Tottenham Hotspur found an excellent manager in Mauricio Pochettino, regardless of the fact that he was unable to win any trophies with the Lilywhites during his tenure.
When he joined from Southampton, Pochettino was linking up with a Europa League side in Spurs, and not even one that was regularly challenging for honours.
However, in just half a decade, the Argentine managed to guide the North Londoners to regular Champions League campaigns along with their first appearance in the biggest final in European football.
Spurs qualified for four straight Champions League campaigns, beating the likes of Real Madrid, Ajax, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, and more along the way.
Pochettino led the club through the final season at White Hart Lane, going unbeaten at home. He managed to move to Wembley while their old stadium was knocked down, and the move back to the new stadium two years later.
If Mourinho wins trophies at Spurs, some may argue that is was because Pochettino walked so that Jose could run.
Looking back on his time with Spurs this week, Pochettino told Sky Sports’ Natalie Pinkham: “Of course I feel very proud about everything I achieved at Tottenham and when I analyse my time there, plenty of positive things happened. I took charge at a pivotal moment for the club.
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“Everything I had to do was very scary in those moments. To destroy White Hart Lane and to build a new stadium, to play at Wembley and Milton Keynes, only football people know how difficult it was to deal with these situations.
“To apply a new philosophy and new ideas was very tough but I feel very proud with the success that we had and to take Tottenham to a different level.
“To play in the Champions League for three or four years and finish above Arsenal many times was a great legacy for us. To win a title would be a great reward but for us that is the legacy, to have the club and the stadium at Tottenham. That is more than winning titles.”
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