KANE SAYS POCHETTINO ‘ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD’

HARRY Kane hailed Mauricio Pochettino as “one of the best managers in the world” as Tottenham prepared to maintain their pressure on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.

Spurs are still four points behind Chelsea with four games left, but they are already on 77 points, and are heading well into the 80s. Even if they do not catch Chelsea and win the league, this will be one of the greatest seasons in their modern history.

With a new stadium coming next to White Hart Lane and most of the Spurs first team secured on new contracts, the future looks very bright regardless of what happens in the next four matches. They beat Arsenal 2-0 last Sunday, their 16th straight White Hart Lane win, confirming that they will finally finish before their north London rivals for the first time since 1995.

This whole season has confirmed that Spurs are moving in the right direction and Kane said that the club’s development in all aspects gave him heart.

“Every time we drive in as a squad we can see how big the new stadium is getting,” Kane said. “Everything is getting built up and it shows the way the club is going.”

The most important man at the club remains Pochettino, for whom Kane reserved the highest praise. “We have got a fantastic manager who is one of the best in the world, in my opinion,” Kane said. “We have got a great squad, a real togetherness and we are just going in the right direction. We have just got to make sure we continue that, that we don’t get carried away. Even this season we don’t get carried away. We have got four games left that we have got to try to win. But it is exciting times.”

Spurs travelled to the London Stadium last night to play West Ham United. A win would reduce the gap to Chelsea down to one point, exerting pressure on Antonio Conte’s side, who host Middlesbrough on Monday night.

In last year’s title race Spurs always played after Leicester, so Kane was looking forward to playing before Chelsea this weekend. “We knew what it was like last year with Leicester playing before us and even this weekend (on Sunday Spurs played after Chelsea)”, Kane said. “It is difficult. It is good to try to play first and try to put that pressure on, so, it will be good to play on Friday night. It is another tough game away from home, but, hopefully, we can get that win, put that pressure on and wait and see.”

Whether Spurs catch Chelsea or not, they can be proud of a season that could be one of the best ever by a team not to win the Premier League. – The Independent