‘They looked at Spurs’: Andros Townsend makes bold claim about 2019 Arsenal decision

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Andros Townsend told talkSPORT the reason why the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea appointed ‘young and attractive’ coaches, who play good football, is because of Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino.

The Crystal Palace winger feels Arsenal, who handed Mikel Arteta his first managerial job in December 2019, looked at what Spurs did under Pochettino and how they went from being ‘sixth or seventh’ to challenging for the Premier League title and reaching the Champions League final by spending little money.

This season, both Arteta at Arsenal and Frank Lampard at Chelsea, have come under pressure from their supporters, with the latter currently feeling the heat.

But Townsend thinks these clubs should ‘stick’ with their current managers because they will reap the rewards down the line.

“I think these clubs, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal,” said Townsend. “For me, they have looked at Spurs. They have looked at Spurs under Pochettino.

“How did Spurs get from sixth, seventh in the table to challenging for the title and the Champions League final without spending relatively that much amount of money.

“I think they have looked at, we need to bring young players through, we need a young and attractive coach, who likes to play good football. We will buy players for £5 or 6 million and make them into world-class players.

“So, I think they have gone down the five-year plan route and all these clubs have now got young and attractive managers, who like to bring through the youth. I think in three or four years time if these clubs stick with these managers then they will bear the fruits like Spurs did.

“I know people will batter me and say ‘Spurs didn’t win a trophy’ but they got damn close.”

It remains to be seen how long the above managers get from their respective clubs because the race for the Champions League places is the toughest it has ever been.

The likes of Leicester City, Everton, Aston Villa and Southampton are upsetting the apple cart and at least one of them will be hoping to break into those top-four places.

Even if they secure a top-six place, one of Liverpool, both Manchester clubs, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal will be left disappointed at the end of the season because all of them cannot win the title, nor secure a Champions League finish.