The Football Manager was raised in Murphy, an Argentine town by his parents, Amalia and Hector Pochetino, who were both farmers. Mauricio Pochettino’s career destiny was fueled by the Legendary Football Boss, Marcelo Bielsa. In the mid-’80s Bielsa came to his town, Murphy to fetch footballers and his choice to visit Pochettino’s family home and select him while he was sleeping was mysterious.
We present the Full Story of an Argentine Football Manager who is best known by the Nickname; ‘Poch’.
Mauricio Pochettino Story: From Rural Beginnings to Discovered by Marcelo Bielsa.
Our version of Mauricio Pochettino’s Biography Facts, including his Childhood Story, brings you a detailed account of notable events from his early years in Argentina to the moment he achieved fame in football.
The analysis of the Football Manager involves his life story before fame, family life and many OFF and ON-Pitch little-known facts about him. Now, without further ado, let’s get started.
Mauricio Pochettino Childhood Story – Early Life and Family Background:
For Biography starters, Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero was born on the 2nd day of March 1972 at Murphy, Santa Fe, Argentina, to Hector Pochettino (his father) and Amalia Pochetino (his mother), who were both farmers.
The Tottenham manager grew up in his native hometown called Murphy. It is a town of about 3,000 people located in Argentina’s farming heartland, where agriculture is seen as the main industry.
Pochettino was born into a farming family that had worked the land (agriculture) for three of her generations. The football manager started his studies at a specialist agricultural institution before his playing career took over.
Young Pochettino was obsessed with football from an early age. He and his brothers would play with their father every evening while their mother prepared dinner, and it was always difficult to separate the boy from his ball.
“I was playing football in the soil – in the fields,” he said…
“My shoes had a big hole in the toes, and I always remember one picture that I love. I was two years old, with the ball in my arms, and I held it like it was my treasure.
It’s an emotional photo for me because that is what represents my life. Everything that happened afterwards in my life is because of this ball.”
Forty years later, Pochettino’s team (Tottenham) pursues the ball with the ferocity of treasure hunters.
He loves selecting them young and has taught them how to press high up the pitch and win the ball in dangerous areas.
Mauricio Pochettino Family Life:
To start with, both of Mauricio Pochettino’s parents were once hard workers and middle-class earners. His father, Hector, told Bleacher Report.
“We always had to work. Even when our son was playing football, he would still come back in his free time to help work the land.”
His mother Amalia added:
“Sometimes when my children were younger, if Mauricio and [older brother] Javier both had a match on the same day, one of them played, and the other had to stay behind and work the machinery.”
Meet Mauricio Pochettino’s Parents.
Hector, his dad, wasn’t surprised his son became a coach.
“As a player, he would always speak with his coaches. He always had ideas,” he said. “Mauricio played under many renowned coaches, all of whom gave him good advice.
He had the good fortune to play under good people who really understood football.”
Physical labour helped Pochettino develop the strong and stocky build that made him such an imposing player in his time.
It also furnished him with the necessary physical and mental tools to apply himself to the draining work of a head coach.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Early Life – How the Football Journey Started:
It started when a popular Argentine coach, Marcelo, AKA ‘El Loco’ Bielsa, rolled into Murphy in the dead of night. This happened in the mid-1980s when Pochettino was only 13.
His primary aim was to fetch footballers as part of youth development in the country. His choice to visit Pochettino’s town was mysterious.
Marcelo Bielsa hated flying but was convinced there was a town in the Argentine interior named Murphy that would be comfortable to pass the night.
It was 2 am on a Monday when Bielsa knocked on the door of the Pochettino house with his entourage. The future Spurs manager was 13 and was fast asleep on his little bed.
Bielsa has a reputation as something of an eccentric figure, and the story goes that he asked Mauricio’s parents if they observed their sleeping son’s legs.
“He looks like a footballer; those are the legs of a footballer,” Bielsa exclaimed and declared, and he signed him on the spot.
Pochettino grins. “Yes, that was the reality. I woke up in the morning, and my mother quickly explained the story to me. I said: ‘Yeah, come on mum, it was in a dream of yours. Mum, what did you drink before you went to sleep?’”
This was how the young Argentine started his career at the Newell’s Old Boys – the same Rosario club that gave the world Lionel Messi.
Progress and Lessons Learned:
Bielsa’s influence continued to shape Pochettino’s football career. He moved to Rosario (central Argentine province of Santa Fe) at age 14 to train with Newell’s, breaking into the club’s first team when Marcelo Bielsa became manager in 1990.
After that, Mauricio moved to Europe to play for Espanyol, Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux.
All 20 of his international caps – including the 2002 World Cup came under Bielsa. In that same World Cup, he conceded a penalty for a foul on Michael Owen.
