POCHETTINO'S START AT TOTTENHAM GOES UNDER THE RADAR

Mauricio Pochettino's reign as Tottenham's new manager has been very low key so far. With the club needing to sell in order to buy new talent, much work is needed in the month ahead for them to be a top four-challenging team.

 

D. Ray Morton, 20th July 2014.

Mauricio Pochettino has kept a low profile as Tottenham manager but will need to make strides in the transfer market if they are to challenge for those lucrative Champions League places

When Tim Sherwood's tenure as Tottenham boss ran down towards the end of last season, three candidates emerged to be the club's next permanent manager: Frank de Boer, Louis van Gaal and Mauricio Pochettino. All three were interested in the job at different stages but Daniel Levy and the Tottenham board opted for the latter based on his stellar work at Southampton. De Boer remains at Ajax Amsterdam and Louis van Gaal was handed the Manchester United reins boosted by having a fine World Cup guiding the Dutch national team to bronze medals. Some United fans are even talking about challenging for the Premier League title. One wonders whether such optimism would be at White Hart Lane had van Gaal gone there, keep in mind that Spurs did finish five points ahead of the Red Devils last season.

It is fair to say that Pochettino has operated under the radar so far. His goal is to finish in the top four but he must rebuild a flawed squad and also has a lengthy Europa League campaign ahead of him, something which Manchester United do not need to worry themselves with. To assemble this squad, he needs to sell to buy. Levy will not allow the free spending which backfired for the club last summer after the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. Ben Davies, Swansea's capable left-back, will likely be their first signing of the summer for a fee of around €12.75m funded by the sale of Jake Livermore to Hull City for €10m.

Ben Davies (foreground) could be Tottenham's first signing of the summer

The real conundrum is, who to sell and who to keep. Jan Vertonghen, Hugo Lloris and Érik Lamela are their three most in-demand players but the club really need to keep the first two as they are key members of the first-team squad. Lamela is young, Argentine like Pochettino and has potential but had an awful first season at White Hart Lane troubled by injuries and homesickness. The option is there to offload him or try and rekindle the abilities he demonstrated in Italy with Roma. Then there is a list of squad members who can easily be disposed with should Spurs be able to attract buyers: Paulinho, Roberto Soldado, Emmanuel Adebayor, Lewis Holtby, Kyle Naughton, Andros Townsend, Michael Dawson, Gylfi Sigurðsson and Sandro can all leave if suitable offers come in. Getting rid of a good few of those should raise a decent enough kitty to reinvest in the squad.

Some movement in the market is now crucial as desperation can rear its ugly head if business is left too late. No doubt technical director, Franco Baldini, is busy behind the scenes trying to close deals and the sooner they get done, the better. With North London rivals Arsenal having already signed one of the stars of the World Cup in Alexis Sánchez, Tottenham will have make a few moves in order to build a bit of much-needed belief around the club.

TALKS OF BEST WORLD CUP EVER DASHED AS BRAZIL 2014 TURNS INTO ITALIA '90

D. Ray Morton, 6th July 2014.

Dutch goalie Tim Krul cuts a wrestling villain style promo on each Costa Rican spot-kicker to demonstrate the increasingly dark side of this World Cup

Samba soccer, the football carnival and with all things South American attacking flair, many people have World Cup 2014 down as the best quadrennial FIFA showcase ever. They might well have a case. For the most part, the beginning of the competition was riveting. High scoring matches, very few draws and that beautiful unpredictability that comes with a tournament played in a mysterious non-European climate. With the semi-final fixtures set, it has gotten a bit pragmatic all of a sudden, however.

The knockout stages have featured chess matches rather than sexy football. After the freestyle fun of the opening games, the serious business has begun and it was no wonder that each group winner triumphed against the second placed teams in the last sixteen. With the exception of Costa Rica's heroic journey to the quarter-finals, it is all starting to look very systematic.

