Unai: Poch worthy of Pep talk

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Neil Moxley

UNAI EMERY rates Mauricio Pochettino as one of the world’s best managers.

The Arsenal boss paid tribute to his opposite number ahead of today’s showdown at the Emirates, believing the Argentinian deserves to be talked about in the same breath as Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone.

While sparks may fly on the pitch as these two rivals usher in a new era in hostilities in the wake of Arsene Wenger’s exit, there is no suggestion there will be anything of the sort in the technical area.

Emery and Pochettino (right) have a friendship that spans the last 10 years and the Spaniard is clearly a big fan of his rival.

The Gunners boss said: “His career’s very consistent. His team structure is very clear – and he produces good performances.

“He’s worked in Spain with Espanyol and in

England with Southampton and Tottenham, with young players.

“Every young player improves under him and his staff. It’s part of every coach’s job, part of my job, too, to develop young players with our work. And he does that. He gives young players a chance.

“I think Tottenham are now one of the best teams around. In five years under Pochettino, they have improved a lot. They are up there with Chelsea and Manchester City. Given his career, I think he deserves to be considered with the best coaches like Guardiola and Simeone.”

There has long been talk of a move by Real Madrid for Pochettino – and Emery was not ruling it out.

Asked specifically if it might happen, he replied: “At the moment, I think he is happy at Tottenham – and he has a lot of respect at the club.

“I don’t know if it will happen. Every coach knows their work depends on results and the team you are at. He’s got a lot of respect from other coaches in the Premier League and is doing very well at Tottenham.”

Emery is no stranger to the super-charged atmosphere that derby matches generate. He has been on the sidelines in the Seville-betis encounters, and was sacked after being on the wrong end of a 5-1 score in Moscow.

He said: “The Seville derby is very, very passionate. I’ve experienced others like Real Sociedad against Athletic Bilbao, CSKA against Spartak Moscow and Paris Saint-germain against Olympique Marseille.

“Seville was a big one because football is a way of life there. Sometimes Seville have been better, at other times, Real Betis. At this moment, Tottenham are better than us in the table – and they were better than us last year.

“They are in a good moment in their season, so it’s going to be tough.

“In history, however, Arsenal is better at other moments than Tottenham.

“This match is in our stadium with our supporters and we want to show them our best work.

“We want them to see our energy and our performance and, in return, we want to feel themem pushing us.us.”