“Sometimes you need to be brave,” he says, reflecting on the episode, which was sparked by a tip-off Bielsa had received from a local scout. “Sometimes you need to take risks.
At that moment, they trusted a person who lived in the neighbourhood. They believed, and they took a risk, and they chose to travel to my town.
And they were very brave, because at 2 o’clock in the early hours of the morning to knock on the door of a house in the middle of just nowhere, you risk a lot for yourself – some dog could just come and bite you – they were very brave, and it’s a special story.”
There are big things in store for Spurs’ bright, talented manager.
Pochettino asks his players to be brave and take risks like Bielsa knocking on a stranger’s door.
And to play with passion and heart, like that boy of him in the photograph, he showed them with holes in his shoes and a ball in his arms.
Mauricio Pochettino Bio – Career Story:
Mauricio Pochettino started as a big, die-hard, strong, stocky and talented defender at the start of his career at age 13.
A rare photo of a young Pochettino is in his early career years.
He began his playing career with Newell’s Old Boys and moved then to the Catalan team Espanyol in 1994-1995. He stayed there for seven years, winning the Copa Del Ray title in 2000.
Pochettino moved in January 2001 to PSG, where he stayed until 2003-2004, to move in the same country to Girondis de Bordeaux, where he stayed for two and a half seasons.
He was always referred to as ‘Captain Smooth’ during his club playing days with PSG. His stocky body was known to provide smooth defence against any opposition he played with.
He made 20 appearances with the Argentine national team, where he took part in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
His International goals: Pochettino scored a goal in November in front of Spain in a friendly match in which the game finished 2-0.
He scored in the 2002 World Cup qualification in front of Paraguay, and the game ended 2-2. He was known for keeping long hair during his playing days. Much of his hair looks have changed today.
He stuck with Gabriel Batistuta back then during his international playing day. They were best of friends and were known for their long hair.
This picture came when Gabriel Batistuta scored against Nigeria at the 2002 World Cup group stage.
Football fans find it hard to believe this is Mauricio Pochettino alongside Gabriel Batistuta.
Managerial Career:
Pochettino signed with Espanyol in January 2009, so he led the team to finish in La Liga in 10th place. Pochettino finished his contract with Espanyol on June 30, 2012, by mutual consent.
He later signed for Southampton on January 18, 2013. Mauricio led his new team to win over many teams like Man City 3-1, Liverpool 3-1, and Chelsea 2-1. He is Tottenham’s coach at the time of writing.
Training Drills:
Pochettino’s work ethic has been with him since childhood. He has developed a reputation for fearsome double-training sessions. In the past, he has made his players walk over hot coals and even break arrows on each other’s throats.
“He makes you suffer like a dog, and at the time, you hate him for it,” said striker Harry Kane, who had become the Premier League’s most dangerous Forward for two seasons in a role (still counting). “But by the Sunday, you’re grateful because it works.”
Jack Cork, who also played under Pochettino at Southampton, said “it felt like you needed two hearts to play for Pochettino. We’re thinking in terms of pumping more oxygen to the muscles to fuel them for the relentless pressing.”
But Pochettino interprets it slightly differently: “That was a good metaphor. You know, we always say football is about emotion – me and my staff we feel it like an emotion. If you play without passion, it is difficult to achieve big things.
Yes, I am agreed that we demand a lot, but it’s not just demanding that the player needs to run, run, run and run. It’s tough because we push them to improve, to think, to give their best in every single moment that we spend together, and that is tough for the player.”
Although Pochettino is stoic and calm in interviews, there are reports of the occasional dressing room explosion – such as after September 2016’s 2-1 Champions League defeat to Monaco. His Jose Mourinho-style came out, leading to a name ‘The angered One’.
“I am very emotional, I can loose my temper in extremely negative situations” admits Pochettino, who is nine years Mourinho’s junior. “Today football, you know it’s a business – football and business are difficult to split.
Sometimes, we forget that we are not the typical people who work in a company. We need to keep the emotion and the feeling that we had when we were boys. If you forget that, you transform your passion into a job, and that is the worst for a player.”
Praise for Erikson:
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has heaped praise on Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen, revealing the 25-year-old’s training ground nickname as ‘Golazo’ due to his unrivalled ability at scoring from long-range.
“Christian Eriksen is our Special One”, says Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino.
“Eriksen is so quiet, so calm, and he is a very relaxed person but he loves football. And he is a player that does not need too many comments from football fans, the media, and the people outside.
He always has a smile, he is a happy person, and I like him a lot because he does not need to be recognised. He needs only to feel the love from us inside the club. I like that a lot.”
We take pleasure and pride in delivering Childhood Stories and Biographies Facts of Football Managers.
If you see anything that doesn’t look right in this write-up on Mauricio Pochettino’s Biography, Please leave a comment below or contact us.
