Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that there’s a sense of irony for him in seeing Jose Mourinho replace him as Tottenham Hotspur’s head coach.
Spurs sacked the Argentine back in November and the two-time Champions League winner was soon announced as his successor in North London.
Pochettino was cutting his teeth in senior management from 2009 onwards following a three-year spell with Espanyol in Spain.
The 48-year-old’s stint with the Primera Liga club overlapped with Mourinho’s spell at Real Madrid.
And Pochettino, who spent five years as Tottenham boss, admitted to The Guardian that back then he often wondered about replacing the Portuguese at the Santiago Bernabeu.
He said: “I always think I’d replace him. He was at Real Madrid.
“I say: ‘Oh, maybe one day I can take your place at Real Madrid,’ but look at how life works out. He has taken my place at Tottenham. Unbelievable, eh?”
It does illustrate how far Pochettino has come in management in the 11 years since being appointed as Espanyol boss.
Despite being effectively fired by the Lilywhites, fans of the North London club will acknowledge that Pochettino took them to a new level entirely.
He might not have won any trophies, but that isn’t the only metric of success, evident by the fact he did take Tottenham to a Champions League final 12 months ago and had them competing for the Premier League title on a couple of occasions.
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