Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentine manager who once led Tottenham Hotspur to their modern-era heights, has spoken with unmistakable emotion about the club’s current plight. With just four matches remaining in the 2025-26 Premier League season, Spurs find themselves in the relegation zone, sitting 18th and two points adrift of safety. For Pochettino, who guided the North London side to a second-place league finish in 2016-17 and their first-ever Champions League final in 2019, the sight of his former club battling for top-flight survival is a bitter pill to swallow.
During a candid appearance on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast, Pochettino didn’t hold back. “It’s really sad, I really love Tottenham, it’s going to be a part of my life, an important part of my life as a coach, my personal life too,” he said. “It’s really sad because I know how the people are suffering there, inside the club and also the fans. It’s difficult to accept.” His words reflect the deep bond he formed with the club and its supporters during his six-year tenure from 2014 to 2019.
The current crisis at Spurs is all the more striking given the promise of the Pochettino era. His time in charge coincided with a period of major transformation for the club. While overseeing the construction of a state-of-the-art stadium and training ground, Pochettino’s squad was forced to play home matches at Wembley and, occasionally, at Milton Keynes. These infrastructure projects, though vital for the club’s future, came at a cost. Transfer funds were restricted, and Pochettino revealed that Spurs went 18 months without making a single signing—a Premier League record.
Despite these limitations, Tottenham remained competitive, consistently challenging for honors. Pochettino recalled the frustration of missing out on key targets who could have propelled the club to the next level. “We wanted to sign Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum and for different reasons, we couldn’t achieve that,” he explained. Both players ultimately joined Liverpool and played pivotal roles in the side that defeated Spurs 2-0 in the 2019 Champions League final. “We had money to spend but not the type of money to improve, to be close to win or to challenge. We challenged, we challenged to win. But we missed this last step.”
His departure from Tottenham came just five months after that historic European final. Then-chairman Daniel Levy dismissed Pochettino following a poor start to the subsequent season, replacing him with Jose Mourinho. Reflecting on the period, Pochettino described it as “really, really difficult,” emphasizing the importance of understanding a club’s true expectations and culture before embarking on any new project. “If someone offers me a project, the possibility to coach, I want to know the reality. I want to know what they expect from me. I want to know what I need to do, which is the reality of the club,” he said. “The problem is when the assessment is not coming from inside the club, and the assessment comes from outside. And when people start to intoxicate things and say, no, you should win with this team.”
Since Pochettino’s exit, Tottenham have endured a turbulent period marked by instability in the dugout. Seven permanent managers have come and gone, with Roberto de Zerbi currently tasked with steering the club clear of relegation. While the club managed to break its long trophy drought under Ange Postecoglou last year, lifting the Europa League, domestic struggles persisted, culminating in a 17th-place finish and now, a desperate fight for survival.
The situation has not been helped by injuries to key players. Tottenham’s 2-0 win over relegated Wolves on April 25, 2026, was their first league victory of the calendar year, but the victory came at a cost. Midfielder Xavi Simons and striker Dominic Solanke both suffered season-ending injuries, further depleting a squad already low on confidence. Next up for Spurs is a daunting trip to fifth-placed Aston Villa, a match that could prove pivotal in their battle to beat the drop.
Pochettino’s reflections extend beyond Tottenham. After leaving Spurs, he had a short spell at Paris Saint-Germain before returning to the Premier League with Chelsea in May 2023. His tenure at Stamford Bridge lasted just 12 months, ending after a sixth-place finish and amid what has become a familiar cycle of managerial changes under the club’s new owners, BlueCo. “I think they have a plan. Maybe it is completely different than it was in the past with (former owner Roman) Abramovich. It’s true it’s not easy for people to understand… I think they need to explain the plan,” Pochettino remarked, offering a measured take on the perceived chaos at Chelsea.
Now, the 54-year-old is preparing for perhaps his biggest challenge yet: leading the United States men’s national team into a home World Cup this summer. Appointed USMNT head coach in 2024, Pochettino faces a unique set of challenges. The Americans, as co-hosts, qualified automatically and have not played competitive qualifiers, leaving them short on high-stakes preparation. Star forward Christian Pulisic is out of form, and the team has suffered recent friendly defeats to Belgium and Portugal. “We knew it would be a problem, how to approach the games, because we have already qualified,” Pochettino admitted. “Friendly games is what you play with your friends. We are fighting to change that mindset, (we) need to create that habit that we are fighting.”
Yet, ever the optimist, Pochettino refuses to rule out a deep World Cup run. “Why not? It is all about belief. Look at Morocco (reaching the semi-finals) in Qatar — I think anything is possible in football,” he declared. He also touched on the broader state of soccer in America, noting the emotional disconnect many young players have with the game compared to countries like Argentina. “The kids in America don’t develop (that relationship) until they are 11, 12 or 13 — that is the difference with the other countries. I know (in) Argentina, the way that I developed my emotional relationship with football is when I started to walk, before I started to walk. That is a problem because (in the U.S.) you need to go to a school, go to a private school — because the relationship is with basketball, with American football.”
He praised the progress of women’s soccer in the United States, saying, “Women are ahead of men in America,” and emphasized the importance of creating more spaces for children to play and develop a natural connection with the sport. “That is football, it’s not a factory, the ball teaches you not the coach.”
As for his own future, Pochettino remains open to a return to the Premier League. “One day yes, because I really like England,” he affirmed. “I think my profile – my human profile and my coaching profile – match very well with the Premier League and with the culture, the idea, the idiosyncrasy, and the philosophy.”
For now, Pochettino’s heart remains with Tottenham, a club he still regards as one of the world’s biggest. As the season’s final weeks approach, the football world will be watching to see if Spurs can summon the fight needed to avoid a devastating drop — and whether Pochettino’s belief in the power of resilience and identity will echo in the club’s survival bid.