"My team and I love helping young players. It's like planting a tree, watering it and watching it grow. All the fruit that it bears comes from the land and the environment that you put in place."
Mauricio Pochettino, courtesy of the writing of Guillem Balague, put into words just what his methods towards youth players as a manager are in his book 'A Brave New World' written about his 2016/17 season at Tottenham. It's a sentence that perhaps sums up the connection between coach and player that allowed player, boss and fans to thrive that year.
Spurs went on to finish second, their highest-ever finish in the Premier League. They challenged Chelsea for large portions of the season and stayed within touching distance of their London rivals across three years. It's not a trophy, and Antonio Conte's side pushed past them in the FA Cup semi-final too, but it was a success nonetheless for Pochettino.
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That year, and the title challenge in the previous campaign, are two of the best seasons in Tottenham's modern history. This all comes before their underdog run to the Champions League final in 2019, too.
Spurs did it with academy graduates and young players throughout. Harry Kane was the biggest success but Dele Alli also hit a new level under the Argentine. Son Heung-Min was developed in his early 20s under his gaze and Eric Dier thrived too.
Christian Eriksen was establishing himself at the time whilst Harry Winks earned his own recognition in the team. It was a core of players that Pochettino used and helped to grow. "You then move on to play for the first team with a feeling of identity that offers the team an added extra," he continues.
"It's something that will be stamped on every side I coach."
Now, skip seven years and Pochettino will have the task of putting the same mark on a cultureless, directionless and stale Chelsea side. It will be his to mould and bend to his will when he is appointed as the new head coach, as is expected.
The area that needs the most work is the attack. Chelsea are such low scorers that Pochettino will need to entirely transform their frontline and the way it operates. At Tottenham, as mentioned, it was Kane and Son that lead their improvement but there was a young player that he rated even higher than them at the time.
"Marcus Edwards, another sensationally talented player with the ability to dazzle - he's a little Messi," Pochettino recalls. The winger was 17 at the time and only went on to play one game for Spurs - a 15-minute cameo in the League Cup that season - but he has since gone on to star in Portugal.
At 24 he is now one of the most exciting attackers outside of the top five leagues. He has seven goals and nine assists in 29 league games and starred against his former club in the Champions League group stages this season too.
He only left Tottenham in 2019, still under Pochettino's watch, after his contract expired, but he has drawn comparisons with Bukayo Saka for his playstyle. According to statisticians at Squawka, he is the closest copy of a player statistically.
He is already on the radar for his former team once again according to reports over the winter. With previous experience under Pochettino and as a London-born player the logic behind his return is there. For Chelsea, it could also be one they turn their attention to.
Despite having a host of attackers already there is likely going to be a mass exodus from Stamford Bridge this summer. Even with Christopher Nkunku coming in and the addition of another forward, if Pochettino wants a player that may well slip out of the spotlight then Edwards could be his man.
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