Jermaine Jenas praises Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino

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Tottenham Hotspur drew 2-2 with Juventus in Italy on Tuesday, despite a horrific start.

Writing in GQ magazine, Jermaine Jenas believes that the body language of Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino in Tuesday’s draw at Juventus was a big insight into the belief that he has in his players.

Tottenham’s Champions League campaign looked to be heading down the drain in Turin as the Italian giants raced into a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes of the first leg in their last-16 tie.

Harry Kane halved the deficit on 35 minutes, before Christian Eriksen completed the comeback with a free kick with 20 minutes left to make the Lilywhites favourites to reach the quarter-finals.

And Jenas believes that their comeback was inspired by Pochettino’s refusal to panic on the touchline, remarking that the Argentine was the “coolest man in the stadium” in spite of his team’s dreadful start.

“I was in the commentary box and I could already see the next day’s headlines about how Spurs had thrown their chance away, but then I looked down at the manager Mauricio Pochettino and he just wasn’t panicking,” he wrote in GQ magazine.

“Obviously he was disappointed to have conceded two early goals, but he just looked like the coolest man in the stadium. A lot of managers would have been jumping around, gesticulating and trying to rally the team, but he just seemed so self-assured and in control.

“And I think that transferred itself to the players and from that point on they were the better team.”

If Pochettino did believe his side could turn it around, few could blame him for thinking that.

After all, this is a Tottenham side who obliterated Arsenal last weekend, despite a 1-0 scoreline, and also beat Manchester United and drew with Liverpool in recent weeks.

Time will tell how far Spurs can go in the Champions League, but the former Espanyol boss has assembled a quite brilliant squad of players, all of whom have totally bought into his ideas, and that’s a recipe for success.