PUT BRAKES ON BREXIT — POCH
GOVERNMENT DRIVING INTO UNKNOWN, SAYS BOSS
TOTTENHAM manager Mauricio Pochettino has likened Brexit to a car crash and admits English football faces an uncertain future after the country leaves the European Union.
As Britain heads towards an exit in March and the uncertainly of a ‘no deal’ Brexit looms large, Pochettino has become the second high-profile Premier League manager to criticise the decision to hold the referendum.
The Argentine (right) did not go as far as Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, who has thrown his support behind a second public vote, but he said the government should have the bravery to put the brakes on Brexit rather than driving the country into the unknown.
“After two and a half years, I still don’t know if it will be good or bad [for English football],” Pochettino said. “For me, it’s about applying common sense. If the politicians now realise it [Brexit] will be tough and it will be bad for England, why not go back and explain, ‘This is what is going to happen to us?’
“If not, it’s like doing nothing when you are going to crash [your car]. If I’m going to crash but Jesus [Perez, Tottenham assistant manager] is saying come on, come on, push, faster... No! Stop!
“I feel sorry,” Pochettino added. “First of all for the people I love but also for the people who do not have the opportunity to say, ‘I need more information.’ We still don’t know the consequences.
“I feel so sorry because it’s a situation that should be dealt with by people who have all the information, who know the reality. If people are for or against Brexit, they manipulate everything.
“It’s so unfair to put the responsibility on the people because there are consequences. We said Brexit, we bought into an idea. But afterwards, who suffers? We don’t know.
“If someone told you it would be good for my family, for myself and then the consequences are different [to expected], you are the guilty one. That’s what I don’t like. If I am responsible for picking a starting XI, I need to take the responsibility — I cannot ask the fans who should play.
“And I know the consequences if I don’t pick right and a get a good result. It’s such an important a decision and after two and a half years, 99 per cent of the people of this country still don’t know if it’s good [to be] in or out.”
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has described Brexit as a “fantastic opportunity” to redress the balance of English and overseas academy players in the top flight but Mike Garlick and Peter Coates, his counterparts at Burnley and Stoke respectively, say it will be “hugely damaging” for English football.
There are concerns that Brexit could prevent Premier League clubs from signings stars from the EU under new freedom-of-movement regulations. Last year, Spurs director Donna-Maria Cullen wrote that Brexit had “added a straight 20 per cent on costs for foreign goods”, pushing up the price of building Tottenham’s new stadium, which is now close to £1billion.
For Pochettino, a second referendum on the terms of an exit deal could only increase the uncertainty.
“We d o n ’ t k n o w if another referendum will be good or bad,” he said. “If I need to vote in or out [again], I still don’t know what the best decision for us will be. If you’re going to vote, it’s because you believe it will be good for you, for the people you love and your friends, country, everyone. But after two and a half years, we still don’t know.”
Christian Eriksen and Mousa Dembele are back for tomorrow’s match at West Ham but Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Jan Vertonghen remain sidelined.