Former Tottenham player and coach Gus Poyet has highlighted the two reasons behind his former team’s rise to the top of English football.
Poyet made 84 appearances over a three-year spell at White Hart Lane, before returning as assistant manager to Juande Ramos when Spurs last won a trophy in 2008.
The Uruguayan has since had spells in charge of Sunderland and Brighton, before a move to manage abroad in Greece, Spain and China.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Poyet illustrated the changes that have taken place at Spurs since his time as coach, changes that have taken Spurs to a new level of performance.
He said: “What has made Spurs so good? Two things. One: having consistency with a very good manager in Mauricio Pochettino. Two: one of the greatest decisions Daniel Levy has made in the last 15 years is no longer selling the best players.”
Poyet went on to highlight the differing trajectories of Spurs and their rivals Arsenal, ahead of the season’s first North London derby on Saturday.
“[Arsenal] have probably gone in the opposite direction to Tottenham. Spurs are thinking ‘we are OK, we’re happy, we’re above Arsenal. What’s next? Winning titles.’ The players are enjoying playing there but they’ll eventually think about leaving, but not just yet.
“The problem with Arsenal is the opposite. They were winning titles and players joined expecting to keep winning. Now they have gone through a spell where they’re only winning the cups and there are players there who want to win the league. They’re getting tense,” he explained.
OPINION
Times have indeed changed since Poyet and Juande Ramos led Spurs to their last trophy with the League Cup in 2008. The loss of Dimitar Berbatov that summer to Manchester United highlighted Spurs’ weakness in the transfer market, with even Daniel Levy, one of the game’s toughest chairmen, unable to keep the best players at the club. The losses of Gareth Bale and Luka Modric since have also been massive blows, but the presence of Pochettino and the promise of a new stadium means that players now want to stay at Spurs. In the nine year period since Poyet left Spurs, there has been a slow power shift in North London, and the reasons put forward by the Uruguayan for this shift are hard to argue with.