GRACIA: POCH TOPS RAFA AND WENGER

JAVI GRACIA has hailed Mauricio Pochettino as a role model for foreign managers bidding to crack the Premier League.

Just like Watford boss Gracia, Pochettino was a relative unknown when he arrived on these shores in 2013. The Argentinian struggled with the language barrier but was soon earning rave reviews in his spell at Southampton.

He was poached by Tottenham a year later where he has turned them into a force in the Premier League and in Europe. Spaniard Gracia (above) said: “The level of Pochettino for me is high.

“Tottenham have shown this season and in the past, even though they have not won the Champions League or other competitions, how good they are.

“All the coaches that have done a good job, just like Pochettino, are a good influence for the rest of the foreign coaches. He is up there with the likes of Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez.

“They are important coaches and are also very good. But he tops them in my opinion.”