Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have one of the most bitter rivalries in world football, with the two North London clubs always competing to one-up each other.
However, there has certainly been a shift in recent years, as Arsenal have struggled to maintain top-four form, and Spurs have progressed significantly with a star-studded team and class young manager.
Tottenham will likely finish above the Gunners again this season, which would make it three years in a row for Spurs.
Spurs have also had successful Champions League campaigns in this time, beating the likes of Real Madrid, Man City, and Borussia Dortmund, as well as reaching the semi-final of the competition. Meanwhile, Arsenal have been limited to the Europa League this season.
However, despite the intense rivalry, Pochettino has now said that it is time to focus on winning titles, rather than reducing the gap on and overtaking Arsenal.
Poch said (BBC- The Premier League Show): “When we arrived here one of our challenges was to reduce the gap with the top four. The circumstances were completely different. The confidence and the trust in the club was a little bit down.
“It was about recovering that pride and saying ‘we are Tottenham’. We hear always about Tottenham having a massive history, with a lot of massive players – like you – but it never was a club that really believed they could win, that they could be in the semi-finals or final of the Champions League.
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“To win the Champions League or Premier League we must be focused in all areas of the club on winning.
“In the last five years a lot of things have happened at this club. We finished the training ground and built a new stadium, but now we must be focused, all together, on winning titles.
“I think it’s in our nature that we are brave, we’re not scared about the new things. It would have been easy to say ‘let’s stay at Wembley’ or keep [playing] at White Hart Lane. But if you want to grow and be one of the best clubs in the world then you must take a risk, and I think the club is doing that.
“In the last five years we focused on reducing the gap and being above Arsenal. Now we must be focused on winning titles.”
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