Mauricio Pochettino admits Tottenham’s poor start to the season has left him hurting, but he is committed to turning their fortunes around.
Spurs have won just two of their opening eight games in all competitions this campaign and hit new depths on Tuesday when they were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Colchester.
They are effectively already out of the Premier League title race, sitting 10 points behind leaders Liverpool, and some fans on social media were calling for Pochettino’s head, with #PochOut trending on Twitter.
Although the Argentine claims this period – which has been underpinned by dressing-room unrest due to the future of so many players being in doubt – is not the toughest he has endured at the club, the lack of wins is stinging.
He said: “Football for me is about the glory. There is nothing more important than the glory. When you win, how you feel…there is not another thing you can find like it.
“Of course I am suffering. This is my sixth season here and I am in an unbelievable environment here.
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“The training ground is amazing and we have the best stadium in the world. But football is about glory, it is about winning.
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“Of course you can be frustrated and disappointed sometimes.
“The challenge is to get back there and I told you we are going to fight to try to make this possible to try to change the history of this club.”
It is not only results this season that have contributed to Pochettino’s grizzly mood as he revealed the Champions League final defeat to Liverpool was one of his lowest moments in the game.
“In football I suffered two big disappointments,” he said. “One when I was a player and there was the penalty at the World Cup.
“It was always my dream to play in a World Cup, my massive, big dream.
“OK, we played three games and went home – when we were a candidate to win.
“For three or four years we were unbeaten. We didn’t lose and we arrived in a circumstance that went the worse and we were out in the group stages. I stayed at home and didn’t go out for 10 days.
Whether you were in Madrid, Tottenham or tuning in from around the world, thank you once again for your unbelievable support. pic.twitter.com/NiT4AJeXiC— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 1, 2019
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“Another day was with Tottenham to win a trophy and the closest to win a trophy was of course the Champions League and it was made even bigger because it was the Champions League.
“To achieve the final of the Champions League with Tottenham – no one expected that.
“It was more than a dream, more than a dream. In that moment I felt disappointed and then I took a train to Barcelona and again you are like depressed.
Mauricio Pochettino (centre) said he did not go out of the house for 10 days after Argentina failed to progress at the World Cup (Peter Byrne/PA)
“And of course you expect (clicks his fingers) because in your mind after a week you move on and say, ‘I want to, again, be there’ and when you, sometimes, I explain, because I don’t want to go back on my words for different reasons – yes, we have some disagreements, of course, you cannot be happy.
“You cannot be happy. But I am happy now because I am positive and of course this season is going to be another massive challenge to change the game and have that energy to try to be contenders and try again to fight for big things.
“I’m going to try until the end.”
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