‘Being brave is way we love to play football’
Mauricio Pochettino says Spurs will stick to principles to end City run, writes Jason Burt
Mauricio Pochettino joked when he was reminded that he was the last manager to defeat Pep Guardiola. “It is not me with another coach, it is not me and Pep,” the Tottenham Hotspur manager said. “For me, the best way to see who is the best is to create a ring to fight, like Anthony Joshua. I am so brave on the touchline because I know that is never going to happen!”
Going toe to toe, like a champion boxer, is, however, the best way that Pochettino believes City can be beaten and “be brave” was a theme of his arguments as Tottenham prepare to face the champions again at the Etihad Stadium.
It was in the Champions League quarter-final in April that Spurs triumphed – a 1-0 victory at their new stadium in the first leg, followed by a 4-3 defeat and a win on away goals in Manchester, when they certainly took the game to their opponents.
However, that tie came amid a run of 15 Premier League wins for City, including beating Spurs at home, and last weekend’s 5-0 demolition of West Ham United at the London Stadium sent a shiver of apprehension through the rest of the league on the first weekend.
The record of successive Premier League wins, set by City in 2017-18, is 18, which could be equalled by the end of the month when they host Brighton. In fact, after Spurs, City have nine league games in a row against teams outside the traditional
Big Six and it is therefore not inconceivable that they could target 25 straight wins – if they win
today – before they face Liverpool at Anfield in November.
Given Liverpool have fixtures against Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and Manchester United in the meantime there is a genuine fear that the champions could already have opened up a significant lead even before their next likely challengers face them.
For the health of the league it feels that Spurs have to show the way and halt City, bringing that daunting winning streak to an end. Pochettino has led the way before. He inflicted defeat on Guardiola in their first Premier League meeting, in 2016, which was also the Spaniard’s first loss as City manager, after he had won his first six league games.
Going further back, Pochettino’s first win as coach of Espanyol in 2009 was against Guardiola’s Barcelona at the Nou Camp. It was also the last time Espanyol defeated their city rivals.
“We have a way we love to play,” Pochettino said of Spurs. “Sometimes, you can win and lose, but we are brave, we try to move forward, try to think of us before the opponent. I don’t know if that is the key to sometimes beating a team like Manchester City.
“But, of course, 15 games winning is a massive record and it shows the quality of this team and when I talk about the quality I am talking about the CEO, the sporting director, the manager, the players, the structure. When I talk about the quality, it is not talking about one player, one person. It’s the quality of the project of Manchester City.”
Was that a dig at Spurs? Not necessarily, but Pochettino, who has nevertheless voiced his frustrations, knows he has to operate in a different way to City, and so while Guardiola can buy right-back Joao Cancelo for £60 million – receiving £34 million for the sale of Danilo to Juventus – and still have Kyle Walker, Spurs sign 19-year-old Ryan Sessegnon for £25 million as a player to develop and hope that Kyle Walker-peters can make the step up.
There is further uncertainty. Pochettino admitted the make-up of the Spurs squad for this season was not settled. The club cannot sign players after the Premier League transfer window closed but it remains open in the rest of Europe until Sept 2 and so players can leave. The manager said he did not know whether Christian Eriksen would still be there after that date.
The 27-year-old playmaker has less than 12 months left on his contract, has stated he wants to go and has made it clear he would like to move to Spain, having given Manchester United no encouragement to try to sign him.
It is also possible that Danny Rose will leave and the future of other players – Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld also have less than a year to go – is not certain.
“We will see what happens between now and Sept 2,” Pochettino said, hinting that he wanted them to stay. “It is not in my hands if something happen or not happen,” he said. “Still we need to wait until Sept 2 and hope there are not too many changes or not too many problems for us.”