Mauricio Pochettino sacked: The full timeline of where it all went wrong at Tottenham

A surprise statement from Tottenham on Tuesday night confirmed that the north London club had relieved Mauricio Pochettino of his managerial duties.

Pochettino leaves with Spurs sat 14th in the Premier League table having collected a mere 14 points from 12 matches, 20 less than league leaders Liverpool and 11 less than fourth-placed Manchester City.

Chairman Daniel Levy said of the decision: “We were extremely reluctant to make this change.

“It is not a decision the board has taken lightly, nor in haste. Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing.

“It falls on the board to make the difficult decisions – this one made more so given the many memorable moments we have had with Mauricio and his coaching staff – but we do so in the club’s best interests.”

But where did it all go wrong for Pochettino, one of the most highly-regarded coaches in Europe?

May 2019 – Pre-Ajax interview

Before Tottenham’s phenomenal comeback away at Ajax in the Champions League semi-finals, Pochettino admitted he could walk away from the club if they got to the final and won the competition.

“It should be fantastic, no?” Pochettino said in a pre-match press conference in Holland. “Close the five-year chapter and go home.

“It’s not a joke. Why? To win the Champions League in this circumstance, in this season – maybe I need to think a little bit to do something different in the future. 

“Because to repeat this miracle, you know… But for sure, I go home. Whatever happens tomorrow, I go home.”

June – Champions League loss

Tottenham did go on to reach the final, courtesy of Lucas Moura’s second-leg hat-trick in Amsterdam, but they were denied European glory by Premier League rivals Liverpool in Madrid.

A dour game saw the Merseyside club clinch their sixth European Cup through an early Mohamed Salah penalty and Divock Origi’s late strike.

Speaking post-match about his future, Pochettino said: ”I think it’s not the moment now to talk too much, because you can interpret things in different ways. 

“Some people want to be clever and want to compare me with different managers, and they don’t know that we are in completely different projects, different positions and different places.

“But people want to be cleverer than that, and they want to give an opinion without arguments. After five years at Tottenham, the project was so clear, so clear.

“But now it’s about staying calm and starting to change the mood, change our mindset. For sure, we are going to have time to talk.”

July – Post-Madrid blues

Pochettino took Tottenham’s Champions League heartbreak badly, as he admitted in his first interview after the final in July.

He told the Daily Mail: “Yes, it was difficult. The three weeks to prepare were unbelievable and then you are massively disappointed in the way you lose.

“Then you need to go home – I took a train from Madrid to Barcelona the day after. I spent 10 days in my house and didn’t want to go out. It was so tough because we nearly touched glory.”

Transfer problems

Pochettino sparked further concern later the same month when he spoke out about his role in the club’s transfer activity, insisting that he was “not in charge” of signings.

“I know nothing about the situation of my players,” the 47-year-old coach said, adding: “It’s true that ‘manager’ is a word that means different things than head coach.

“Maybe I was always manager from the first day I arrived here – and maybe it describes my job better.”

August – Signs of trouble

The 500th match of Pochettino’s managerial career spelt the first signs of trouble this term for Spurs.

After coming from behind to beat Aston Villa and then beat Manchester City, they were shocked by Steve Bruce’s Newcastle on home turf.

Lacking creativity, Spurs were unable to break down the Magpies, who earned their first points of the season through Joelinton’s first goal in England.

September – Wake me up when September ends

Spurs’ 4-0 win over Crystal Palace suggested that they were back to normal in mid-September, but a 2-2 draw with Olympiacos was the second match in three games that they threw away a two-goal lead.

And they followed that up with a defeat at Leicester, again despite scoring the game’s first goal.

The worst result was to come, however, as Spurs crashed out of the League Cup on penalties to League Two Colchester United.

That was despite ending the match with Dele Alli, Lucas Moura, Son Heung-min, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen all on the pitch.

October – Bayern and Brighton bruisings

After overcoming a scare against Southampton, winning despite going down to 10 men, Spurs were then hammered 7-2 by Bayern in the Champions League.

Yet again, Spurs initially went ahead, and they were only 2-1 down at half-time.

But four second-half goals from former Arsenal forward Serge Gnabry resulted in the Londoners suffering one of the most humiliating results in their history.

And a bad week got even worse a few days later, when they were beaten 3-0 by Brighton away from home, turning in yet another meek display.

If the final scoreline wasn’t bad enough on the south coast, captain Hugo Lloris dislocated his elbow, requiring surgery that rules him out until at least January.

November – The end is nigh

Inconsistent form plagued Tottenham in Pochettino’s final weeks. A draw with Watford was followed by a resounding win over Red Star Belgrade in Serbia – not an easy feat, given it was the same venue Liverpool lost at last season.

Liverpool then beat Spurs in their final match in October, which was followed by conceding a late equaliser in a dramatic draw at Everton in which Heung-min Son was sent off for a challenge that led to Andre Gomes breaking his leg.

Another comfortable win over Red Star preceded a second straight home draw in the league, this time to Sheffield United and once again, despite going in front.

That led to reports that Pochettino was coming to the end of his stint at White Hart Lane. 

Crunch talks

Reports in the second week of the November international break indicated that Pochettino had sat down with chairman Levy to discuss his future.

Those crisis talks came with Spurs winless away from home in the Premier League since January and having won none of their last five league games and only two of their last 11.

And then…

La decision 

Tuesday November 19, 7.34pm, Tottenham’s official statement hits Twitter. 

After 293 matches, Pochettino has been sacked – his record reading: 159 wins, 62 draws, 72 defeats. A 54 per cent win percentage.

Anarchy, understandably, ensues, having turned Spurs into a consistent top-four team with four consecutive finishes in the Champions League spots.

Regardless of their downturn in 2019, the next man will have big shoes to fill.