Gao Shen had always believed that Pochettino was a severely underrated head coach.

Because he had never won a trophy.

The competition in professional football is brutally unforgiving. In the eyes of the world, heroes are judged solely by success or failure.

Whether in this life or his previous one, Pochettino was underestimated.

For example, when discussing Espanyol, few people truly understand what Pochettino accomplished there.

Even journalists and fans familiar with La Liga and Espanyol would, at most, say, "He's a true disciple." After all, when he defeated Guardiola's Barcelona away from home that year, Guardiola remarked, "His coaching style is very similar to mine."

But people still ask, what exactly did Pochettino do?

Tactically, both Guardiola and Pochettino were deeply influenced by Bielsa and Gao Shen. Guardiola was once Gao Shen's right-hand man, and when Gao Shen was coaching in Serie A, Pochettino would attend his lectures and even observe his training sessions whenever possible.

What people see is always the performance on the pitch, but what happens off the pitch is often the key to what unfolds on it.

Why is he called Gao's disciple?

Similar tactical styles?

That's only on the surface.

On a deeper level, the way he manages a team is very similar to Gao Shen.

From the very start of his coaching career at Espanyol, even when coaching Espanyol's women's team, Pochettino introduced many subtle changes that the media, fans, and even other professionals failed to notice.

For example, he strictly regulated players' diets and daily habits, down to their meal times.

But because Espanyol had limited financial resources and didn't intend to provide a budget for a nutritionist, he studied nutrition himself and frequently sought advice from Gao Shen and his coaching team's nutrition experts.

Another well-known aspect at Espanyol is that he was a training maniac. Every training session was intense. As a former professional player, he was creative and constantly came up with clever, targeted training methods.

What most people didn't notice was that Pochettino had a long-standing training habit: at the end of every session, he required his players to do long-distance running.

At first, the players were resistant.

"Do you know why Napoli can run so much?"

"Do you know why Napoli can launch such intense pressing late in games?"

"That's their secret!"

Pochettino told his Espanyol players that they lacked technical superiority. If they didn't improve their physical fitness and develop their own strengths, how would they avoid relegation? How would they compete with their opponents?

With that mentality, he led the team to beat Barcelona away and successfully avoid relegation.

From then on, Pochettino became involved in all aspects of the club, from medical staff to coaching staff to the first team and youth academy. His influence was everywhere.

Within European professional football circles, Pochettino earned a good reputation because during his tenure at Espanyol, he promoted more than 20 youth players to the first team.

That's why a team like Espanyol, long plagued by financial crisis and constant boardroom disputes, could still finish mid-table or even higher in La Liga.

…

Gao Shen was very familiar with Pochettino. The two maintained close contact. He knew exactly what had happened to Pochettino at Espanyol and the real reason for his dismissal.

He felt sorry for the Argentine.

At the same time, he hoped that Pochettino could achieve even greater glory than in his previous life.

In his previous life, Pochettino did very well at Southampton. But when he moved to Tottenham Hotspur, due to the construction of the new stadium, he ended up doing for Spurs what Wenger did for Arsenal.

That is something destined to be recorded in Tottenham's history!

Many people only remember that Pochettino was sacked, but they forget that even when he was dismissed, the Spurs dressing room under his leadership remained intact.

Isn't that very similar to Klopp?

Frankly speaking, the two situations are alike. Both teams declined after reaching their peak. Years of insufficient investment caught up with them, and the problems snowballed until they became unmanageable.

The result was the coach being sacked.

Dortmund handled it better, but after Tottenham changed managers, has their situation really improved since Pochettino?

To a certain extent, Pochettino's name should be the first recorded in the credits for Tottenham's new stadium.

The ties of past and present lives made Gao Shen admire Pochettino all the more.

The two became friends who could talk about anything. Pochettino frequently visited Real Madrid's training sessions, and they often discussed football together on the spot.

Gao Shen also shared his tactical thoughts and philosophies with him without holding back.

For example, Gao Shen said that he liked balance between attack and defense.

When Pochettino watched Real Madrid play, his first impression was: balance.

"A very comfortable sense of balance in attack and defense!" Pochettino praised without hesitation.

But the two also discussed real-world dilemmas.

