Could Tottenham Hotspur be about to swap a man who genuinely invented the phrase ‘parking the bus’ to a coach who, in the eyes of Mauricio Pochettino, constructed the most exciting, free-flowing and alluring football team anywhere in Europe?
Maurizio Sarri might not have won the hearts and minds of Chelsea or Juventus supporters – despite Europa League and Serie A successes – but it should not be forgotten that, between 2015 and 2018, the late-blooming tactician had purists and pundits purring.
His Napoli side were perhaps the most enticing team on the continent during that three-year spell at the Stadio San Paolo.
And while the Partenopei do not have any silverware to show for their efforts – losing out to the iron-clad functionality of Max Allegri’s Juve – it speaks volumes that some of the finest managers around were queuing up to doff their cap to the chain-smoking Neapolitan.
“(Napoli’s) football under Sarri is fantastic and the most beautiful to watch in Europe. I can’t miss any of their matches,” Pochettino was quoted as saying by Tuttomercatoweb.
“I know exactly what he wants to do. I think this kind of person – it always helps to make our (Premier League) football better,” Pep Guardiola told Sky.
“(Sarri’s teams) beat us at Stamford Bridge – and against Napoli last season – they were tight games. During moments of those games, they were better than us.”
“Sarri is on the same level as (Jurgen) Klopp, Guardiola and Pochettino,” stated Italian football legend Arrigo Sacchi (Tribal Football). “They have the exact same vision of the game and their work.”
According to Football Italia, Tottenham Hotspur made contact with the 62-year-old on Monday, just hours after confirming the sacking of Jose Mourinho.
And while Sarri’s short-lived spell at Chelsea hardly set the world alight – his Blues side appeared oddly sluggish and predictable compared to the rampaging brilliance of that glorious Napoli team – the Italian’s track-record certainly suggests he would be a far better fit for Tottenham than Mourinho ever was.
If Spurs fans are pining for a Pochettino-style figurehead, someone determined to play with a style and a swagger, who better than a coach Maurizio himself once described as the most aesthetically pleasing in the whole of Europe?
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