Tottenham Hotspur have made huge strides forward under Mauricio Pochettino in the last five years. When the Argentine arrived, Spurs were a Europa League team dreaming of cracking the top four and earning a spot in the Champions League.
Not only has Poch made Tottenham regulars in both of these, but he also led the Lilywhites to their first-ever Champions League Final last time out.
This came in the midst of a near-18-month spell without a single signing for Tottenham, with Pochettino also losing first-team star Mousa Dembele.
Chelsea had a very different rise to the top after Roman Abramovic decided to buy them in 2003.
In the seasons before Abramovic, Chelsea finished 5th (1999/00), 6th, 6th, and 4th in the Premier League. In the five immediate seasons after the Russian took over, Chelsea came second three times and won the league twice (Premier League).
However, Sven-Goran Eriksson has now revealed that at one stage, it was a toss-up between Spurs and Chelsea as to who Abramovic would buy.
He said (Times): “He wanted to buy a club in Moscow so we went to Moscow for three days, Pini [Zahavi], him and me. We saw all the clubs and I said buy Dinamo. They had the best facilities.
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“I went on holiday and his right-hand man phoned. Roman had changed his mind. He wants to buy a club in London. Tottenham or Chelsea?
“I said, ‘What does he want to do?’ He said he wants to win. I said, ‘So buy Chelsea. There you have to change half the team. Tottenham you have to change the whole team.’”
Spurs Web Opinion:
While it would have been nice to have some money in the bank and some trophies in the cabinet, I can thank my lucky stars that Abramovic didn’t choose Spurs. The club are doing it slowly, but they are doing it the right way.
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