Why darts fan Pochettino hits all his targets

Alpine summits with Levy and WhatsApp groups for players are key to success – now Chelsea are in his sights, writes

There is a photograph that Mauricio Pochettino holds especially dear. It shows Tottenham’s manager, aged two, clutching a ball like it is a bar of gold in his home town of Murphy in Argentina.

For Pochettino, the image represents why, for him and his Tottenham Hotspur staff, passion is a more valuable currency than money or ability.

Emotions will be running particularly high at Wembley for today’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, following the tragic death of Tottenham Under-23 coach Ugo Ehiogu. Pochettino was one of the first on the scene after Ehiogu suffered a heart attack at Tottenham’s training ground on Thursday, and the togetherness the Argentine has helped to foster at the club means the death of the 44-year-old has been felt like the loss of a family member.

Players at rival clubs are telling their friends at Tottenham that they are envious of the spirit Pochettino has instilled at White Hart Lane while, for the first time in over 20 years, Arsenal look likely to finish the season as the second-best team in north London.

Pochettino is now relishing the challenge to win silverware with Tottenham, who have cut Chelsea’s Premier League lead to four points and can strike a psychological blow against Antonio Conte’s men by reaching the FA Cup final.

“It is normal to win titles with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, maybe Juventus, Porto in Portugal,” said Pochettino. “With a big team, you are already very close to winning. Look at Barcelona with Pep, with Tito Vilanova, with Rijkaard, with Luis Enrique. All different managers, but with the same group of players and they were successful.

“Success for me is to finish in the top four like last season. It was a big success for Tottenham and means maybe more than winning one title with Barcelona.

“I dream of lifting trophies, but the way I did [as a player] with Espanyol. Two Copa del Rey – with Espanyol! And as a kid playing for Boca Juniors or River Plate, it was normal to win – not playing for Newell’s Old Boys. But I liked that challenge. If you are not spending the money and still challenging, that is what I like the most.”

Building bonds was Pochettino’s biggest priority when he arrived at White Hart Lane three years ago. Not just between the players, but also between the players and the crowd – who had become tired of expensive prima donnas – and between the club staff and chairman Daniel Levy.

He made a number of small but important changes, such as getting the players in for breakfast together each morning and insisting they greet one another with a handshake. When, one by one, the players lined up to shake hands with a slightly bewildered Levy one lunchtime, Pochettino knew his message was getting through.

Pochettino frequently contacts his players on WhatsApp, and has remained in touch with many of his former Southampton squad. He has on numerous occasions spoken about the importance of showing “love” for his charges.

James Bunce, who was appointed as high-performance director of the US Soccer Federation in February and worked under Pochettino at Southampton, said: “Mauricio built strong relationships with his players and staff. Luke Shaw would be in his office for a couple of hours each day. And Mauricio would involve you and listen to you. He’d be in from seven in the morning to nine at night – he’s just exceptional.”

It has not all been handshakes and hugs, however. Pochettino can use the stick just as much as he offers the carrot: he told Danny Rose that he could turn him into the best left-back in the country and then promptly made Ben Davies his first Spurs signing to create competition between the pair.

Players were made to work harder in training than they ever had before and were filmed from different angles, so that their every move could be studied and tracked. There was nowhere to hide, and anybody who did not like the new regime was sent to train with the under-21s – including Younès Kaboul and Emmanuel Adebayor, the pair who started Pochettino’s first season in charge as Tottenham’s captain and vice-captain respectively.

Pochettino likes to take part in small-sided training matches to battle against his players, although he has come off worst from more than one clash with Cameron Carter-Vickers, the club’s teenage centre-half.

The freedom Levy has given Pochettino to ship out the likes of Adebayor, Kaboul, Paulinho, Étienne Capoue, Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend has surprised outsiders, who have seen other Spurs managers struggle to get their way.

Having done his due diligence on Pochettino, Levy agreed to make his latest manager the centre