Pochettino leaves sorry Spurs in limbo after Champions League misery

Sorry Spurs lost the Champions League final — now they could suffer another loss. For the manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has yet to confirm whether or not he will remain in the Tottenham hot seat, according to widespread media reports.

Argentinian coach Pochettino is said to be on the wanted list by some of the top teams in Europe and may feel he has taken the north London club as far as he can in the wake of the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the Champions League final in the Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid on Saturday.

The Londoners suffered a huge blow in just the second minute when they went behind after Mo Salah scored from a spot-kick on after Moussa Sissoko handballed. Then a Divock Origi goal on 87 minutes wrapped things up and meant Liverpool had won their sixth European Cup.

Disappointed fans of Tottenham, who have failed to win any silverware in 11 years and haven’t won a top-flight title since way back in 1961, want club chairman Daniel Levy to free up the club’s cash and back Pochettino in the transfer market. Yet the club haven’t signed a player since January 2018.

No doubt the future will be settled one way or another soon but in the meantime Tottenham, who moved into their new home towards the end of last season, will reflect on a season from which all they can take is qualifying for next term’s Champions League. Pochettino has stated that he would like to be involved in European club football’s biggest game again – but will it be as coach of the N17 outfit?

He said:

“You want to experience this again and repeat it. It is the best game in the world after the World Cup. It’s about trying, believing and building the journey so it happens again as soon as possible.”

“I feel very proud about their effort, how we fought. We were unlucky. We were fighting, and we played so well in the second half. To start 1-0 down from the start was tough; we changed our plans. We can be optimistic. That penalty was the circumstance we cannot manage or prepare for.

“You can never believe you will be 1-0 down after a minute. Mentally it was very tough — it’s all about learning and experience, like Liverpool were in this position last year when they lost to Real Madrid.”

Yet Pochettino may well have got it wrong when he chose to play Harry Kane, who had been out injured, in the final. Certainly, that is the feeling of former England striker Alan Shearer. Writing in The Sun, he said:

“I’m sure Pochettino agonised over whether to start Harry Kane but he got that one wrong. Kane didn’t look fit at all and didn’t turn up in Madrid — he was nowhere near as sharp as he could and should have been.

“He may never feature in a European Cup final again so he would have been desperate to play. But you have to judge him on his performance and he simply wasn’t 100 per cent fit. To play one was a gamble, to play two who haven’t played for that long was a huge risk and it didn’t pay off.”