Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou says staff at his club continue to speak highly of Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next Monday to take on Ange Postecoglou’s side in a match that will see Mauricio Pochettino return to his former club.
And while Postecoglou has told football.london and the rest of the media that the Argentine will not be getting a guard of honour, he expects him to be shown a lot of respect.
it is a game Chelsea need to win, with the Blues currently sitting 11th in the table. But that will not be easy, as Spurs have been flying under Postecoglou this term.
Mauricio Pochettino still rated at Tottenham
While Pochettino is now at Tottenham’s London rivals, it appears that the 51-year-old is still held in high regard at his former club.
Speaking to football.london and other outlets in his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou said: “It’s undoubted that he had an unbelievable impact on this football club. For all of us that’s our ultimate goal. He had an undeniable impact on this club. His work is unquestioned. People I speak to here who worked with him can’t speak highly enough about him.
“I can’t imagine there will be anything but respect for Mauricio from the people at this club and the fans. He’s not going to get a guard of honour or anything because we want to win the game and he won’t expect that.”
Mauricio Pochettino cannot afford to lose against Tottenham
With how the season is going for Chelsea, Pochettino is not really in a position where he can afford to oversee a defeat to Tottenham.
True, it may not make much difference for Chelsea in regard to the Premier League table. However, a loss could easily affect his relationship with supporters.
As already mentioned, things are obviously not going well for the Blues right now and being the manager, some fans will feel that Pochettino has to take some of the responsibility.
A defeat against probably their fiercest rivals could be enough for them to start turning on Pochettino after the club’s poor start to the season.
Hopefully it does not comes to that and the likes of Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer, who Jason Cundy recently compared to Bernardo Silva, can inspire Chelsea to all three points. But with the way things have gone for the Blues this season, it is not the outcome you would expect.