For instance, coaching a team like Espanyol, it's impossible to have technically-gifted midfielders who are both creative and defensively solid.

Having all-round players like Di Maria and Benzema, let alone someone like Ronaldo, is even more out of reach.

So what to do?

Just like what Pochettino once told his players at Espanyol: if you lack technical ability, make up for it with more running and pressing.

Espanyol's heavy defeat at the Bernabéu was due to a lack of running, lack of pressing, and a failure to disrupt Real Madrid's rhythm. That led to the match being completely controlled by Real Madrid.

So Real Madrid scored again and again, each goal precise and calculated.

Pochettino admitted that if he were in charge, he still might have lost, but not so miserably.

Gao Shen agreed with that.

Recently, Pochettino encountered a new situation.

He had received offers from Premier League clubs.

…

After the 17th round of La Liga, the league paused for the Christmas break. Gao Shen had some free time, so he invited Zidane, Hierro, Carlo, and other assistants over. Pochettino, who had been in Madrid and closely following Real Madrid's training, also joined them for a holiday gathering.

During dinner, Pochettino brought up the offers he had received from the Premier League.

From bottom up: Reading, Queens Park Rangers, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Newcastle...

Almost every club looking to change coaches had Pochettino on their radar.

Not because he was famous, but because his performance at Espanyol had been genuinely impressive.

Two other key factors helped too.

One was Swansea's Laudrup. After managing Getafe in La Liga, Laudrup went to Swansea and stunned the Premier League with what felt like a dimensionality-reduction attack. He earned universal praise and showed that La Liga coaches could thrive tactically in the Premier League.

The second was Sarri at Leeds United.

Now, all of England was asking: how long can this dark horse keep it up?

Eighteen rounds into the Premier League, and Leeds United was still fourth.

It was unbelievable.

Last summer, Leeds United didn't spend money. They even made money by selling assets to fund their training base. Yet they were still sitting fourth in the table.

It was simply madness!

A powerful High-Deep Storm had swept through the Premier League, and even Pochettino, watching from Spain, was swept up in it.

But it's not that Leeds United performed exceptionally well. They just occasionally pulled off upsets.

For example, they beat Chelsea 2-1 at home, thanks to a goal from Salah. It was a massive upset that left Mourinho so furious he reportedly wanted to poach both Salah and Koulibaly on the spot.

Salah's solo run to score the winner made him famous overnight.

But after that, Leeds lost away to Swansea, then at home to Stoke City, and again 0-2 away to Arsenal. A three-game losing streak.

However, the poor form of other teams meant Leeds still sat in fourth, 10 points behind Chelsea, and 13 behind Manchester City and Manchester United.

That shows Leeds' surge wasn't just due to their excellence, but also the underperformance of Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, and others, making the dark horse Leeds look even more prominent.

To sum it up, Leeds United's success formula was to get the points they deserved.

Against strong teams, defend. Against equals or weaker opponents, attack.

So many people said Leeds played entertaining football, but really, it's just that they ignored defense when facing top sides.

"In fact, Sarri still isn't pragmatic enough. If he had been more realistic and secured the points he should have, Leeds' fourth-place position would be far more stable."

Currently, Leeds United is only one point ahead of the team behind them, which is very dangerous.

"For example, the away loss to Swansea. We shouldn't have played that way. Losing 3-1 really hurt morale. Then we overcompensated and attacked too much at home against Stoke, giving them the chance to counterattack. We lost 1-0."

Gao Shen said this with a helpless smile.

Sometimes, a coach will start taking wild gambles when things spiral out of control.

After that three-game losing streak, Leeds should have at least taken four points.

"It's normal. Coaches are human, not gods. Mistakes are inevitable. Sarri's done well enough," Carlo laughed.

Everyone knew Gao Shen wasn't criticizing Sarri. His expectations were just extremely high.

After all, Sarri had been his assistant for three years.

Gao Shen didn't mind. He looked at Pochettino again.

"Honestly, your footballing style would be a big hit in the Premier League. But take my advice. Reading, Queens Park Rangers, Wigan, Aston Villa, Sunderland, and Newcastle... they're not good options right now."

"This next stop is crucial for you. If you make the right move, your coaching career can take a big leap, maybe even two. So, you have to choose very carefully!"

(To be continued.)