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Pochettino admits he would have left had Spurs won Champions League

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says he would have left his job if they'd won the Champions Le...



Pochettino admits he would hav...
Soccer

Pochettino admits he would have left had Spurs won Champions League

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says he would have left his job if they'd won the Champions League.

They were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool in the final at the start of June - and the Argentine is looking forward to the challenge of a new season with Spurs.

But he admits things could have been very different.

"After five years in a difficult project at Tottenham, we talk a lot about perception and reality, how we fight and all the energy we expend trying to get Tottenham fighting with the best teams in Europe and England.

"Of course it’s always in your head, you never know. With the way I am, I am always going to prioritise the club over myself.

"Maybe if it was a different result after the final you can think, ‘OK, maybe this is a moment to step out of the club, leave the club and give them the possibility of a really new chapter with a new coaching staff’.

"But after the final I felt this was not great to finish like this. I’m not a person that avoids facing problems or a difficult situation.

"I am more on that side of - I love a massive challenge, a difficult challenge and of course now to rebuild that mentality, to make it possible to repeat a similar season, that is exciting and motivates me a lot."

Pochettino says he can understand why Kieran Trippier has opted to move to Atletico Madrid this summer.

"It’s like Kieran explained to me in private and to the media in Madrid that he loved to be at Tottenham and work with us but at 28, 29, sometimes a player needs to discover need things and new challenges.

"That's inside yourself and it’s only you who knows how you feel - it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing, it’s about accepting how you feel. You are an individual, you have individual challenges and you have to accept if all the parts are happy."

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