Tottenham Hotspur boss and Manchester United target, Mauricio Pochettino, believes he would have been sacked by now if he had delivered domestic cups at the London club instead of top-four finishes in the Premier League.
However, the Argentine tactician says his ambition is to win the Premier League and Champions League with the club. Spurs are yet to win silverware since the League Cup in 2008.
Despite a lack of title wins under his tenure and ahead of the club’s FA Cup match at Tranmere Rovers on Friday, Pochettino feels their status in the top flight and Europe outweighs the emptiness of the trophy cabinet, and that the north Londoners should be targeting the top prizes. “If it’s only the objective to win the Carabao Cup and be in the middle of the table in the Premier League, I think today we’re not talking how we’re talking here,” Pochettino said. “I think I [would have been] sacked a few years ago, for sure, with two or three Carabao Cups or FA Cups.”
Pochettino continued: “If you don’t finish how we’ve finished in the last three seasons [but win] the FA Cup, I don’t know if Daniel [Levy, the chairman] would have too much patience with me or is very nice and says, ‘OK you’re 10th in the Premier League, I keep you and even give you a new contract.’ I don’t believe that. What is success? Of course, we’re the first that will want to win a trophy but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a very successful thing or put Tottenham in a different level.
“What puts you in a different level is if you win the Premier League and you’re capable of challenging every season for the Premier League, and if you play Champions League and you really believe and you’re a real contender one day to win the Champions League. That’s my objective in Tottenham. If my ambition in Tottenham is only to win the Capital One Cup or FA Cup, with all the respect for that, I think my ambition does not match the ambition of a club like Tottenham. My ambition is to win the Champions League one day with Tottenham, or the Premier League.”
Pochettino went on to outline his plan for the FA Cup encounter, saying his intention is to field “a strong starting XI” against Tranmere. But, since it is Spurs’ fifth match in 13 days, the Argentine is likely to rest senior stars against the League Two side, saving them for Tuesday’s showdown with Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinals. As a result, Pochettino may call upon squad men such as Fernando Llorente and even Georges-Kevin Nkoudou – two players who would probably be allowed to leave this month if acceptable offers arrived.