The sinner who became a Saint

A profile on Southampton's colourful new signing for the Irish Examiner print edition

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

By Joseph Sexton

Southampton’s record signing Pablo Osvaldo says he will not make the mistakes his compatriot Mario Balotelli made in the Premier League, says Joseph Sexton

In signing Pablo Daniel Osvaldo for a fee that could reach £15m (€17.5m) with add-ons, Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino has potentially pulled off a real coup for the south coast club. 

But the deal is not without its risks. 

It was under Pochettino’s hand at Espanyol that the Argentina-born Italy striker first began to bloom into a real talent, capable of performing at a high level consistently. But equally ‘Dani’ comes with something of a reputation as a bad egg. 

Pablo Daniel Osvaldo meeting Pope Francis

In recent years, that hasn’t had any great impact on his displays on the field. His initial arrival on loan at Espanyol in January 2010 lifted the club out of a sticky situation. And as Osvaldo alluded to on Monday, the faith shown in by the current Saints manager was crucial in helping him grow as a player. 

A series of enforced sales by Espanyol fatally undermined Pochettino’s later tenure, leading to his departure last November. It would be no exaggeration to say that Osvaldo’s move to Roma in 2011 was chief amongst these. 

Espanyol found his goals hard to replace as well as his ability in leading the line. 

Meanwhile, in Italy, Osvaldo proved to be amongst the better acquisitions of a mixed bag signed in Luís Enrique’s time at Roma. 

His goal return of 28 from 57 games in all competitions represented an improvement from an already impressive ratio at Espanyol. But the forward’s more colourful side also proved deeply problematic at times. 

At Espanyol, he had developed a reputation as a party boy; the football satire show Cráckovia invariably depicted him as something of a goofy Saturday Night Fever caricature. But for the most part, he delivered the goods and was a popular a figure in the dressing room and the stands. 

In Italy, however, that dynamic changed. Luís Enrique is something of a disciplinarian, and friction emerged early on in, as Roma struggled to adapt to the Spanish manager’s methods. 

Perhaps the most infamous such incident followed a November 2011 reverse at Udinese. Osvaldo got into a heated argument with his young Argentine colleague, the flashy former River Plate attacker, Erik Lamela. 

Osvaldo, according to sources, was infuriated at Lamela’s failure to give him the ball during the match. When Lamela ignored him, the incensed Osvaldo shouted “I’m older than you and this isn’t River, so answer me when I talk to you!” 

Lamela countered “Who the hell do you think you are? You’re not Maradona!” Osvaldo is then alleged to have cold clocked him with a punch to the face. Osvaldo denies this part, insisting it was a slap followed by some pushing. 

What is certain is Luís Enrique took a dim view of the matter, fining him maximum possible under Italian league rules — €50,000 — and banned him from the next weekend’s fixture. 

His reputation for partying grew even more notorious in Rome, earning him the wrath of supporters. In their customary fashion, graffiti was daubed on the training ground walls. 

Osvaldo could hardly have made matters worse then by being seen driving around Rome in a Mini festooned with the colours of Napoli — Roma’s fierce rivals — and the image of Maradona, a figure of hate for fans of other Italian sides. 

He also controversially refused to collect his runners-up medal after their Coppa Italia loss to Lazio in May; an act of petulance which saw Cesare Prandelli leave him out of the Confederations Cup squad. 

But what took the biscuit — and largely made this move possible — was the actions of his glamorous girlfriend Jimena Baron, when she took to Twitter last Thursday to bite back at the fans in Spanish. 

After calling them “pathetic fans, jerks” she proceeded to tell them “get a life. Your ignorance and immaturity is painful. You’re so thick you probably can’t even read this”. 

Not content, she went one further in her next tweet. “Here’s a universal sign for you ignorant lot who won’t stop pestering me and my boyfriend. You’ll get this one... kiss it!” 

Attached was a photo off her middle finger extended against a backdrop saying, in English, “F*** you”. 

Naturally, this served to make Osvaldo’s situation at the club untenable. But what Southampton are getting for their money is a talented footballer at a generous price. Quick, strong in the air, and athletic; physically he appears made for the Premier League. Indeed, he could well light it up. 

And as he has made clear he will relish his reunion with Pochettino. It will be intriguing to see how he fits into the manager’s plans. Pochettino generally favours a 4-2-3-1 but this gives him the option of playing two up front in certain games where he could wreak havoc alongside Rickie Lambert. 

