POCH: NO MORE MR NICE GUYS
Spurs boss hopes his good fellas have picked up the dark arts from Juventus
MAURICIO POCHETTINO has claimed “nice” Spurs need to learn the dark arts of winning big matches.
The Tottenham boss insisted the stats from their Champions League defeat by Juventus shows that the Londoners were much the better team over the two legs.
But the Argentinian said the Serie A giants used streetwise tactics, with even the club’s chairman and chief executive pressurising the Polish referee at half-time. “It’s two games against this type of club – one on the pitch, one off the pitch,” Pochettino said.
Juve’s veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini claimed after this week’s Wembley triumph that “history was important” in the victory as Tottenham lacked a trophy-winning mentality. And the Spurs manager did not disagree.
“In football it’s not only about a better performance, more shots on target, or more possession,” he said. “It’s small details.
“In this type of game, every minimal detail can help you win. Juventus are specialists because they have the habit to win, the habit to put pressure on the referee. The chairman (Andrea Agnelli) stayed in the tunnel before and during the game. It’s a club with a culture to try to do everything to help the team.
“I don’t say Daniel (Levy) needs to be there. Only that Juventus was a massive lesson in how to behave. Agnelli was on the field during the warmup. And (Pavel) Nedved (director). I saw at half-time how they put pressure on the ref.
“They were complaining about the penalty in the first half. I like to learn and to improve and we saw how the sporting director put pressure on the referee at half-time.
“I am not complaining. how they are.
“You need all this to win trophies. You can win games but to win trophies you need that strong structure.”
Poch, who takes his side to Bournemouth tomorrow, said Tottenham complained about Mattia Barzagli’s first-half stamp on Son Heung-min but admitted: “It was easy for the ref to manage us because we were very nice people, trying to play a game. With experience you have more chance to achieve all that you want.” It’s