Why Does Pochettino Always Get Close but Never Win?

Mauricio Pochettino is one of those coaches who gets fans all fired up. His teams play with flair, he’s great at developing players, and there’s this magnetic energy that makes everyone believe “this time, he’s got it.” But when you take a cold, hard look at the numbers, you start to wonder: is he really all that the stats suggest, or are we just caught up in the Pochettino myth?

Throughout his coaching career, Pochettino has overseen 649 games, securing 316 wins, 144 draws, and 189 losses, giving him a solid 56.09% win rate. Sounds pretty great on paper, right? But here’s the catch: these numbers aren’t evenly spread across all his clubs and competitions. The reality is, his career has had its ups and downs, and often, those “downs” happen when his teams need results the most.

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At Tottenham, where he spent the longest stretch of his career, Pochettino achieved a 61.32% win rate. Impressive, especially when you remember he took over a Tottenham side that wasn’t exactly dominating the Premier League. Under his watch, they played some competitive, aggressive, and at times, downright exciting soccer. His crowning achievement? Taking Spurs to the 2019 Champions League final. But that high point was also his biggest heartbreak. Beaten by Liverpool, he left Tottenham without lifting any major silverware.

If we dig deeper into his Tottenham numbers, we see some consistency in domestic leagues, with three consecutive seasons finishing in the top three of the Premier League. During the 2016-17 season, his win rate hit an eye-popping 68.55%, with Spurs finishing second. But hey, soccer’s not just about flashy stats. It’s about trophies, and that’s where Pochettino’s Tottenham fell short.

Then came his move to Paris Saint-Germain. The expectation? That he’d finally stamp his name among the greats. After all, PSG practically prints trophies in France. And, to be fair, he added three titles to his résumé: Ligue 1 (2021-22), the French Cup (2020-21), and the French Super Cup (2020). But let’s be real, winning the French league with PSG’s star-studded lineup—Neymar, Mbappé, and Messi—is more of a requirement than an achievement. Out of 59 Ligue 1 games, Pochettino won 41, with a 71.43% win rate. Not too shabby, but the big fish, the Champions League, stayed out of reach. And in a club like PSG, that's the real measure of success.

When you focus on Pochettino’s international performances, his Champions League stats hold up, but once again, that defining moment is missing. In 45 games, he’s won 21, drawn 9, and lost 15, with a 53.34% success rate. That’s not bad, but this is a tournament where greatness is measured by lifting trophies, not just putting in decent campaigns. Pochettino knows how to get his teams to the dance, but it seems like he can’t quite close the deal.

Another interesting chapter in his career comes from his time at Southampton, where he first started turning heads in English soccer. With a limited squad, he managed 19 wins out of 54 games, clocking in a win rate of 48.33%. It doesn’t sound like much, but this is where his reputation as a coach who gets the most out of his players and teams began to solidify. Sure, he didn’t win anything with Southampton, but his work was good enough to open the door to bigger clubs, and there’s no denying he did a heck of a job within the club’s limitations.

At Chelsea, he managed 38 games, racking up 18 wins, 9 draws, and 11 losses, landing him a 58.17% win rate.

Pochettino’s career is full of what you could call “moral victories,” but tangible victories? Not so much. His numbers are solid—56.09% wins in almost 650 games is nothing to scoff at—but his trophy case doesn’t reflect it. A 56% win rate should scream “elite coach,” someone who’s regularly hoisting trophies. But oddly enough, that’s not the case with Pochettino.

He’s the kind of coach who seems to make every team he touches better, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to long-term success or silverware. Pochettino’s a master at building competitive teams and turning raw talent into stars, but at the end of the day, what defines a great coach is their ability to win the biggest competitions. And up until now, Pochettino hasn’t shown he can do that.