Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Glenn Hoddle believes that Mauricio Pochettino would be the best option as Antonio Conte’s successor, should the Italian depart.
The head coach’s future in north London remains uncertain in the wake of his explosive post-match press conference at Southampton where he took aim at his players after they let a 3-1 lead slip to draw against the Premier League strugglers.
Conte has yet to return to England during the current international break with just a handful of first-team players remaining at Hotspur Way for training sessions which are currently being overseen by assistant Cristian Stellini and first-team coach Ryan Mason.
Pochettino was sacked by Daniel Levy in November 2019 having spent five years in charge of the north Londoners where he led them to a Champions League final, a League Cup final and secured a runners-up spot and two third-placed finishes in the Premier League.
Hoddle admitted that former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel would have been his first choice to succeed Conte, believing that the German was unfairly sacked at Stamford Bridge and has since taken over from Julian Nagelsmann at Bayern Munich in the past 24 hours.
“If you’d asked me before he went to Bayern Munich, I’d have said Thomas Tuchel because he shouldn’t have been sacked by Chelsea,” he told BetFair.
“At the moment there’s no one I think they should go after.
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“Whatever Tottenham do at the moment is a risk whereas I think Mauricio Pochettino would be less of a risk and he’s someone the fans want.
“Football is a strange game and Antonio Conte may actually stay. So many things could happen.
“I agree with many of the points he made in his rant, it’s just the way he said things that is the problem.”
Hoddle believes that Conte was right to say what he did after the draw at St Mary’s, but highlighted the lack of planning at his former club and feels that they should take a leaf out of Manchester United’s book in how they have become more settled following the appointment of Erik ten Hag.
He added: “No one knows what’s going on. As a Spurs fan, I wanted Conte to come out and say that he wanted to stay and do the job,”
“While I don’t think he’ll be at Tottenham next season, I think Conte has done a decent job.
“If this squad had played the open football that the fans wanted, they’d have been mid-table so I think Conte has done very well with what he’s got.
“If he was given more to build in parts of the team then I think success would’ve been around the corner.
“There’s no plan at Tottenham so everyone is up in arms at the moment. They need to finish in the top four this season but it’s difficult because there’s no harmony in the team.
“You look at Manchester United a few years back, now they’ve settled down with a manager they’re happy with and we can all see the turnaround that’s happened – that’s what’s got to happen to Tottenham.”
SpursWeb Opinion
Julian Naglesmann and Mauricio Pochettino are clearly the outright favourites among the Tottenham fanbase with some also in favour of the appointment of former Spain boss Luis Enrique.
Hoddle is right to suggest there is a risk with a change at this stage of the season, however, it is widely reported that mood in the Spurs dressing room has become toxic and this in turn can harm the club’s chances of a top four finish unless a change is made.
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