Tottenham were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions in a space of four days and as a result, Mauricio Pochettino came in for a lot of criticism for his team selection for the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Crystal Palace.
Tottenham went into the game with key players injured and the Argentine decided to make seven changes to the side that took the field for the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi final against Chelsea. Spurs were comfortably beaten by Palace in a toothless display.
After the game, the Pochettino came out fighting and insisted that qualifying for the Champions League on a regular basis was more important than winning a domestic cup competition for the club’s long-term future.
Several ex-players and pundits took issue with Pochettino’s statement and questioned his mentality after the comment.
However, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has now backed Pochettino’s viewpoint and said that he agrees with his assessment.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Klopp said: ” You need money for improving a football team, we cannot change that. It’s not the only way but it’s a big thing. If a team is developing well and you want to keep players and develop the squad will not be cheaper the year after. That’s the truth.”
“I know that people probably didn’t like what Poch said, but it’s so easy from the outside looking in. From a club point of view, the best competition to win is the Premier League because then you are in the top four and you won a big thing. You want to win the other competitions but that doesn’t guarantee you the money for the next year. That’s why the top four is so important.”
“You should ask the owners much more about what they think about that. They would probably say ‘yes, it’s really important!’ I know for supporters it’s different, and that they want silverware. But if one year you win silverware and next year you are eighth in the table, nobody likes that and nobody talks about the silverware from last year. I understand 100 percent what Poch said.”
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