back as the new (or old) manager of the Lilywhites in London given the fact that he was the first choice of Daniel Levy to succeed Jose Mourinho when the current AC Milan manager was sacked in April 2021.
And it will be no wonder for football fans if they see Mauricio Pochettino once again prowling the technical area at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium soon after he assumes the managerial role in North London.