Cynicism has entered the fray as the World Cup reaches its climax. Brazil vs. Colombia typifies that. Brazil had set themselves up to fight and Colombia duly walked into that trap. The game turned into a kick-fest and ended Neymar's tournament. Look at the gamesmanship of Tim Krul in last night's penalty shoot-out. He taunted each Costa Rican before their penalties, a cocky tactic which worked a charm. Krul will not have won over many neutrals, however, despite making two fine match-winning saves.

There is now bitterness in accepting defeat too. Belgium, especially, are under the impression that they blew it against Argentina. Daniel van Buyten was quoted as saying in the aftermath: "Of course Argentina have superb players, but I think a team like Germany would easily beat them." A thinly-veiled jab at a side who comfortably dealt with a full half hour of Hail Mary passes lumped at a furry lamppost of a man named Marouane Fellaini. His team-mate Jan Vertonghen also jumped in on the Eric Cartman-like gripes: "I think Argentina will crash out of the tournament against Netherlands in the semi-finals. I really think so." The Tottenham stopper fuming and hoping that his European neighbours do a job on the only team that have won five games in a row in the tournament.

Jan Vertonghen decided to launch a hubris-filled prediction for Argentina going forward clearly frustrated at Belgium's own shortcomings

Another parallel to Italia '90 is that Costa Rica journey that I mentioned. Does it remind anyone of Jack Charlton's boys in green twenty-four years ago? Well don't let it! Costa Rica have played some excellent football at times and beat both Uruguay and Italy cleanly. They may be from a small nation and may have made it to their first ever quarter-finals like the Republic of Ireland did a quarter of a century ago but they can actually play a bit rather than the bland stalemate-based football bleary-eyed Irish fans cheered on back then.

Hope is not lost though. The semi-finals contain two potential classics between historic World Cup heavyweights in Brazil vs. Germany and Argentina vs. the Netherlands. Hopefully, we will see more inventiveness with the shackles of the minimum expectation of reaching that stage removed. With Colombia and James Rodríguez out, the Golden Boot is still up for grabs so that could be a decent side story as well. Let us hope the remaining four sides get their respective mojos back in the upcoming rest days.

WORLD CUP TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT SO FAR

D. Ray Morton, 28th June 2014.

With the World Cup group stages having been completed and the second round about to kick-off today (with games of Brazil vs. Chile and Colombia vs. Uruguay), here's our World Cup XI from what we have seen so far. As it has been an attacking tournament, our selection is top heavy with many offensive players appearing in a 3-4-3 formation. Three at the back is in vogue in the competition, with many teams opting to do away with the 4-2-3-1 structure that has been so popular in the last few years.

 Very much an all-out attack theme with this XI

Goalkeeper

Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico/Free Agent)

The Mexican with the wild mane is our choice between the sticks. Ochoa, who was relegated from the French top flight with Ajaccio last season, had an incredible solo performance when Mexico faced Brazil. Thanks to his string of fine saves, the host nation were held to a 0-0 draw. An honourable mention goes to Chile's Claudio Bravo who has been a solid performer so far and was our second choice for this spot.

Centre-backs

Diego Godín (Uruguay/Atlético Madrid)

Picking up where he left his club form at the end of last season, Godín has been immense for an otherwise Luis Suárez-reliant Uruguay in their three games so far. The Atlético defender has been superb and scored a thumping header against Italy to knock them out of the competition and allow Los Charrúas to get into the last sixteen.

Rafael Márquez (Mexico/Léon)

The legendary Mexico captain has been a steady figure for his nation's side and has been a stalwart at the back as they advanced through Group A which contained Brazil, Croatia and Cameroon. Captain of Mexico for three World Cups in a row, the 35 year-old is still a composed presence and takes care of business allowing players ahead of him to play fluid, inventive football.

Jan Vertonghen (Belgium/Tottenham)

Belgium's defence has been rather stingy so far, a rarity in a competition where most other teams have been a tad leaky at the back. Vertonghen may not have had one of the best seasons at Tottenham, but he's been a calm, assured figure at the back for de Rode Duivels. Although he's been played at left-back for his country due to their lack of natural full-backs, we have slotted him into the left side of our back three thanks to his preference for the role at club level.

