Football
Miguel Delaney 9y

Mauricio Pochettino keen to overhaul Tottenham squad, say sources

Mauricio Pochettino is planning an overhaul of the Tottenham Hotspur squad as he seeks to arrest what has been a dismal start to his time at the club, sources told ESPN FC.

Spurs have managed just 14 points from their opening 12 games, as well as four defeats out of six at White Hart Lane, which has left them lying in 12th place in the table. The club's poor form has already brought pressure on Pochettino, but that has been diluted by widespread disgruntlement with chairman Daniel Levy, the source said.

Many squad members have also questioned the manager's exhausting training methods, and some are unsure what is being asked of them, while Pochettino himself says the players must "suffer" before they can improve.

Sources have stated to ESPN FC, however, that Pochettino believes the team needs a clear-out to transform mentality.

Under Levy, Tottenham have had six different bosses since 2007 and the source said that the amount of managerial turnover over the past few years has made some players resistant to investing in any deeper transformation in philosophy, precisely because they expect an eventual change in the coaching staff.

The source also said Pochettino has been struck by the lack of leadership and standard-setting in the squad. Spurs did not exactly back the Argentine in the market this summer -- with just 22 million pounds spent on six signings, one a substitute goalkeeper and three of them no older than 21.

Their policy was much more muted than previous preseasons, the source said, adding that the new manager wanted to see what was in the squad and felt he could improve and mould the existing players.

Pochettino's immediate impact on arriving at Southampton in January 2013 only emboldened this belief, the source said. That was a squad fully open-minded to his methods, however, which has not been the case at Tottenham.

Now, Pochettino is planning changes in the squad, and the source said a number of stalwarts could be allowed leave. The highest-profile names that may make way could be Belgian duo Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele, the source said

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