Mauricio Pochettino believes Monday’s game at Tottenham Hotspur will be all about finding the right balance, between his own professionalism and emotion when he visits his former club, and setting up the Chelsea team to get the best out of ourselves while countering the threat of difficult opposition.
This will be Mauricio Pochettino’s first time back at Tottenham since spending more than five years as their manager. His only previous matches against them came earlier in his career, during his time at Southampton, a decade ago.
Given the success he enjoyed with Spurs – which included reaching their first-ever Champions League final and a best league finish in over 50 years – it is inevitable that the Argentinian feels a lasting bond with the club and its supporters, despite now managing across the divide of London rivalry at Chelsea.
Pochettino and the staff who have been with him since those days in the north of the capital will need to keep their emotions in check on their first return to Tottenham. However, they have worked in this sport long enough for that not to be a problem, or prevent them from enjoying the moment.
‘It is true we didn’t get to say goodbye, because in the moment that we left the club it was also a difficult situation, a difficult moment. Now is the opportunity to go back and see many people that are still working there. It is going to be an exciting moment.
‘It’s strange to go back because of the feelings after four years. For me it’s going to be a happy day, but that is life and we need to move on. We are professionals about football but at the same time we are human. We are people and we feel, it’s normal. We cannot forget, that is how we build our history.’
His trip back to Tottenham comes at a time when they are in impressive form, with current manager Ange Postecoglou guiding them to the top of the Premier League table this season, not that Pochettino needed any warning of the threat Spurs will pose on Monday evening.
‘Ange and all the coaching staff that I know very well, they are doing a fantastic job. Then of course they have very good players, a very good team, and you can feel they can be a contender for the title. Of course it is early in the season, but they are showing the quality to be contenders.
‘Like always, we cannot underestimate the opponent. Always our philosophy and our mentality is to see in which area we need to improve, while always paying attention to the opponent. Of course Tottenham is doing fantastic, with amazing results and amazing performances, and they’re going to be a really tough opponent.’
The Blues head coach was also asked ahead of this game if there are similarities between the current Chelsea side and the one he managed in the early days of his spell with Spurs, but felt comparisons are difficult to make at this stage due to the very different circumstances of the two clubs.
‘We are in a different project. In all the history of Chelsea it is about winning big things. Maybe Chelsea now are with Manchester United and Liverpool as the biggest clubs in England, as Chelsea in the last 15 years won a lot of titles, but now we are in a different project, a different situation, that we are building something for the future.
‘Maybe we struggle a little bit at the beginning because of situations we are not managing well. That is why we lose too many points. Maybe we deserve more because of our performance but because we are still so young as a team we are not managing these situations. But I am in no doubt that in the future Chelsea will be in the position that we deserve to be in because of the history.’