‘I say f*** off’ – Pochettino claims he will disregard rules with this amazing gesture to his squad

Tottenham Hotspur are just five days away from potential Champions League glory as they prepare to face Liverpool in Madrid on June 1.

This is the club’s first ever CL Final, but it hasn’t been your stereotypical journey to the last two. Spurs have experienced so many ups and downs throughout their campaign.

It has also been a true squad performance, with the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Moussa Sissoko, Dele Alli, Jan Vertonghen, and many more missing matches through injury.

The substitutes have stepped up this season, and as a result, Pochettino plans to disregard the pre-match team photo tradition.

Usually, each starting XI will pose for a photograph, a picture that will probably be hung on walls around the club if they eventually lift the trophy.

However, Pochettino wants his full squad of 22 or 23 to take to the pitch for the pre-match photo this year, as they have all been part of the journey.

After all, where would Spurs be without Lucas Moura’s Ajax hat-trick, or Llorente’s late Man City goal, just to name two examples.

Poch said (Daily Mail): “Always I was so upset, because the picture is the starting XI and then, if you win the final, only those eleven players are going to be on the wall.

“And that upset me, because maybe some guy came from the bench, scored twice and was the hero. But in the history it’s only the starting XI and ‘Oh, that is the team that won the final.’

“I say: “F*** off!” What I want is all the players before the start of the game — 22 or 23 — in the picture on the pitch. That is the team that won or lost. In the Bernabeu [in 2006 when Espanyol beat Real Zaragoza] we did that. I was one of the captains and I said: ‘I want it so that everyone is on the wall, on the picture, if this team win the final. Not only eleven. That is completely unfair.’

“People care a lot about that. The players care more than we believe. When I was a player I always fought with the organisation and the club. And the same now I’m a manager. I’m going to propose it [for the Champions League final].

“I understand that after, the starting XI is going to be there. But I want to tell the club: ‘Don’t use the [photo of the] starting XI, use the whole squad.'”

Spurs Web Opinion:

Good on Pochettino. He makes a great point. In any normal season this would be a nice gesture, but with the campaign Spurs have had, with so many of the squad involved, it is a necessity. Why not even go the whole way and invite Dembele back for a quick pic?

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