POCH PAYS Twin heartaches haunt Spurs boss
MAURICIO POCHETTINO has revealed he will be haunted forever by the two biggest disappointments of his career.
The first was in the 2002 World Cup when he gave away the penalty for a foul on Michael Owen that led to England dumping Argentina out in the group stages.
The second was in June when Tottenham lost the Champions League Final, with the Spurs boss giving a rare insight into how deeply the defeat to Liverpool affected him.
Pochettino confessed he was left depressed after losing on the biggest night of his managerial career, but the challenge for Tottenham now is to help him win trophies to end his frustrations.
When asked why he does not look happy this season, the former Argentina defender said: “It’s not like this. I explain why – in football I suffered two big disappointments.
“One when I was a player and there was the penalty at the World Cup.
“It was always my dream to play in a World Cup, my massive, big dream. OK, we played three games and went home.
“We went there unbeaten, a candidate to win the trophy and went home in the group stage. I stayed at home and didn’t go out for 10 days.
“Another was with Tottenham to win a trophy and the closest to win a trophy was of course the Champions League and it was made even bigger because it was the Champions League.
“To achieve the final of the Champions League with Tottenham – no-one expected that. It was more than a dream, more than a dream.
“In that moment I felt disappointed and then I took a train to Barcelona and again you feel like you are depressed.
“In your mind, you expect to move on after a week and say ‘I want to, again, be there.’
You cannot be happy.
“Yes, we have some disagreements. But I am happy now because I am positive and this season is going to be another massive challenge. But we must have that energy to to be contenders and try again to fight for big things and I’m going to try until the end.” Arsene Wenger struggled to get over Arsenal’s Champions League Final defeat in 2006 and referred to Barcelona’s late fightback for years afterwards. In contrast, Jurgen Klopp moved on quickly from Liverpool’s defeat in the 2018 Champions League Final, using it as a motivational tool and they won the trophy a year later by beating Tottenham.
But Pochettino came out fighting after a miserable week that saw his side lose at Leicester and then get dumped out of the Carabao Cup at League Two Colchester. Incredibly, #pochout was trending on Twitter on Tuesday night with unhappy fans suggesting Pochettino had taken Tottenham as far as he could.
He dismissed that notion but said he could understand the fans’ frustrations.
When asked whether he can take Tottenham further, Pochettino said: “I still believe that we can. (That next step) is hard. It is hard.
“How tough it is to be in the last stage? It is difficult. Because it’s not only to get to the last stage, the most difficult thing is to keep this performance and be consistent.
“I believe (they can do it with me) and I hope yes. But football is not an ordinary business. And that is the summary of football. In football two plus two sometry (above), (inset, below) times is four but sometimes it is not four. The fans are always right to criticise. When you don’t win you need to accept that you were wrong.
“The fans are the only ones who you have to accept the criticism from and you cannot complain about that. They are right to express their feelings and emotions.
“The fans are emotional. The fans want to win always. The fans love the club, the fans love the players, the fans sometimes love the coaching staff and manager, sometimes.
“Of course you cannot anything about the fans.
“The fans keep the game alive that is so beautiful. We are here because of them and that is why they can always give their opinion.” say