Gus Poyet has admitted that he was naive to swap Chelsea for Tottenham Hotspur back in 2001, claiming that he simply didn’t realise how much of a rivalry there was between the two clubs.
At the end of the 2000/01 season, Chelsea had just finished sixth in the Premier League, with Tottenham all the way down in 12th – a pretty standard campaign for both teams at the time.
Poyet, after spending four years with the Blues, was offered a number of contracts from teams in other leagues, or the chance to stay in London with the Lilywhites. The Uruguayan midfielder took that chance.
He went on to represent Spurs for three years and later returned in 2007 as the club’s assistant manager, but it appears the move may not have happened had Poyet realised the bitter rivalry between Tottenham and Chelsea.
He told Bet365s Courtesy of Full Circle: “I will be honest, I was very naïve, very naive. I swear by it, it isn’t a lie, I had no idea how close they were and all the reactions I would get from Chelsea supporters.
“My explanation is a simple one, because when I played for Chelsea, the two teams that I wanted to beat were Arsenal and Man United. They were the ones winning the league, I wasn’t even thinking about Spurs with respect to them. There was even more of a fight against Leeds because of previous history, more than when Chelsea played Spurs.
“When I was at Chelsea, it was during a time when we were beating Spurs often enough that no one made a big deal about it and it just seemed like a normal game.
“I had a couple of offers from some teams out of the country and another option being at Spurs, and I wanted to stay in London. So then I moved, and Glen Hoddle was a big part of that, but after the news had broken it was crazy.
“I didn’t know what I had done, it was madness. It was only then that I realised, but the truth was that I was very naïve.”
Poyet didn’t take long to move past his decision though, playing in a number of fierce London derbies in the Lilywhite of Tottenham against his old club. He even managed to walk away victorious on one occasion, something Spurs seem to struggle to do against Chelsea even nowadays.
He added: “I didn’t realise it would be so dramatic, but now I’m on the other side with a team that didn’t beat Chelsea for however long. As much as I loved Chelsea, my character meant I had to do everything in my power to win for Spurs now.
“The first couple of games against Chelsea, we lost, but we eventually beat them on the third attempt I think. It was a strange night, but it was important as a professional.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
It is fair to say the rivalry between Spurs and Chelsea went up a gear during Mauricio Pochettino’s time in North London, with the Lilywhites finally competing at the same level as the Blues. Not to mention some rather feisty affairs between the likes of Jan Vertonghen and Diego Costa!
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