Former Spurs star lauds Pochettino’s ‘revolutionary’ training methods

Former Tottenham wide man Andros Townsend has raved about the work Mauricio Pochettino did at Tottenham and has insisted that his time at the club was a resounding success despite the lack of silverware.

Tottenham were not in the best shape when Pochettino arrived at the club in the summer of 2014 and after a decent first season at the helm, the Argentine transformed the Lilywhites into one of the best teams in the country in his subsequent seasons in charge.

During his reign, Spurs just fell short of the Premier League title on a couple of occasions and became Champions League regulars, even going one step away from being crowned European Champions last season.

The 47-year-old managed this despite the disruption of the team having to play all their home games at Wembley for almost two full seasons and the financial constraints imposed on the squad due to the spiralling costs of the new stadium.

Townsend feels that the former Spurs boss, who was replaced by Jose Mourinho at the helm in November, doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his work at Spurs and insisted that his methods were revolutionary for the club.

Speaking to White and Sawyer on TalkSport (26/02/20 at 12:00 pm), the Crystal Palace star said: “People are so hung up on what trophies he has or hasn’t won. But if you see, the day he joined Tottenham to the day he left, it’s incredible.

“The season before he joined, Spurs were a laughing stock. They were losing 5-0 to Liverpool, 4-0 to City, 4-0 to Chelsea. We were pretty much a laughing stock. And then five years later in the final of the Champions League.

“For some reason, he is still not getting the credit he deserves because he hasn’t won this trophy. For him, it was about the project and, for me, he completed that project

“I remember I had the same feeling [about thinking who Pochettino was at first]. But, the minute I worked with him, I knew he was the real deal. His training methods. I have never worked as hard as I have done under Pochettino. The Gym sessions are hard and the pitch sessions are definitely an eye-opener for me. It was revolutionary.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Most of us loved Pochettino and were heartbroken to see him leave earlier in the season but I suspect that Levy had little choice but to sack the Argentine back in November as he looked like he had lost the motivation to turn things around at Spurs. Regardless of where we stood on Poch, it is important that all of us get behind Mourinho and back him fully. We cannot judge him until he has at least had a preseason to work with the squad.

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