Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino and referee Mike Dean had a fiery altercation after the final whistle at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Both Pochettino and Dean have suffered consequences due to the incident as the Tottenham manager has been charged with improper conduct while Dean has been relieved of his fourth official duties for Tottenham’s game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening
Pochettino has apologised for his behaviour on Sunday and said that he will accept the FA’s punishment.
When asked about his take on not having to deal with Dean on the touchline at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, the Argentine said he was sad that Dean won’t be there as he wanted to personally apologise to him.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Chelsea, Pochettino told Football.London, “I feel sorry for that because I wanted to see him tomorrow and apologise in person. In my mind I still believe I’m right but in the way that I behaved, it’s not right. That is the point.
“Of course I wanted to apologise because I think you can wait half an hour and then talk with him, and for sure both should behave differently.”
When quizzed on what he thought about Mike Dean’s referring style, Pochettino insisted that he had no problem with him and said that Dean was one of the best referees out there.
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The 46-year-old added, “For me he’s one of the best referees. For me all the referees are really good and I never had a problem.
“I think I made bigger my problem in my head because for me it was one of the most important games to play, and the three points were so important to put pressure on our opponents.
“Of course I was frustrated because of our performance, our mistakes and many things during the game and maybe I crossed a little bit this line, and I paid with the officials. That’s why I want to apologise, because my behaviour wasn’t good.”
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