Mauricio Pochettino on feeling the heat at Espanyol, being proud of Tottenham’s ‘wins’ and his long-term Chelsea vision
TAKING on the impossible is part of Mauricio Pochettino’s managerial DNA.
He arrived on English shores with Southampton in January 2013 as a nobody, and left in November 2019 having led Tottenham to a Premier League title challenge and a Champions League final.
He took on the superstars and egomaniacs while at Paris Saint-Germain, and now, back in the UK, is tasked with leaving a long-lasting legacy at Chelsea – an institution that sacks coaches for fun.
Pochettino is used to pressure. In fact, at this stage of his career, he thrives off it.
Yet that was not always the case. A month after receiving his UEFA Pro License in December 2008, the Argentine was handed the reins at his old club Espanyol – his first senior post – at the age of 36.
Pochettino explained: “It was like all or nothing. You feel: ‘If we don’t win tomorrow or tonight, my career is going to be a disaster’. It was difficult.”
This fear of failure clearly had a positive impact. In his first season in charge in La Liga, the Argentine led Espanyol to a top 10 finish, including a famous victory away at Pep Guardiola’s Treble-winning Barcelona.
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In the fourteen years since, Poch is now recognised as one of the most respected managers in the game, sticking to his principles regardless of position, form or hostility.
So, how does he deal with the pressure now? Poch smiled: “Maybe I sleep better.
“When I started at Espanyol it was massive pressure because we were fighting relegation. Southampton was similar, Tottenham was for different reasons.
“PSG yes, and now with Chelsea it is different. Always you are under pressure. You always feel the adrenaline but after you disconnect and say: ‘Now I need to rest. I need to sleep’.
“That experience has helped me to have better sleep and to enjoy time with my family and my friends, with the staff and the players. Before it was more bam, bam, bam, bam.
“We use the experience to learn the passion is there, the adrenaline is there, the discipline.
“But it is about knowing when to be in this process and when to have time to enjoy yourself – when to liberate the players from all this pressure.
“How we behave as a coaching staff will transmit itself to the players.”
At the age of 51, Poch insists he is far from the same coach he was back in Spain. Triumphs have shaped that, as have disappointments.
He said: “We have changed in many things. We’re older now and when you’re 50 you need to be careful, because your change is quick! We got experience in different leagues.
“We are more mature and we learned a lot in different situations. We always judge ourselves and want to improve. The experience gave the possibility to improve.
“We are much better people now.”
His five-year stint at Spurs was often tainted with the notion that the club did not have the desire nor the mentality to win silverware – something Antonio Conte accused them of during his chaotic tenure.
Poch argued: “When I was at Tottenham it was a different period but I think the mentality to win was there. We won. Maybe we didn’t lift a trophy, but we won in many, many ways.”
And during his 18-month spell with PSG, the burden of accommodating big names such as Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe took its toll.
Poch added: “We won the cup, we won the league, but when you arrive at a club like Paris Saint-Germain it is about winning the Champions League.
“If you don’t win the Champions League, like the coaching staff last season, you need to move on. I hope that changes because Paris deserves to be more consistent, and needs time to build something.”
And so to Chelsea, where Poch truly believes he can build something “special” with the right amount of patience and trust from an owner in Todd Boehly who has already had three permanent managers since his takeover in June 2022.
Foolish hope from Poch? Only time will tell, not that the likes of Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, as well as interim boss Frank Lampard, would necessarily agree.
Poch is not naïve. He knows he needs to win, and win now. He said: “Chelsea is a different club, different period, different process, different project. If we don’t win we will struggle.”
All eyes will be on Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend of the Premier League season as Chelsea host Liverpool – a team and model of consistency and quality under Jurgen Klopp that Poch would like to emulate one day.
There remains work to be done in order to achieve that. Another hectic transfer window means Poch, like Potter, will have to juggle and get the best out of an unbalanced and inexperienced squad with time firmly not on his side.
Poch said: “I’m excited to start something medium and long term, but in football you never know. We try to work in this way, that’s important.
“Then, we will see if we will have good pressure and see if it’s going to help to believe. We all need to be together to see if we can develop something special here.
“We need to have a plan and we need to have a guide that says: ‘We need to arrive there’, and if we arrive before, perfect.
“But if not, we know that we are going to arrive at the destination.”