Snak

Pochettino wants his players to work hard, work to their limits, and give absolutely all they have got in training, in the gym, and most importantly on the pitch, and his training methods sound gruelling and intense – but they also work.

One example used is of Rickie Lambert, who of course went on to play for England and Liverpool and have a great career. Pochettino put him through his paces to get there, particularly using the Gacon test – a gruelling intermittent shuttle run.

“To start with, the players have 45 seconds to cover 150 metres, with 15 seconds to rest,” explained Pochettino in his book. “In each subsequent 45-second rep, they have to run 6.25 metres further, with the intensity steadily increasing.”
Southampton players hated the Gacon test and, upset with the amount of running Pochettino was demanding on Mondays after games, Rickie Lambert went to see his new coach to request a relaxation. He was listened to politely and the pair shook hands.

“I went out [of the office] and went back to the lads made up, thinking, ‘yep, just done it for you boys, next Monday gonna be sorted’,” the striker said. “So, I played the game [the next weekend], 90 minutes again, come in Monday, not only did we do 12, we did 24 runs – 24 runs and I just knew, I was running around laughing and almost crying and I knew what he was doing, he was breaking me and he did, he broke me.”


Kieran Trippier: “Pochettino’s training was on a different level. We never got days off it was 7/8 weeks without a day off. As a manager I can’t fault him, he was unbelievable. You get used to it.”

Danny Rose on Mauricio Pochettino: “He’s very thorough, very precise, he’s a disciplinarian. He records training. He was the first manager I came across who records training, records gym sessions. There’s no hiding places."

Ben Jacobs: Outgoings remain vital. Pochettino is intent on creating a strong dressing-room bond and he needs a manageable squad size to do this. He will work very closely with Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley. An exciting appointment and one CFC have been thorough with.

Pochettino also views Levi Colwill as a big part of his plans. No intention to sell or loan the centre-back this summer.