Source: SBNation: November 7, 2021
Mauricio Pochettino is a professional football - soccer manager and former soccer player who is the current head coach of Ligue 1 club with Paris Saint-Germain. He is well known for his intense training style and using VertiMax to improve vertical jump, strength, speed and endurance.
After retiring as a player, Pochettino began his managerial career at Espanyol in 2009. In 2013, he was appointed at Premier League club Southampton, leading them to an eighth-place finish in the 2013–14 season – equalling their highest finish in the Premier League. He then signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 2014, finishing as league runner-up in the 2016–17 season and UEFA Champions League finalist in 2019. He joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 as head coach.
His style is also quite demanding on the training ground. Some players love his training style and others are challenged.
Pochettino highlights how players reacted differently to the VertiMax — a piece of training equipment that he’d installed at both the Spurs and Southampton.
How Did Pochettino Use VertiMax For Soccer Training?
Despite spending just the one season at Southhampton, Pochettino left his mark on some of the players, including José Fonte. Fonte, the Lille defender, was full of praise for the training and work Pochettino did during his brief time at the club.
Fonte said in Sport Witness: “I learned a lot, especially about fitness. He wanted everyone to physically be at the top, so he made us work like crazy. We worked on our jumping with VertiMax, did a series of exercises, sometimes it was like in the military, but when we were on the pitch, we kept the intensity.
Pochettino remembers, "Two weeks after taking over, I remember saying to Hugo Lloris, ‘What am I doing here?’ I’d come from a really friendly club at Southhampton, where I often had to force the players to go home. At Southampton, we’d installed a machine called the VertiMax in the gym, which helps to improve vertical jump, strength, speed and endurance. The look on their faces when they saw it! But soon enough, they were smitten."
By contrast, the Spurs players come in, train and shoot off home again. It was hard work for the Spurs and the intense training is rough on the PSG players with VertiMax.
His warm and paternal style of man-management has been received well by most players who’ve played under him. Most of them hail Pochettino as the best manager they’ve ever worked under.
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