Pochettino Radio Interview Part 4 - Sheffield Utd, Hazard, Kane

Back in February Mauricio Pochettino was interviewed by Barcelona-based radio station RAC1, the main Catalan language private radio station, at our world class training facilities. In Part 4 he talks about Spurs objectives, the financial truth, the best atmosphere in England, away from White Hart Lane of course, as well as who has impressed him the most and which Spurs player has surprised him the most.



RMC1: Is the objective at Tottenham to qualify for the Champions League?

Pochettino: The truth is we’re ambitious and we want to be there but when you look clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and United you realise that qualifying for the Champions League is very difficult.  They are powerful sides.  Manchester United have spent a monstrous amount this summer (2014), for example.  But if we have to compete with them, we will. We have that winning mentality.

THBN: Manchester United have continued to spend money we simply don't have this summer. Thier wage bill is more than our total income and they are not preparing to build a new stadium. The clubs ahead of us continue to strengthen exercising their financial muscle. It is tough for Spurs fans to accept but we must not be jealous and strive to match them to keep up, we must pursue a longer strategy.

We must build the stadium and the club financially so whilst we can't compete at the top end of the transfer market we can compete for the very best young players with a youth orientated approach, which we hope will turn out to be beneficial in the future. If world class youth develops into world class talent then we'll have players we wouldn't normally be able to afford.

RMC1: They’re (Arsenal) only three points ahead of you.

Pochettino: Everything is possible in football.  The reality is, financially, we are way behind them.

THBN: Arsenal director Lord Harris commented recently that Spurs were 5 years behind Arsenal in our development, that wasn't a dig but an honest assessment of where Tottenham are at with a long-term strategy.  The club has to be built up and that will take time. We have built from a broke club finishing 12th to a financially stable club finishing 5th. The next step is even tougher but the stadium and NFL deal are two major steps along the way, nothing can jeopardise the building of the stadium so that financially has to take priority as the long-term gains are greater for the team, rather than what would be gambling with our future by heavily investing in the team.

RMC1: You signed a long-term contract here at Tottenham and your future looks to be in England but do you think you’ll return to Spain and manage Espanyol again in the future?

Pochettino: You never know in the future or where it could take you.  But you know that Espanyol will always be special to me and that I’ll never close the door on a return there.

RMC1: I think the biggest positive of the English league is the atmosphere; the passion from the fans.  In your opinion, which ground has the best atmosphere in the Premier League?

Pochettino: I think all of the grounds in the Premier League are similar but also have their special parts.  But for me, the most tension I felt wasn’t actually in a stadium from the Premier League but from a side in League One,  Sheffield United.  When we played against them in the semi-final, a team with a lot of history but currently in the lower leagues, there was an incredible atmosphere with 35,000 making a fantastic atmosphere.  Much better than I’ve experienced at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge or the Emirates.

RMC1: And what about the player that has impressed you most in the Premier League?

Pochettino: There are so many but for me, especially this season (2014/15), it has to be Hazard.  He’s one of the best players in the Premier League.

RMC1: And from your own team, who has perhaps surprised you more than most?

Pochettino: It has to be the emergence of Harry Kane, who has been a revelation in English football.

RMC1: Do you think it will be difficult for you to keep him at Tottenham?

Pochettino: No, he’s just signed a new deal at Tottenham to stay for another five seasons.  Unlike in Spain, there aren’t any release clauses.

RMC1: So unless he wants to leave, you won’t be letting him go?

Pochettino: No.  If somebody wants to sign him they will need to negotiate with the club.  He was born here; he came from the academy and his dream is to play for Tottenham for the rest of his career.  We hope that happens and that he continues to improve and score goals.

THBN: It was a fascinating interview to look at which I hope helps Spurs fans understand the realities of where we are, context is often forgotten by football fans when emotion take over and unreasonable expectations are not reached. Certainly we should be aiming for the stars as it is only aiming high that we will drag ourselves higher.

The same applies to each individual player, they have to aim for the heights personally, if they do then they can have the impact Harry Kane has had, if they don't they may end up having the impact Roberto Soldado has had. He is so frustrating, given his problem is so obvious yet we don't take the appropriate steps to cure it. Oh well, we won't get everything in a day, eventually we will start catching up with other sports.

I have to say a big thank you to Andrew Gaffney, a Valencia-based writer who translated this interview, you can follow him on Twitter @GaffneyVLC.

I'll finish this series by reminding you that if you have local content like this you'd like to help me bring to a wider audience I want to hear from you, plus anyone who wants to write a regular match report, I'm keen to see how our game is viewed by different nationalities in different parts of the world. This site is read regularly by some 200 countries so if you have a local event you want to plug, send me the details and who knows you may find more people come along.

Further Tottenham Reading
Villarreal not Sevilla strong favourites for Soldado
A motivated team is a successful team


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