Mauricio Pochettino thinks Arsenal celebrated so wildly after beating Spurs on Sunday because of the respect we have for Tottenham, missing the point entirely.
Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t strike me as the sharpest tool in the box.
For a start, he’s a manager who seems to think his side have achieved something by finishing above Arsenal two seasons out of the last 22. Even though Arsenal have won three trophies in the last five years and Spurs have won nothing in over a decade (and nothing worth winning in almost 30 years), Poch seems under the impression that Spurs are somehow Arsenal’s superiors.
Speaking ahead of Spurs game against Southampton, Pochettino aimed a dig at Arsenal for celebrating so much after beating them on Sunday. He was particularly annoyed with the players taking selfies.
“When the people celebrate like this, it’s because people respect you and see you as a big club,” he said.
“When we arrived here (in 2014), normally Arsenal were always above Tottenham. But now, for the last two seasons we were above them. It was a massive win for them and of course for us it was a massive disappointment but it (the celebrations) showed the respect that we got in the last few years with our results.
“Maybe we still will not win a trophy, as the people say, but the respect for the way we are doing things is the most important thing.
“Steve Hitchen (the Tottenham chief scout) was at the Liverpool game against Everton and watched our game beforehand. And when Arsenal scored their third goal all the Liverpool fans celebrated.
“It’s clear we are doing something good. I don’t like it when (our opponents) don’t celebrate because it’s normal to beat Tottenham.
“Personally, I don’t like it (when players take selfies). Obviously, if you win a trophy like I won when I was a player, it is a moment to celebrate. For me, this is my mentality and I don’t want to say it’s right or wrong. If you win, of course celebrate and show the fans you are happy. It’s fantastic — but when you win, when you win a trophy, when you win something special.
“In the end, Arsenal-Tottenham, we are 30 points each, we are in a similar position, still a lot of games to play. To be sporting enemies is a fantastic thing, but I don’t want to criticise what people want to do,” he said as he did exactly that.
For the record, Pochettino won fewer trophies during his playing career than Arsenal have won in the last five years.
Poch is asking you to believe that, had Spurs won on Sunday, they wouldn’t have celebrated as if they’d just won the Premier League when we all know the two games against us are their cup finals every year.
As for celebrating like that because we ‘respect’ Spurs, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
What the footballing world witnessed after Sunday’s match was the Arsenal world sticking two fingers up to everyone who had bleated on about a powershift in north London while lauding Spurs as some incredible footballing entity reclaiming its rightful place as a dominant force in north London.