As part of an interview with Marca, Mauricio Pochettino has explained to the Spanish newspaper that comparing football managers can be like comparing Formula 1 drivers.
Having been asked a question about whether his system got the better of Zinedine Zidane’s at the Bernabeu, Pochettino skipped away from any possible gloating, or criticism of his opposite number.
Then when Marca point out to Pochettino that managers are ultimately responsible for results, the Tottenham boss went off on a tangent: “Who is the best Formula 1 driver, the one who wins? The one with the best car? We talk about the complaints of Fernando Alonso and it is very difficult. Here the same thing happens.
“You have to measure everything under the circumstances of what each one has and also of the project in which you are and the club characteristics which you have. You cannot measure the same. Is Hamilton the best? Of course because he wins, but if we give Alonso the same car, would he also win. I don’t want to say things about another team, with other players… we live in a result society and the easy thing is to get on the car of the winner. There are many other coaches who do not win and for me they are successful.”
“I don’t mean that Tottenham is one team or another,” said Pochettino, probably regretting what he’d started. “I mean you could measure the ability of the technical staff if you have 20 cars prepared with the same engine and the same tyres. Then we could measure the capabilities. In football it’s very complicated to judge. The circumstances in each club are different, the challenges are different. Success is measured differently. The best thing is to enjoy and we do it, winning and sometimes not.”
Asked if he gets nervous when Ferrari get a new engine, sorry, when other teams spend €200m in a summer, Pochettino told Marca: “No, it doesn’t make me nervous. It’s difficult to buy success with money, but in certain cases it can help to be closer to that success. Tottenham has a philosophy, a certain structure and a marked path that we develop in a very solid way. We are finishing the Sports City, the new stadium and the team is also 
finishing up. Hopefully the projects are completed and can join the new stadium and we have, in this way, the potential to win titles, that is the goal of the president, the players and us.”
Moving on to Harry Kane and Dele Alli, the Spanish newspaper wanted to know how Tottenham can keep such players, despite other clubs offering much more money: “In football there are things that are difficult to understand. The feeling that has been generated in this club, that of belonging, makes it more complicated for footballers to want to get out of here. In football, everything changes from one day to the next. Hopefully they can stay here and we can be together a long time, signing the important ones and signing players that can help us. The goal is to put Tottenham in a state in which the Premier League and the Champions League can be won.”
It’s a good job they’re getting a bigger garage.
