Tottenham cult hero Dimitar Berbatov has revealed his serious concerns about the club losing Mauricio Pochettino sooner rather than later as he heralds the Argentine for the job he has done in north London.
The vacant Real Madrid job has led to plenty of speculation over the Spurs boss after he was heavily linked with a move to the Bernabeu back in summer to replace Zinedine Zidane, and Pochettino raised concerns over his future among the fanbase with a frustrated interview after defeat to Manchester City.
Berbatov, whose career in England was forged in north London, admits that while he does not want Pochettino to leave the club, he is not certain that the firm fan favourite will not be heading out the exit door in the coming months.
He told Betfair, as quoted by the London Evening Standard: “The question everyone wants to know is whether Pochettino will leave Spurs before they move to the new stadium.
“This is football and you just never know what might happen next. The only person that knows is him and maybe even Mauricio doesn’t know. This is Real Madrid we are talking about, and Real Madrid is Real Madrid. It’s a bit selfish to say it but I hope Pochettino isn’t the next man in charge at the Bernabeu. As a coach he has done an unbelievable job at Spurs.
“The stadium is a big issue, as are the Real Madrid rumours, but the important thing is what happens on the pitch. In football sometimes things happen behind closed doors that people don’t see or don’t know about so until the moment when Pochettino says what the real problem is or even if there is a problem – or maybe he was just in a bad mood – we won’t know.”
Opinion
Berbatov, and the rest of the Spurs supporters, have every right to be worried about what is going to happen with Pochettino over the next couple of weeks or months, for things do not seem to be as settled as they once were at the club. He has been the man leading Tottenham to new successes over the last couple of years and there is no doubt that his project in north London is far from completion, with no silverware to count despite being heralded as one of the most exciting and promising teams in all of England. Perhaps a trophy would be enough to reignite the manager’s passion to take Spurs to the next level, for at the moment things are looking a bit stagnant – especially after the lack of transfer activity. Still, for as long as the manager’s position at Real Madrid is vacant, fears will continue to circulate around the club, and so fans will be hoping that the situation is dealt with sooner rather than later – so long as Pochettino remains with Spurs.