Tottenham legend Paul Miller has revealed that Mauricio Pochettino told him getting out of their Champions League group and finishing in the top four is his greatest ever achievement.
Spurs had just one point after their first three games in Europe this season, and had failed to sign anybody the summer before, leaving the Argentine in doubt as to how far he could take the club this season.
And Miller, who scored in the final when Spurs lifted the UEFA Cup in 1984, has opened up on a chat he had with the current boss back in autumn.
Speaking to the Sun, he said: “Ossie [Ardiles] and I had a chat with Pochettino in the autumn. We went down to the dressing room after a game.
“It was Poch, his three coaches, his two sons and his wife. This was when we had one point from three group games in the Champions League.
“Poch said: ‘If we get out of this group and into the knockout stage, and finish in the top four, this will be my finest ever achievement’.
“If you spoke to a Spurs fans then, they would have agreed with you.”
OPINION
This is a great little insight from Miller, and one that really reveals the extent of Pochettino’s achievement this season. For the Argentine to say that getting out of the group would be his biggest achievement as a manager shows you just how much of a dire situation Spurs were in at that point. Ask anybody – fans, pundits, probably even players – if they were going to make the knockouts, and most would have said no, there and then. Now, however, after one of the most exhilarating runs the competitions has ever seen, Spurs stand on the brink of one of the greatest comebacks in European history. To be where they are, having made no signings and after looking so bleak earlier in their campaign, is nothing short of astonishing, and whether they win in Madrid or not, Pochettino deserves serious credit. When the dust settles, this will be regarded as an incredible season in north London.