Should Tottenham defeat Manchester City at Wembley next Monday evening, Mauricio Pochettino's side will move ahead of Pep Guardiola's juggernaut 10 games into the season.
This, in itself, appears a remarkable possibility and it speaks for the continuing, improbable excellence of the Argentine's management. It does feel rather deceptive. Spurs have not been particularly stylish this season.
Harry Kane has not recaptured his finest form, four of their seven wins have been by a one-goal margin and in the second half at the London Stadium, Pochettino was indebted to the brilliance of Hugo Lloris, who made a succession of crucial saves to deny Marko Arnautovic an equaliser.
West Ham, who fear Andriy Yarmolenko will be out for six months with an ankle injury that saw him carried off on a stretcher in the first half, simply woke up too late. Their first half was flat and timid, undermined by stray passes and a lack of intensity. In the second period, they roused themselves, snapping into tackles, turning a procession into a scrap.
Yet Tottenham, on balance, just about merited this victory, earned through a lovely first-half header by Erik Lamela, and a glance at the Premier League table this morning should make for happy reading. This is Spurs' greatest points return from the first nine games of a Premier League campaign.
Truly, Pochettino is overseeing the finest work in the division right now. If good management is defined by a vision of play and an ability to summon unity when confronted by adversity, Pochettino ticks every box.
He might have been ruffled by the stadium delays that have compelled his side to start with six away games in their first nine. Yet instead, his team remain in striking distance of the pack. He might have been ruffled by a summer without additions and he might have ostracised the want-aways such as Danny Rose, Mousa Dembele and Toby Alderweireld.
Instead, he champions the board's hard work and reintegrated those players seamlessly. He might have been disheartened by injuries to Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Dembele but instead he has yielded improvements from Lamela and Harry Winks, while even Moussa Sissoko provided an excellent assist here. Pochettino's drive and positivity fuels Tottenham's efforts.
We need only glance at the red team in Manchester to see how toxic and divided an environment can become when a manager turns on those around him.
Pochettino may be doing the best job in the Premier League but he must now salvage Tottenham's flagging European campaign. After two defeats against Inter Milan and Barcelona, it is do-or-die in the next two games against PSV Eindhoven.
Having seen his side falter on must-win occasions last season, Pochettino now wants to see emotional maturity. He will be boosted by the return of Eriksen and Dembele. 'I think we are so competitive over the last four and a half years but to win a title is the last step, to push the team and the club,' he said.
'All the must-win games in the past were against big teams ready to win titles and our performance wasn't enough.
'When you play for a win, you need to learn how to manage that pressure and the stress.
'But when they offered me the job, the idea was to build a team for the Champions League in the moment we arrive in the new stadium. This is our third Champions League in a row, one at White Hart Lane, three times at Wembley. We're ahead of the project. We're miles ahead.'
buging
0
King of dust?
Dioruno
0
So when Wenger won nothing but kept Arsenal in the CL spots year after year on a budget, the media called him a failure but when Poch does it he's the king? Gotcha!
Earnester
1
How stupid are those who say Poch hasn't won anything yet? Spurs have the lowest net spend amongst all the other PL clubs over the past 4 years. He has got Spurs into the Champions League 3 years running and has produced more England players than any other.
Solomans
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This is the same guy that paid 30 mil for Sissoko
Josephmoreno
1
Considering our chairman is worse than Mike Ashley, Poch has worked wonders with what he has available. To win a trophy we need that special Martial type player, instead, our chairman went for Jack Grealish.
hoisted
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I don't get it. Kane has a better PL scoring record than Suarez. Yet everyone said Rodgers without Suarez was nothing whilst Poch is a genius??? Where would Poch be without Kane??? He didn't even give him his debut and Soldado was his first choice initially until Kane kept scoring and Poch had no choice!
yonderer
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Obvioisly written by a Spurs fan. Wenger did that for 20 years and actually won lots of things, compared to win nothing Poch.
gangsta
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Wtf! This guy is the most overrated manager ever. He hasn¿t won a single thing or achieved anything.
Edeneil
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Pep Pocchetino has achieved as much as Gary Neville did at Valencia... But yes, one of the best isn't he !
educate
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Vision of winning nothing in 5 yrs ?
unclein
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What's with the affinity for Poch?
macadam
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Have you seen us play this calendar year? We¿ve been utterly devoid of ideas, look exhausted every game and show no intention of scoring goals, just killing the other team off with boredom. It¿s the exact opposite of City and it¿s frankly embarrassing to be mentioned in the same sentence as them. Worlds apart!
Johnhall
0
What's with the affinity for Poch?
TeamFCB
0
Vision of winning nothing in 5 yrs ?
luncheon
1
How stupid are those who say Poch hasn't won anything yet? Spurs have the lowest net spend amongst all the other PL clubs over the past 4 years. He has got Spurs into the Champions League 3 years running and has produced more England players than any other.
laehcim
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Not this spurs cos for u to beat this city ull b at 110% or else forget it