Former Tottenham right-back Kieran Trippier has become the latest player to send an emotional message thanking former manager Mauricio Pochettino for the work he did at the club.
Several of Tottenham’s first-team stars including the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli have previously taken to social media to pay tribute to the Argentine.
Trippier has now revealed to The Athletic that he will always be grateful to the 47-year-old for giving him a chance to prove himself at the top level.
The right-back moved to Tottenham in the summer of 2015 from Burnley and spent four years at the club before being sold to Atletico Madrid in the summer.
Trippier told The Athletic, “He (Pochettino) gave me the opportunity to play at the highest level. He took me to Tottenham and I played Europa League, played Champions League, played so many games in the Premier League for them.
“He was a big reason why I got called up to the England squad because he was the one who gave me the opportunity to show I could play at the highest level. I’ve got full respect for him and for what he did to help me get to where I am now.
“I sent him a message [after his sacking] to tell him how much I appreciate everything he has done for me. I couldn’t not text him. I’m not that type of person.
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“He gave me the opportunity to play at the highest level. I’ve come on a long journey in my career and he was a big, big part of that, so I thanked him for everything he has done for me.”
The England international also revealed how difficult it was seeing his former side struggle at the start of the season and backed Spurs to turn their form around with the arrival of Jose Mourinho.
He said, “I’ve got a lot of mates at Tottenham – players and staff. It wasn’t nice to see what they went through, not getting the results they wanted. It wasn’t nice to see them getting criticised.
“Now a new manager has come in and hopefully they’ll get the results they want and push further up the table, where they deserve to be.”
The 29-year-old also confidently claimed that Pochettino will be a success wherever he decides to go next.
He added, “Everyone knows how good he (Pochettino) is as a manager.
“For sure he will be successful wherever he goes in the future. Obviously, it was the chairman’s decision to let the manager go. That’s football. It happens. Players go, managers go.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The reaction of the former, as well as current Spurs players to Pochettino’s sacking, tells you all that you need to know about the class of the man. Apart from being a fantastic manager, he was also a very likeable person. Even if Mourinho goes on to win trophies with Spurs, a large portion of the credit should go to Pochettino and his coaching staff for the base they have built over the last five and a half years.
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