However this works out, it’s certain that it’s not going to be boring. 

* Follow Joseph on Twitter @josephsbcn

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE AT EXAMINER SPORT

The facts about Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino

Following the shock sacking of Nigel Adkins at Southampton, the South Coast daily, Southern Daily Echo, asked me to write this profile of the new man Mauricio Pochettino

Just who is Mauricio Pochettino? Understandably, that’s a question many Saints fans will be shaking their heads to following the departure of Nigel Adkins. Understandable, too, is the disappointment that a man responsible for back to back promotions was shoved so unceremoniously aside. This was cemented by the fact that Adkins had overseen an impressive turnaround in form following a difficult start to the season.

But, in many ways, this also marks a bold and intriguing move on Saints’ part. Some may have been noted that Pochettino left his former side Espanyol mired in the relegation places last November, just as Adkins was engineering Saints’ ascent away from the lower reaches. But as far it goes with Pochettino, this only tells part of the tale.

It also says a lot for his reputation in Spain for honesty and loyalty that his sincerity was never questioned.

Six months is a long time in football, but the writing had been on the wall for some time at the Barcelona-based club. Money is a scarce commodity in Spain outside the big two. A grossly unequal TV deal saw third-placed finishers Valencia receive as much from TV as the team that finished bottom of the pile in England, Wolverhampton Wanderers. When Michu rolled up at Swansea City last summer, it wasn’t because he was some unknown in Spain.

Rather, his paltry release clause of £2m was too much for teams eying him up after an excellent campaign with Rayo Vallecano.

Espanyol have it worse than most. After nearly two decades without a home, they moved into a new 40,000 seater stadium on the outskirts of the town in 2009. Rather than providing a financial fillip, it proved a drain on resources. Dwindling TV money and growing debt meant the club were forced to do more with less.

In every transfer window since, they’ve been forced to sell their best players. In their place came a ragtag mixture of youth teamers and short-term loanees. In effect, Pochettino was having the rug pulled out from under him every six months. Yet, rather than complain, he carried out his duties diligently, keeping the club consistently competitive despite all this instability. Last summer’s clear-out was simply a step too far. With eight first-teamers injured, and a mixed bag of recruits insufficient to paper over the cracks, Espanyol endured a dire start, losing eight of the first 13 games under Pochettino.

Off the field, the board were at war, resigning en masse in October.

Back on the park, foolish and unfortunate red cards allied with moments of rotten luck – for example, a 2-1 loss at Valencia to a last minute penalty in his penultimate game in charge – meant even better performances went unrewarded. The Valencia loss was Espanyol’s third last minute defeat of the term, and his side also picked up their SIXTH red card of the La Liga campaign in that game.

A man who once famously claimed to send his kids to bed in Espanyol pyjamas, the circumstances of the job had become intolerable for Pochettino.

And yet even as results improve under his successor – Javier Aguirre – it is impossible to find anyone connected to the club with a bad word to say about Pochettino. Aside from the sense of genuine affection, there’s a recognition that a good coach who had worked miracles became a victim of circumstances.

What Southampton are getting is not just a clever and adaptable manager. They are also getting a man for whom youth development is in his DNA. In that respect, the marriage could just be a perfect one. But first he’ll have to win over a fan base understandably angered at Adkins’ departure.

There is more than one way to skin a cat but, in terms of harnessing young talent, Spain seems to be getting the job done better than most. That’s not just borne of financial necessity, but also methodology. Any youth system capable of producing the likes of Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain must be onto something already. A look at Saints’ current first team squad shows three home-grown players who have appeared in the Premier League this term – Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse and Adam Lallana.

Espanyol’s academy record is even more impressive than Saints’ recent one.

They have produced a remarkable 15 Spanish internationals across all age levels this century alone, and some 40 current regulars in Spain’s top two divisions is testament to this. Talk to anyone inside the club who witnessed his shake up of their set-up, and they’ll come back to you with glowing words.

One such man is youth coach Sergi Angulo, since departed. “Our philosophy is based on the collective concept, with two touches max – build the attack through the best pass, from the back; making the best decision for the group,” he said. “That’s why we produce players who understand teamwork, and how to ‘read’ the game”

Another is Mark O’Sullivan, a former League of Ireland player currently coaching underage in the Swedish top flight. Given that O’Sullivan previously studied at Ajax and Barcelona for his UEFA licenses, his words carry weight.

