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After being forced to contend with a host of questionable refereeing decisions against Bournemouth on Saturday, Mauricio Pochettino has been lauded for his ability to keep a cool-head under incredibly frustrating circumstances.
What’s the word?
With four teams all seemingly transpiring to finish outside of the top-four, Tottenham have had a lucky escape in their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
The visitors to the Vitality Stadium finished the game with just nine players on an afternoon when referee Craig Pawson was particularly poor.
But, despite the rage-inducing decisions and glaring inconsistency, Pochettino remained level-headed on the sideline, a fact which has been acknowledged by BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks.
In his team of the week column Crooks reserved a few gushing words of praise for the Argentine, per BBC.
‘Tottenham’s best player against Bournemouth on Saturday was manager Mauricio Pochettino, who managed to remain composed and measured despite some officious refereeing decisions by Craig Pawson.’
Pochettino’s defining trait
The 47-year-old manager seldom if ever loses his cool on the touchline or in the British media.
His outburst against Mike Dean in February was spectacularly out of character and unprecedented.
Aside from that one moment of pure emotional outcry, Pochettino is a manager who is defined by his ability to remain calm and collected in situations which would rile plenty of other top managers.
It’s a gift which has enabled him to blossom into one of the best and most coveted managers in world football, and also one which does indeed make him ‘Tottenham’s best player’.
Whether he is as cool behind the scenes, though, is something only those players who have had the pleasure of working underneath him will truly know.
