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Hi, anyone who’s here!
I must open with a Tim Sherwood update.
The best thing about being in India? Getting Tim Sherwood as a pundit for this match. “If Everton are going to win this game they are going to have to score goals,” he says.
— Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) December 23, 2018
Looks like Tim forgot the part where Everton shouldn’t have conceded goals, either.
Ramble of the Day
I’m going to keep my rambles somewhat simple while the audience is smaller, and by that I mean they might get really random. That said, today’s is going to be pretty standard in that I’m going to break down a Tottenham video — the random element here is that it’s a video from four months ago!
This video was released when I was on vacation in Madrid, and I had originally planned on rambling about it the week I got back. Clearly, I didn’t do that, but I actually only watched the video for the first time on Saturday. Naturally, I have some things to say after watching.
The video sees Mauricio Pochettino and Jesús Pérez chat while they drive to training. It’s a mix of insights about coaching and football coupled with a somewhat obnoxious amount of product placement for the Audi they’re driving. The juiciest part comes about halfway through, though.
Pochettino begins a story about his first car, and names and shames first team coach Miguel D’Agostino for breaking it. The other half of the coaching quartet, goalkeeping coach Toni Jiménez and D’Agostino himself, get to join in via bluetooth speakerphone. Now, for a saga in bullet points:
- Pochettino says that he once gave him a ride home on a windy day. He told him to be careful because it was a windy day, D’Agostino wasn’t, and the door broke. “He drove off!,” Pochettino exclaims. “Tried to close the door and go! Go home and forget me!”
- Pérez asks an important question: “He didn’t pay for it?” Pochettino says no, and explains that, at the time, neither of them were earning a lot of money, so it would’ve been difficult for D’Agostino to offer. D’Agostino hasn’t offered to pay him back since, and Pochettino is happy to have Pérez in his car because he trusts him not to do that. “After 26 years, it’s difficult to trust in him,” Pochettino says about D’Agostino.
- Jiménez and D’Agostino jump into the conversation now, as the goalkeeping coach calls to alert his colleagues that they’re near the training ground. (Maybe he’s psychic — who knows?) Pochettino is quick to bring up the old conflict. Jiménez fills a contractual obligation (probably) by saying this would never happen to an Audi. That said, he doesn’t want D’Agostino touching his door.
- Pochettino and Pérez roll into the training ground, and D’Agostino never actually responds to the part about how he never offered to pay Pochettino back, and...that’s it.
I’m honestly more surprised D’Agostino didn’t get grilled on it more. It seemed like Jiménez and Pérez were on Pochettino’s side, but they didn’t push D’Agostino on it. Perhaps they ran out of time for the video, but I would love to know if he couldn’t live the story down. Pochettino seems like the type of guy that gets what he wants.
tl;dr: Drama with the coaching staff!
Links of the Day
TSG Hoffenheim is accusing a Werder Bremen scout of using a drone to spy on its final training session before the teams tied 1-1 last week.
Inter Milan has suspended midfielder Radja Nainggolan for “disciplinary reasons.”
Frank de Boer is the new Atlanta United coach.
Sheffield Wednesday has fired manager Jos Luhukay, ending his 11 month stay at the club.
Today’s longer read: Vivek Chaudhary reports that Spurs find Tottenham’s look to be “detrimental” to the expected match day experience at the new stadium for The Guardian