Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur (today, 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports 1)
Mauricio Pochettino believes Pep Guardiola has nothing to prove and only needs time to bring sustained success to Manchester City.
Tottenham boss Pochettino insisted City’s 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Everton changes nothing, with the Argentinian still adamant Guardiola’s men remain in the Premier League title shake-up.
Spurs could open up a six-point gap on City in today’s league clash at the Etihad Stadium, but Pochettino has no doubt that Guardiola will succeed in his new challenge in Manchester.
“For me it means nothing for them to lose to Everton,” said Pochettino.
“It does not change my admiration or what I think about him (Guardiola). I understand that’s football sometimes, you can win, you can lose. But I think in a process like Manchester City now, he only needs time.
“He’s in a position where they can still win titles, so all they have to do is wait. His quality, he doesn’t need to show it, his real quality like a coach, or how he managed the team.
“He’s shown enough before in Barcelona or at Bayern Munich, but sometimes expectation, you have to manage that.
“You cannot win titles in a few months, you need to wait until the end.
“And I’m sure that Guardiola will fight with Manchester City right until the end for big things, I’m sure.”
Pochettino might have more Premier League experience than Guardiola after four years in England, but the former Argentina defender insisted that is where any dominance over the City manager ends.
The Spurs boss once masterminded a 2-1 win for former club Espanyol over Guardiola’s Barcelona at the Nou Camp – but he admitted his record pales into insignificance when compared to his friend and rival’s 21 management career titles.
“It’s Guardiola, he’s won 21 titles, and still me, none; you cannot compare me with him,” said Pochettino.
“We are talking about Barcelona, one of the best teams in the world, along with Real Madrid. Taking Espanyol there, the gap was massive. Massive.
“Now I don’t know. Historically, Tottenham is bigger than Manchester City.
“The fans, it’s bigger, Tottenham, that’s true. But Manchester City is in a different philosophy, in a completely different way from Tottenham.
“And you can’t compare with Spain because Espanyol and Barcelona, you can’t compare, you can’t measure the gap.
“And here, we’re in a completely different world.
“I remember after a few months in charge of Espanyol we won, 1-2. And we were in the bottom and they were top.
“They had Messi, Henry, Xavi, Iniesta; we had 11 academy players. One thing is important, and that’s belief. We believed we could win with Espanyol and we won.”
