Gary Neville praises Mauricio Pochettino for playing Tottenham’s Harry Winks in Bernabeu

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Gary Neville believes that Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino is one of the few managers brave enough to play Harry Winks at the Bernabeu.

Gary Neville has suggested to Sky Sports that only Sir Alex Ferguson would have been brave enough to do what Mauricio Pochettino did in the Bernabeu last month and start Harry Winks in Tottenham’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

Though Winks has threatened to move himself up the pecking order at Spurs over the last few years, this season has arguably been his breakout campaign, with the 21-year-old really impressing when given a chance.

Nevertheless, it may have come as a surprise to some when he was included in the starting lineup for Spurs’ European tie with Madrid last month given his lack of experience on a stage that size.

And Neville has suggested that Pochettino deserves a huge amount of credit for Winks’ development, and argued that few managers would have had the courage to put the academy graduate into the starting XI for the first game with Los Blancos.

“Pochettino believes in young English players, he’s put Winks in and the kid is fantastic. I love watching him play, but I’ve got to see him play in order to love watching him play and see that he can do it,” he told Sky Sports.

“How many managers have the guts and courage to put him in at the Bernabeu? Pochettino did and my old manager Sir Alex Ferguson would, he’d had thrown him in.

“People would think it’s not a game for him tonight, but what if it is? Imagine what it would do to the fans and for him. Ultimately you’ve got to have a manager who has the belief in youth and creating an opportunity.”

There is no question that Pochettino has almost transformed Tottenham with his ability to use the youngsters coming through to push the first-team to maintain the high standards that have been set since he arrived.

And seeing the likes of Winks being given his chance on a stage as big as a Champions League tie away at Real Madrid will not only help the club attract young players – as the path to the first-team is clearly there no matter what position you play in – but it will also surely have an impact on driving the academy prospects coming through as they can see where they could end up if they realise their potential.