Tottenham defender Danny Rose has showered manager Mauricio Pochettino in praise, and revealed that it’s absolutely no surprise to see the Argentine frequently linked with the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, given the work he’s doing at Spurs.
“What he has done here in the last four or five years has been amazing,” Rose told the Daily Mail.
“It’s no secret all the teams have spent a lot more than what we have. The manager did not made any signings in the summer and he is probably not going to make any signings in January.
“It speaks volumes of how good he is. It’s no coincidence that every day you read Real Madrid want him or United want him. It’s exactly what he deserves.
“He has transformed how others think of us outside the club and transformed how we think of ourselves and how we approach big games. We hope he stays for a really long time.”
Pochettino remains an eye-catching presence in the next Man Utd manager market at 6/1. Jose Mourinho is still the 2/1 favourite in the Sack Race, having won only one of his last five league games, while he was made to rue Wednesday’s defeat to Valencia as United finished second behind Juventus in their Champions League group, meaning they can expect a tough last-16 draw.
A heavy league defeat to Liverpool this weekend could well be extremely costly for the Portuguese coach.
Pochettino has also long been linked with a switch back to Spain, most notably with Real Madrid whose latest incumbent, Santiago Solari, has come under fire following the shock 3-0 defeat at home to CSKA Moscow.
Pochettino may not have lifted any silverware at current club Tottenham but to look at his tenure purely in terms of trophies won is just absurd. The 46-year-old is now widely regarded as one of the best managers in the Premier League, if not Europe, and will now be gunning to lead Spurs to success this season, with his troops still involved in four competitions.
Earlier this week he achieved ‘mission impossible’ after Spurs recovered from a measly tally of one point from their opening three Champions League group stage games to impressively collect seven points from their final three games, as they booked second spot behind Barcelona.
Pochettino, Rose, and his Spurs teammates will be eagerly awaiting Monday’s Champions League last-16 draw, for which they are in the non-seeded section, and will face one of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, PSG, Porto, or Real Madrid.
For the moment at least the focus is on the Premier League with Spurs welcoming Burnley to Wembley on Saturday afternoon.