Tottenham find themselves in the thick of a title race this season, and it isn’t the first time in recent years.
Spurs were the closest challengers against both Leicester and Chelsea as they won their League titles in 2015-17.
Pochettino’s men currently sit in second in the Premier League, acting as a buffer between the two title favourites Liverpool and Man City.
Spurs have won five games on the bounce to thrust themselves into the race this year, but Pochettino has called for more respect this time around.
When Tottenham were chasing Leicester for the title in 2016, Chelsea were determined to stop their London rivals at all costs.
Eden Hazard even said to the media that “we don’t want Tottenham to win the Premier League; the fans, the club and the players” (Telegraph).
This was ahead of a match between Spurs and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, something that descended into far more than a game of football.
MORE SPURS STORIES
Pochettino said (Telegraph): “When you are professional some opinions you cannot make public. Because after you create a big problem like what happened at Chelsea. That was more like a battle than a football game.
“Why did that happen? You know very well. That’s why it’s compulsory to behave professionally. We translate a lot of emotion to the people. We are public persons.
“Now it is between the top six – Liverpool, Tottenham, City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United and it’s going to be more about who can win the league.
“We are not going to receive a favour and nor will another club. It’s true, the season when Leicester were there the sympathy for Leicester was bigger than for Tottenham. That was the reality. But they won and they deserved to be the champions. The sympathy of the neutral people was more for Leicester than for us. This is normal.”
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