“There’s a clear divide between practice in Northern Europe and Spain, and you see this clearly at Espanyol,” he told me. “In Sweden, Britain, even in Holland, there’s too much emphasis on individual, isolated training. “You take one kid aside, get him to work on his dribbling, or his control, whatever. The thing is, I’ve never seen a player tackled in a match by a training cone.

“At Espanyol – and I saw this too at lower division sides in the area – it’s fully integrated.

“Forget the cones. Set up a bunch of kids in a match-type scenario, and let them work it out for themselves. “It’s the closest thing to street football. “Once the scenario’s over, they’re taken aside, asked questions, asked for their thoughts. This can go on for minutes. “Then you set them up again, let them at it, and see if they can do better; invariably, they do.

“This is the key – let them arrive at the answer, rather than dictating it to them. “This is how you develop game intelligence, and this is where Spain beats us hands down. There’s too much of a tendency in Northern Europe to breed athletes and isolated training exacerbates the problem.

“So you end up with guys who are fine physical specimens, even with great technique in isolated situations. “That’s great. But you also need to be able to apply that in matches, think fast, make decisions instantly. “I saw this right across the age levels at Espanyol.

“In Sweden – and Britain is no different – there’s an alarming drop in players’ capacity in this area once they hit 13. “Solving this ... that’s our biggest challenge.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE AT THE SOUTHERN DAILY ECHO

Pep's backing for new Saints boss Pochettino

Guardiola's a fan of Pochettino, as I explained in this piece for the Southern Daily Echo

Mauricio Pochettino’s remarkable work with the Espanyol youth academy helped win him a dream job with Saints – and the backing of ex-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola!

The 40-year-old Argentinian was sacked by the La Liga club towards the end of last November with Espanyol bottom of the table.

In his last 20 league games with the club, stretching back to the end of last season, the new Saints boss won just three and lost 13.

During his 145 games in the Spanish top flight with Barcelona-based Espanyol, Pochettino’s win ratio was 34 per cent with 44 per cent of games lost.

But it was his work with Espanyol’s academy that mainly attracted him to Saints chairmanNicola Cortese.

Pochettino is held in high regard in Spain, and Bayern Munich boss in waiting Guardiola has said: “I admire him for his ideals, his character. The foundations of his principles are always the same.”

Saints’ academy has produced gems in recent years such as Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Alex Chamberlain, Adam Lallana and now Luke Shaw.

But Espanyol’s record is even more impressive, and Pochettino takes a lot of credit for that.

They have produced a remarkable 15 Spanish internationals across all age levels since the turn of the Millennium.

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Around forty players currently appearing in Spain’s top two divisions have come from Espanyol.

Cortese has said he wants to build a Barcelona-type model at Saints. Seven of the Barca side that started the 2009 Champions League final were home-grown, and Cortese believes he can oversee such a system at St Mary’s.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE ON THE SOUTHERN DAILY ECHO

Is David de Gea really targeting a move back to Spain?

Amidst rumours linking the goalkeeper with a move back to Spain, the Manchester United blog Stretty News asked me to sift through the matter to see if there was any truth in it.

Most of you by now will have heard the David de Gea to Real Madrid stories floating around. But with Iker Casillas on the Spanish side’s books, it’s probably safe to say that most of you are also scratching your heads  why they might be after United’s young keeper. You’re not alone.

The story seems to have originated in the dry, somewhat right-of-centre economics and financial daily La Confidencial last Friday. Hardly a prime source for sporting scoops; but equally not an organ given to spreading scurrilous transfer gossip.

The story appears largely founded upon the identity of De Gea’s representative- the super agent Jorge Mendes- who has the great and good from Falcao, Cristiano, and José Mourinho all the way down to Bébé on his books.

That’s hardly enough ground on which to float this story alone, given that the Portuguese has over 50 current players on his books. The reason it’s gotten traction has to do with the current goalkeeping situation at the Spanish champions.

It’s no secret that there’s been some friction between Mourinho and the Spain contingent within his squad, particularly Sergio Ramos and Casillas himself. Mourinho’s modus operandi is to build a strong bond in this squads, but at times he has found this duo frustratingly insubordinate.

Last January, matters came to a head on the training field following a Copa del Rey defeat against Barcelona. As Mourinho admonished Ramos for his set piece defending, he was confronted by the goalkeeper. Somehow, the conversation between all three made it into the public domain verbatim. Many had suspected such tensions existed, and now there appeared clear evidence.

