Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino urges side to relish playing 'where football was born' ahead of Wembley opener against Chelsea

Mauricio Pochettino has urged his Tottenham players to embrace the chance to perform every week in the place 'where football was born' and banish their Wembley hoodoo.

Spurs have won only once in their last nine game at Wembley Stadium, and only once in five last season when they hired the venue for their European games.

This season, they will play all home games under the arch as White Hart Lane is rebuilt, starting against Chelsea, in the Premier League, on Sunday.

Mauricio Pochettino has challenged Tottenham to end their Wembley hoodoo

Mauricio Pochettino has challenged Tottenham to end their Wembley hoodoo

Tottenham have only recorded one victory at Wembley in their last nine matches

Tottenham have only recorded one victory at Wembley in their last nine matches

SPURS' MISERABLE RUN AT WEMBLEY 

Win vs Chelsea, 2008 League Cup final

Loss vs Man Utd, 2009 League Cup final

Loss vs Portsmouth, 2010 FA Cup semi final

Loss vs Chelsea, 2012 FA Cup semi final

Loss vs Chelsea, 2015 League Cup final

Loss vs Monaco, 2016 Champions League

Loss vs Bayer Leverkusen, 2016 Champions League

Win vs CKSA Moscow, 2016 Champions League

Draw vs Gent, 2017 Europa League

Loss vs Chelsea, 2017 FA cup semi final

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Pochettino said: 'Wembley is not a problem, we are the problem if we don't win, like last season. Wembley is the most important place in the world and if we are not able to win there it is not because of Wembley it is because of us.


'It is the most exciting place to play football. It is where football is born. For me living in Argentina and Spain, Wembley was a big dream and now there is a possibility to play there every two weeks, or maybe every week, or maybe three times in one week.

'A problem? Oh, come on, I love Wembley. Wembley is not the problem. We need to make Wembley our home.'

Pochettino is encouraged by a pre-season friendly against Juventus, earlier this month, when Tottenham beat the Italian champions 2-0.

'Against Juventus, the players realised the problem was not Wembley,' said the Spurs manager. 'We realised we were poor when we played there last season, for different reasons.

'Last season we played in the Champions League and one game in Europa League against Gent and it was difficult to move from White Hart Lane to Wembley and back and it was a perfect excuse for everyone.

'The moments when we played at Wembley were not our best moments of the season. Okay, it was difficult but now it's not an excuse.

'We need to make Wembley home and perform and give our best. It will be our home for one season and we need to be strong against our opponents. It was a good test against Juventus. The team is ready.'

The Wembley pitch is slightly bigger than the pitch at White Hart Lane, where Tottenham were unbeaten last season, but the same as Newcastle's St James' Park, where Spurs started the new campaign with a win, on Sunday.

Pochettino does not think Tottenham will struggle to play their best game on Wembley's pitch

Pochettino does not think Tottenham will struggle to play their best game on Wembley's pitch

Tottenham beat Newcastle 2-0 last weekend to open their Premier League season with a win

Tottenham beat Newcastle 2-0 last weekend to open their Premier League season with a win

'We can play our style on a big pitch or a small pitch,' said Pochettino. 'It's not important. St James' Park and many pitches are the same size as Wembley. Against Juventus one of the best teams in Europe, we played really well.'

With the first fixture against London rivals and champions Chelsea it means no-one is oblivious to the importance of starting well.

'For me it's good,' Pochettino added. 'I love to compete. It is a massive motivation for us and our fans to play against Chelsea in a derby against the champions.'