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

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE AT EXAMINER SPORT

Pochettino plotting a Spanish raid?

A follow up on Pochettino's potential targets for the Southern Daily Echo (my name is missing from the byline for some reason..)

NEW Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino is expected to return to Espanyol as he seeks to make an impact at St Mary’s.

The Argentine was in charge of the La Liga Club for three and a half years prior to his sacking last November.

And Spanish sources have told the Daily Echo that Pochettino could turn his interest to several of his former players.

Among them is attacking midfielder Joan Verdu, who has been Espanyol’s best player this season by some distance, and on loan striker Samuel Longo. And Pochettino is also being linked back in Spain with his former Espanyol loanee midfielder Phillipe Coutinho.

The Brazilian youngster, 20, was previously linked with Saints earlier this month when Nigel Adkins was still in charge.

Coutinho – said to be on the verge of joining Liverpool from Milan – played the second half of last season on loan to Espanyol.

Despite being a selling club, Espanyol are expected to be very keen to hang onto prize asset Verdu, whose contract expires this summer.

A product of Barcelona’s youth system, the 29-year-old was signed by Pochettino from La Coruna in the summer of 2009.

Verdu has scored six goals in 20 appearances this season, compared to scoring only five goals in each of his previous two campaigns under Pochettino.

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The new Saints manager also sanctioned the loan signing of Longo from Inter Milan last summer.

But with Espanyol’s main striker Sergio García back following a lengthy injury layoffs, Longo has not featured too much recently to Inter’s annoyance.

Inter are believed to be keen on recalling the Italian Under 21 international – but only with a view to finding a new club.

Boca Juniors forward Nicolas Blandi is also believed to be close to joining Espanyol, pushing Longo further down the pecking order.

Sources have also told the Echo that Pochettino could be interested in his former Espanyol keeper Carlos Kameni.

He is rated as one of the best shot-stoppers in the Spanish league and capped 70 times by Cameroon.

Kameni left under a cloud last January, citing a lack of ambition from the club.

However, the excellent form of Wily Caballero means he's been forced to play back-up at Málaga.

Pochettino has also been linked to Anderlecht’s versatile Argentine defensive midfielder Lucas Biglia.

Arsenal are believed to have been monitoring the 26-year-old, who is rated in the £8m category.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE ON THE SOUTHERN DAILY ECHO

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