Mauricio Pochettino has accused Pep Guardiola of showing a lack of respect towards Tottenham Hotspur. The Manchester City manager referred to them as “the Harry Kane team” after his side’s 1-0 victory at Chelsea on 30 September and it was badly received at Tottenham, even though they are proud of their in-form striker’s prominence.
Pochettino described Guardiola’s comment as “sad” and “unnecessary”. There is no love lost between him and Guardiola, with Pochettino even suggesting that his rival “struggles to be a gentleman” when he is on a winning run and riding high. Pochettino also brought up Guardiola’s success at Barcelona, which was inspired by Lionel Messi, and he noted how he had never called them “the Messi team”.
“I know Pep very well and when he is excited, after an amazing victory against Chelsea, sometimes he struggles to keep his position and be a gentleman,” Pochettino said. “The situation didn’t affect me but, in reality, it was very disrespectful for many people.
“It’s difficult to understand because Pep was part of the big success at Barcelona, when it was Messi at his best. And I never said it was the Messi team. I always said it was Barcelona and it was Pep Guardiola. I think everyone deserves to be recognised as being part of the success of the team.
“I think that many people took his words as very sad and disrespectful to the club. And for many players that are here – it’s a strange situation. Personally I didn’t take it in a bad way. It wasn’t disrespectful to me. I only express my feeling that, for a lot of people, it was unnecessary to say that.
“We need to move on. For me, Harry Kane is one of the best strikers. It doesn’t change anything for me. And I think it’s important that our position is [to] be clear, be calm, not be aggressive with our opponent. Our responsibility is massive. But I think it’s important to respect every single opinion and I respect his opinion.”
It is highly unusual to see Pochettino criticise a rival in public; he almost always sidesteps any potential conflicts. But it was clear that he felt Guardiola had been guilty of a breach of the managerial code. To Pochettino the concept of the collective must be sacrosanct. “It’s a sad comment,” Pochettino said. “The players have laughed about it. But if you’re a manager, you must show more … you must be above this type of comment. The players will not be any more or less motivated. But it’s sad. A sad comment. It is not right in today’s football when we want to show fair play and respect.”
Pochettino made the point that, when discussing the title contenders, Guardiola had mentioned Manchester United by name and then, in the next breath, called Tottenham “the Harry Kane team”. He added: “He could have called United ‘the Lukaku team’ in the same way. It was very disrespectful to our club. If it was a mistake [by Guardiola], then I am more sad because he is a very clever person. He is not where he is because he’s stupid.”
Pochettino was asked whether he had spoken to Guardiola about the comment. “No,” Pochettino replied. “He didn’t call me … yet. Maybe after this press conference, he will call me. I am sure that he will be glad to. I would be happy to talk to him. Of course. We have a very good relationship. We have a lot of friends. Mikel Arteta, Lorenzo Buenaventura, Edu Mauri – people that are on his staff [at City] are very good friends of mine from before they worked for him. It’s a sad comment. He’s a great manager, one of the best managers in the world, so why make that comment? It doesn’t help him. It’s not a good thing for anyone.”