On Saturday evening, Arsenal supporters will find themselves in an excellent position to judge Mauricio Pochettino as a manager. By then, Arsenal and Tottenham will have settled the season's first North London derby at the Emirates.

The particularly interesting aspect, however, is that Arsenal have been provided with a neat juxtaposition of Pochettino old and new. On Tuesday, his former club Southampton travelled to the Emirates in the Capital One Cup, produced a superb performance and deservedly triumphed 2-1.

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Arsenal rested players, with their defence almost unrecognisable from the first-choice back line. Nevertheless, this was a strong Arsenal team -- Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky in midfield, the all-World Cup trio of Alexis Sanchez, Joel Campbell and Lukas Podolski up front. They were simply outplayed by Southampton, which remained extremely well-organised defensively and extremely efficient on counterattacks, with midfielder Steven Davis the outstanding performer.

Southampton wouldn't have achieved that victory last season. Not because they were incapable of winning at Arsenal, but because Pochettino didn't take cup competitions seriously. He played a rotated side in the Capital One Cup, which was excusable considering Southampton were performing excellently at this stage last season. However, in February he made six changes for an FA Cup tie away at Sunderland, which Southampton limply lost 1-0.

There is a recurring debate about whether managers should prioritise winning the FA Cup over Champions League football or Premier League survival, but Pochettino's side wasn't seriously competing in any other competition. Southampton endured the most uneventful season imaginable in terms of league position. From the final week of November, they remained in eighth or ninth position until the end of the campaign, a distant halfway house between Champions League qualification and a relegation battle.

Failure to put significant effort into the cup competitions was a huge disappointment for Southampton supporters, and it suggests Pochettino doesn't have a proper winning mentality. His replacement, Ronald Koeman, is evidently different; the Dutchman won seven league titles and two European Cups as a player, plus the European Championship. He has collected three league titles as a manager. Pochettino played a part in two Copa del Rey victories, but his last league title came early in his playing career in Argentina. One man is accustomed to winning. The other's career has progressed smoothly without that experience.

Among the praise for Pochettino's efforts last season, it went unnoticed that Southampton finished eighth, despite their manager and the majority of the starting XI being pursued by Champions League-chasing clubs. They played intelligent, cohesive and often exciting football, but shouldn't they have finished higher? The real attraction of Southampton was their style; they averaged the highest possession in the Premier League.

Style over substance, however, is evidently what Tottenham don't require. Traditionally, Spurs display exciting, attack-minded football, but they consistently lack the ruthless mentality to turn their positive play into victories and trophies. Speaking to Tottenham supporters is often a somewhat disheartening experience. Their belief worn down by last-gasp failures and disappointments, you generally encounter a negative, pessimistic approach. They would say it is simply realism. Even when Spurs appeared to be a genuine title challenger in 2011-12 and were being widely applauded for their stylish football, the supporters remained unconvinced -- and they were correct. Tottenham didn't even qualify for the Champions League.

Is Mauricio Pochettino satisfied with midtable results? His history of indifference in domestic cups speaks loudly about his commitment to winning.

The danger, then, is that Tottenham have appointed a manager who simply exaggerates their traditional philosophy. Spurs were linked with Louis van Gaal earlier in the year, before he agreed to join Manchester United. That would have been a revolutionary appointment. Van Gaal is a serial winner, something Spurs desperately desire. Frank De Boer, another rumoured target and the first manager to win four consecutive Eredivisie titles, would have been a similar case.

In contrast, Pochettino's winning mentality hasn't yet been confirmed. We know he idolises Marcelo Bielsa, his former Argentina coach who was also celebrated because of his approach rather than his honours. Bielsa's tenure with Athletic Bilbao was somewhat predictable. In his first season, they played wonderful football but were defeated in two cup finals. This might be a cheap comparison; Pep Guardiola, after all, is another Bielsa devotee, and his immediate managerial success is unprecedented. Spurs fans must hope Pochettino is a similar case.

Tottenham's trip to Arsenal is particularly intriguing because Arsenal have frequently been accused of something similar recently: that they are content to play attractive football without winning trophies.

Last season's FA Cup victory indicates a change in mentality, and perhaps it's been driven by their key players rather than their manager. At the height of Arsenal's trophy drought, the squad was packed with players unaccustomed to winning; the likes of Denilson, Alex Song, Theo Walcott, Laurent Koscielny, Wojciech Szczesny and Samir Nasri were in the same boat.

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Over the past couple of seasons, however, Arsenal have purchased players who had major trophies. Mesut Ozil, Mathieu Flamini, Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Mikel Arteta had won La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and the SPL, respectively, while Santi Cazorla had won two European Championships with Spain. Recent signings Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and Mathieu Debuchy have all won major domestic titles too.

Suddenly -- and not just because of the FA Cup victory -- the Arsenal squad feels different, a collection of winners rather than mere entertainers. Perhaps even Arsene Wenger doubted whether his squad had that winning mentality at one point. His emotional, almost hysterical, appearance in the aftermath of Arsenal lifting the FA Cup demonstrated the stress and nervousness that had grown over the past nine years. Perhaps the strength came from within, a newfound core of experienced players that was essentially playing the role of Arsenal's reliable old "back five," which Wenger had inherited when he took charge in 1996.

That winning mentality is difficult to quantify, but it's absolutely crucial to a successful squad. Teams can compensate for technical limitations and physical weakness, but there's no remedy for a squad that doesn't relentlessly drive toward trophies. Arsenal have recovered from their trophy drought, and Wenger will hope "success breeds success" is one of those boring football clichés that also happens to be true.

Pochettino doesn't have that core of winners -- certainly not when considering only major leagues -- and therefore the drive and determination must come from him. The Argentine appears a perfect fit at White Hart Lane, but to be truly successful, he must force Tottenham out of their comfort zone.

Michael Cox is the editor of zonalmarking.net and a contributor to ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @Zonal_Marking.