Mauricio Pochettino: Tottenham exit rumours are 'stupid'
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Friday 30 August 2019 22:32, UK
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino reveals he will continue at Spurs following Sunday's north London derby, saying exit rumours are "stupid".
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Spurs suffered their first defeat of the season at home to Newcastle on Sunday, losing 1-0 to a Joelinton strike at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, bringing Pochettino under some criticism.
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The Argentinian had also expressed his dislike of the English transfer window closing date and said it left his squad unsettled until the European deadline on September 2.
However, when asked if he will leave after facing Arsenal, Pochettino replied: "What can I say about a stupid rumour?
"After five years now I start my sixth season. You know how we worked this summer to rebuild and update because from each summer, version 2.0, 3.0 - now we're version 6.0 MP software.
"That stupidity can happen through some rumour sending to social media that creates a big, big problem that doesn't exist.
"I will not walk away after Sunday's game. I will be working Monday and Tuesday and then going away for a few days and coming back to meet Daniel [Levy] and watch some internationals."
Pochettino continued to confirm his stability at the club by saying he still has a strong relationship with chairman Levy, and revealed the pair went for dinner on Thursday night along with assistant coach Jesus Perez.
He said: "We were at dinner in London. It was very good. We talked about everything. We needed that conversation, very positive.
"The most important thing is to help the team on the pitch and make sure the communication is clear.
"I hope that I can extend my life here. Sure it's good for us and good for the club. In the end, it's in the hands of the players and the results, and the last word will be with Daniel."
Pochettino on the north London derby
Tottenham have only won once in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium, back in 2010 when they came from behind to win 3-2 thanks to a late Younes Kaboul header.
Pochettino will be looking to claim his first league win on the red side of north London in his sixth attempt and says playing Arsenal is worth more than just three points.
He said: "Always when you are going to play a competitive game and more because we are going to play the derby against Arsenal you expect a big performance, a good performance and win, that is most important.
"I think the week was good, I think we had not a really great performance against Newcastle. I think we deserved more in this game but you need to score goals and we didn't score goals. We had possession more than 80 per cent of course that is not the stat that makes you win games.
"For Arsenal and Tottenham the expectation is massive that we are going to face and of course it is going to be an important game. It is more than a result, it is more than three points. We know very well what it means and how you feel if you win or if you lose.
"After three games the pressure doesn't exist. It's still too early to judge both teams, of course its important to win but the consequence for both sides it is so early to start talking about pressure, it's about to be consistent."
Pochettino on injuries
Pochettino will be travelling without a full squad as Kyle Walker-Peters, Tanguy Ndombele, Eric Dier and Juan Foyth all remain sidelined through injury.
One player that is a possibility though is attacking midfielder Dele Alli, with the Spurs boss also giving updates on Giovani Lo Celso and Ndombele.
Pochettino added: "Dele Alli got injured in the Audi Cup and of course we need to assess tomorrow. Maybe he will be involved in the squad. I'm not sure but we need to assess, we have one more training. He's doing well but still we need to assess him.
"Tanguy suffered a minor injury but I think he is going to be available after the two weeks international duty.
"Lo Celso is a player that arrived at the last moment after a very difficult period that he was involved in the Copa America and he was on holiday for a long period when he arrived here he was not in a great condition.
"He is working hard to get on the level with the rest of the team. I don't believe that he is going to have the chance to play from the beginning but I think we are happy with him but for sure he is going to be involved in the game like he was in the last few games."
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