Premier League strength hurting English teams, says Mauricio Pochettino
Thursday 17 September 2015 08:55, UK
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino believes English teams suffer in Europe because of the strength of the Premier League.
Pochettino will send his team out to begin their Europa League campaign at home to Azerbaijan champions Qarabag on Thursday night after watching Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal all lose their opening Champions League group matches earlier this week.
And the Argentine believes continental teams can easier prepare for European games because their leagues are not as competitive.
"They can rest, they can recover the week before to play in the Champions League," he said.
"But for Manchester City it was a very tough game against Crystal Palace, for Manchester United the same. It is not an easy competition, the Premier League. It is for that, that you suffer a lot when you play in Europe.
"We know that it is difficult, to play against Sunderland, then to play against Crystal Palace, and you play in the middle against Qarabag.
"It is never easy. I think the different leagues, like Spain and Italy, the gap between the teams and the teams at the top, it is a bigger gap. In England you can lose to anyone. This is one of the reasons why it is difficult to play in Europe for English teams."
In England you can lose to anyone. This is one of the reasons why it is difficult to play in Europe for English teams.
Pochettino insists the Premier League is the place to be, adding: "For me it's perfect. It's the toughest competition in the world. I think for our supporters the Premier League is more important than other competitions."
Qarabag coach Gurban Gurbanov is looking forward to taking his side to White Hart Lane.
"The team is very enthusiastic and we will try to please the fans of Azerbaijan football and demonstrate we are one of the best team,
"Tottenham have an Argentinian coach and he worked for many years in Spain. Therefore I don't think that Tottenham play English football and we will most likely see a blend of English and Spanish football."
