Ben Davies was Mauricio Pochettino’s first signing as Tottenham Hotspur manager, and while the Welshman is still at the club, the Argentinian manager has moved on. Now, Davies has reflected on the work Pochettino did at Spurs.
It has now been a decade since Davies joined Tottenham, and the defender has racked up 330 appearances for the Lilywhites during his time in London (Transfermarkt).
Ben Davies was a Spurs regular under Mauricio Pochettino
His role has become more of a squad player these days, with Davies offering flexibility and a reliable, experienced head for Ange Postecoglou‘s side over last season, across a range of positions.
Davies was a key part of Mauricio Pochettino‘s tenure at Spurs, though, and enjoyed one of the more successful periods of Tottenham’s recent history under the former coach.
Pochettino built a great structure at Tottenham
Speaking on the Business of Sport podcast, Davies reflected on that time with Pochettino and how the manager developed a harmonious culture at the club.
He said: “Pochettino built an incredible culture. We had a great team. We had lots of young players that all got along with each other and we all kind of gelled perfectly.
“There was that structure that was built in, but there was quite a big element of freedom as long as it was within the structure. And he gave us that freedom with quite a lot of guidance and basically just created the perfect environment for us all to thrive as young players. And we were pretty unlucky that we didn’t get over the line at that time with him.
“The season that Leicester won it, we played some unbelievable football at times but didn’t quite do it. And then also the next season when Chelsea won it, I think we went on a run of nine, 10 wins and Chelsea ended up winning even more.
“So we felt like we were close. And then football is football. In hindsight, the length of time Pochettino was there feels like it was an age given how quickly managers have come and gone, not just at Spurs, but in the league in general. I think 18 months is the average tenure that a manager gets now.
“We had Pochettino for five and a bit years, which really meant you knew how things were going to be on a day-to-day basis.”
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It is a bit of a miracle really when you look at how long Pochettino was at this cub and how positive his impact was.
It’s rare for a manager to change a club so much, but if we give Postecoglou time, it’s clear he can have a similar impact, if not better.