Mauricio Pochettino has held talks with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to discuss his increasing frustrations at the state of the squad.
Spurs sit in 14th in the Premier League, having won just three of their 13 League games so far this season, and a defeat at West Ham on Saturday would see Pochettino’s team drop below their London rivals and intensify the pressure on the Argentine to turn the situation around.
Sources have told ESPN FC, however, that Pochettino believes the club are now paying the price for a failure to reshape his squad during the summer and his discussions with Levy during the international break focused on his grievances.
After guiding Tottenham to their first Champions League final — Spurs lost to Liverpool in Madrid — Pochettino was determined to make a number of changes this summer, with Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld regarded as surplus to requirements.
Both players remain at the club, though, and midfielder Christian Eriksen’s future continues to be unresolved as the Denmark international heads towards the final six months of his contract.
Sources have told ESPN FC that a number of senior players have become frustrated by Pochettino’s discontent and the manager’s negative comments in the media at times this season.
Pochettino also raised eyebrows within the dressing room when he said during preseason that he would have quit Spurs had they beaten Liverpool in the Champions League final.
While this weekend’s trip to West Ham is not regarded as a “must-win” for Pochettino in terms of his future at the club, sources have told ESPN FC that the manner of the performance and result could yet prove significant.
Manchester United have a clear plan of how to bring top trophies back to Old Trafford, according to executive vice chairman Ed Woodward, but he has warned supporters not to expect success “overnight”.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has overseen a turbulent start to the season after four wins from 12 Premier League games and despite describing the campaign so far as “mixed”, Woodward is confident the club is on the right track as they aim to return to the Champions League and end a six-year title drought.
“We have a clear vision in terms of football philosophy and recruitment,” Woodward said as United announced first quarter revenue of £135.4 million — up £0.4m on last year on year despite missing out on Champions League broadcast payments.
“The significant investments that we have made in recent years in areas such as transfers, recruitment infrastructure, analytics and our academy are already beginning to bear fruit.
“Our ultimate goal is to win trophies, playing fast, fluid, attacking football with a team that fuses graduates from our academy along with world-class acquisitions. We know this will not be achieved overnight, however we have made investments across the club that we believe have set us on the right path.
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“Though season-to-date we have had a mixed start to our Premier League campaign, in Europe, we have qualified for the Europa League knockout stages with two games to spare. We have also progressed to the quarterfinals of the League Cup.”