‘We could make our new history better than any we’ve had before...’
ARDILES: Mauricio Pochettino has transformed the club and done an extraordinary job. We just hope all these trends continue for a long time. He’s made players that were middle-of-theroad players into very good players and good players into superb players. So his dedication, principles, his attitude, second to none.
VILLA: I had never met him until two years ago. But he convinced me, in the same way that he convinced the players as well, that this is the way. He really is a teacher and every club needs someone like that. It’s not only money. You have to play. It’s a game. Respect that, because this is the way to grow a club. I have a few lunches with him and he is a very open man. You don’t have to be tricky to coach. It’s nothing new in football, you know.
HODDLE: He has done a fabulous job. It’s a crossroads now for the club. We have the new stadium. Everything is there: training ground player, manager. The team still have a bit to go, to do what I think could happen here. They definitely need to bring more players in. They need to pay bigger wages to keep the best players here and this is a moment in time that is like never before for the club. We could make the new history better than any history that we’ve been involved in, even the Double team. That is what the owners need to understand.
ARDILES: We have probably the best training ground in England and we are going to have a wonderful stadium. The thing that was missing all the time was the team. Now we have the team, we have the manager, but because we are in this situation it’s an extraordinary challenge coming up again. You have to mention the chairman [Daniel Levy]. He has been doing all this to get the stadium and it’s not easy. Plus, he chose the manager. So, enjoy. Que sera sera. The challenges are huge.