It was said that either Mourinho or Casillas would be gone in the summer. In the end, this wasn’t the case as Real secured their 32nd league title in May.

It’s telling that whenever Mourinho has looked to make an example of his Spanish players, it’s Ramos who has been the fall guy. This was the case in September where the former Sevilla defender was dropped against Manchester City after the side lost to his former club at the weekend.

But Casillas is a different matter. The working class kid from Móstoles has taken the mantle of club icon, the very personification of madridismo from the legendary forward Raúl. When the fans look at San Iker, they see someone they can identify with a personal and emotional level. And at a club like Real Madrid, this matters.

While the 9 times European champions have always augmented their teams with the very best talent from abroad, ever since the 1950s, they’ve also had their ranks swelled by Spaniards, particularly those from the youth ranks. Casillas is the last player from the set up to establish himself in the first team.

This contrasts sharply with the success of Barcelona’s first team production line, and it’s a contrast that jars with the Madrid faithful. It’s not that their youth set up is broken; far from it. It continues to produce talented players, but these- some examples in the recent past include Juan Mata, Roberto Soldado, Samuel Eto’o, Álvaro Negredo and Javi García- tend to flourish elsewhere having had their path to the senior side blocked the club management’s chronic short-termism.

But there’e also the playing side of things. For the first time in a decade, questions were raised about Casillas’ form last spring. Given the frosty nature of that training ground encounter, it was said that Mourinho was looking elsewhere for a number 1.

One of the names mooted at the time was the Portugal keeper, Rui Patricio, of Sporting Clube. Certainly a talented young keeper, but equally not one in the same stratosphere as the Spain captain.

But even if Mourinho is a man not given to suffering challenges to his authority, he’s also pragmatic creature with finely honed political instincts. Having picked his fights at the club and won them- and in the process gaining a higher degree of personal control than any manager in the modern history of the club- he would be acutely aware that in any battle between him and the Casillas, he would come out worse off.

This brings us to another element mentioned in the article. In the summer, Mourinho fought hard to keep Casillas’ deputy Antonio Adán at the club. A talented graduate of the youth system who would hold down a spot at many other clubs, the 25 year old has only started 8 senior games. In the end, the promise of further Copa del Rey minutes convinced him to stay another year. But this is likely to be last for the former Spanish underage international.

So, on the one hand Mourinho needs a deputy. But, the story goes, Mourinho still seethes against Casillas, who he feels has gotten complacent. A little bit of competition would do no harm in keeping him on his toes.

But don’t worry, for this is where the logic of the article collapses under the weight of its own contradictions.

David de Gea, it notes, is unhappy at the current goalkeeping situation at Old Trafford. He’s fed up with having to share the shirt with Anders Lindegaard, and has made it know to Mendes that he would a favour a move to one of Spain’s big two, specifically Real.

De Gea is highly regarded in Spain, and widely expected him to eventually take over from Casillas in the national team. But if the competition with Lindegaard had irked him, why would he risk retarding his development by playing second fiddle to Casillas now at club level? Despite being a fixture in the side for thirteen seasons, Casillas is still only 31.

Manchester United have no incentive to sell, and certainly not for less than they shelled out to Atlético Madrid for his services. Why then next summer, at a time when the squad will most likely need surgery, would Real Madrid commit major funds to a part of the team that isn’t broken?

No matter which way you look at it, it simply doesn’t add up. Rather, it’s a case in point of the Spanish press putting two and two together and coming up five. Real Madrid are unlikely to making any moves for David de Gea, at least not now. There is probably more chance of cash-strapped Atlético finding the funds down the back of the sofa to bring him back to the Vicente Calderon.

It finishes off by focussing on some other options for Real Madrid. Chief amongst these is Roberto Jiménez, who all but single-handedly kept Real Zaragoza in the top flight last season. The murky move which brought there from Benfica for €8.5m was brokered by-wait for it- Jorge Mendes. Given the dire financial situation at the Aragonese club, who it is assumed have only the merest stake in his economic rights, he looks a more viable target.

As for David de Gea himself, those in the know have not reported any murmurings of discontent emanating from his camp about his rivalry with Lindegaard. Quite the opposite. The Spaniard had enjoyed his short time in England, where he feels he’s learned a lot already. The environment at Carrington is one that can only help him improve his game as he continues to progress.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE ON STRETTY NEWS