Defensive midfielder

Javier Mascherano (Argentina/Barcelona)

For Argentina, Lionel Messi's brilliance has been grabbing all the fanfare but many have overlooked Mascherano's steadiness and reliability as he keeps their attack-minded midfield balanced. Mascherano is incredibly selfless. He works entirely for his team and has no notion of catching the highlight reel or making headlines. Without his inclusion, Argentina's not-yet-convincing World Cup campaign may well have collapsed by now.

Wide midfielders

Mathieu Valbuena (France/Marseille)

Though he was rested in France's third group match after they had already gone through, the diminutive French wide-man has been terrific in his two appearances. Always willing to get on the ball and do something useful with it, Valbuena uses his small stature to confuse cumbersome opponents with his delightful first touch and wonderful bursts of acceleration. He has been a great role model for smaller, trickier players and will continue to be a joy to watch as France gather momentum should they make themselves serious final contenders.

Arjen Robben (Netherlands/Bayern Munich)

With Valbuena on the right, we have put Robben out left although in this World Cup, the phrase "free role" best sums up where he might turn up on the pitch which is just about anywhere in the final third. Teaming up with Robin van Persie, Robben danced his way through the group stages with three goals, an assist and three man of the match awards. A stunning achievement from a player who, earlier last season, was expected to be offloaded by his club coach Pep Guardiola. If Robben can continue this fine form and keep excelling at club level, he could make himself a genuine Balon d'Or contender next winter.

Attacking midfielder

James Rodríguez (Colombia/Monaco)

James (pronounced "Ha-mez") has really come into fruition as Colombia's top player in the absence of star striker Radamel Falcao. The creative midfielder has been on fire so far with three goals, two assists and two man of the match awards. He really is coming into his own and could go on to become Colombia's greatest international player ever, eclipsing the legendary Carlos Valderramma. Colombia are well capable of knocking out Uruguay and should make very tough quarter-final opponents against either Brazil or Chile, especially with this fellow in their line-up.

James Rodríguez has been superb for Colombia and is the tournament's breakout star

Attackers

Thomas Müller (Germany/Bayern Munich)

With Miroslav Klose's international career winding down having levelled Ronaldo's all-time World Cup goalscoring record, Germany have found themselves a new Mister World Cup in Müller, an out-and-out goal poacher in the same vein as the legendary German striker, Gerd Müller. The Bayern Munich winger/striker is a true no nonsense player. He has no box of tricks, fancy gimmicks or sleeve tattoos. He just has instinct in and around the penalty area which gives Germany a huge boost not having many other attacking options. His four goals have allowed die Mannschaft to ease through their group and as their momentum gathers, their fans will start to believe that this can finally be their year having not won a major international competition since Euro '96.

Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona)

Well, he would have to be in it, wouldn't he? Leo has been amazing so far and has done his very best Maradona impersonation by single-handedly dragging Argentina along, scoring four goals and picking up three man of the match awards in the process. If anything, should he keep this form up and hand the Albiceleste the World Cup, he will have surpassed Diego and will stand alone on top of football's Mount Olympus. He is not helped by the injury of Sergio Agüero but the rest of the team doing just about enough, they are capable of going all the way and how they would love that on rival Brazilian soil.

Neymar (Brazil/Barcelona)

A third Barcelona player, which is a little surprising considering their end of season was thought to be a flop. Maybe they were saving themselves for the World Cup after all. In fairness, Neymar has been the host nation's best player up until now. They have flattered to deceive so far with a controversial win over Croatia, a draw against Mexico and a routine win against the awful Cameroon. Neymar has scored four goals and has taken a huge amount of responsibility in a high pressure situation. Though he has looked awkward at Camp Nou, he is very much in his element in this Brazil side and everything goes through him. Still, many tough matches lie ahead, including tonight's bout against Chile. That will be a good testing ground to see whether Neymar becomes a legend or merely another myth.