Manchester United welcome Spurs to Old Trafford tonight
They will be rivals in the dugout tonight, but Mauricio Pochettino has spoken very highly of Manchester United boss José Mourinho, citing him as an ‘inspiration’.
One could argue that Pochettino has surpassed Mourinho as a coach in recent years, but Pochettino still speaks about Mourinho with glowing praise, hailing his achievements as a manager.
Asked what he has learned off Mourinho, Pochettino said: “A lot of things. I think for every single manager that is younger than him he was the inspirational manager.
“Of course he is an unbelievable manager and of course the circumstances that happen with myself and happen with different managers is always going to be up and down. He has been inspirational – but I am younger than him!”
Tottenham could have lost defender Toby Alderweireld to Manchester United this summer, but managed to keep hold of the defender, who returned to the starting XI for last weekend’s game against Fulham.
Alderweireld’s return to the XI meant a change in formation, which Pochettino believes worked well.
“Like always, my decisions are my decisions, and sometimes it’s difficult for the people to understand, and of course for journalists, it’s not easy,” he said.
“But I consider that the starting XI against Fulham was the best starting XI to win the game. Like I am going to consider for the next game, the best starting XI and maybe make a few changes too.”
Spurs have steadily improved over recent years, consistently qualifying for the Champions League, but this season will be different. With a very short pre-season and complications with Tottenham’s stadium move, Pochettino and his squad have had to overcome obstacles already.
“This season is a challenge, a completely different challenge for us, because it’s only three weeks, that the players arrive from the World Cup and are in training.
“Always you need six or seven weeks to start to compete in a normal season, that is why sometimes you need to be careful how they react after the effort of 90 minutes.”
