Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino hits out after Pep Guardiola's ‘Harry Kane team’ jibe
The Spurs manager was less than impressed with how Guardiola referred to Tottenham as 'the Harry Kane team' a fortnight ago, accusing him of being 'disrespectful'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has hit out at his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola for dismissively referring to Spurs as the ‘Harry Kane team’ shortly before the international break.
Speaking after Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Guardiola was asked for his views on City’s title rivals.
Guardiola was careful to praise Jose Mourinho’s ‘tough’ Manchester United, and praised Chelsea for their ability to respond positively to set-backs, but appeared to dismiss third-place Tottenham as little more than a one-man team.
“We saw again this week the Harry Kane team scores every day two or three goals,” Guardiola said.
Pochettino has had to wait the duration of the international break to hit back at Guardiola, but wasted no time in responding to his jibe during Tottenham’s pre-match press conference ahead of their home match against Bournemouth.
“It was funny when I heard him the other day because I know Pep very well. When it’s exciting after an amazing victory against Chelsea, sometimes [he] can struggle to keep his position and be a gentleman,” Pochettino said.
“I take that situation as that didn’t affect me but the reality is it was very disrespectful for many people and it’s difficult to understand because he was part of the big success at Barcelona with Messi at his best, and I never said it was ‘the Messi team’.
“I always said it was Barcelona or Pep Guardiola. I think everyone deserves to be recognised as part of the success of the team. But I think many people took those words as very disrespectful for the club, and for many players that are here I think it’s a strange situation. In my case personally I didn’t take it in a bad way. It wasn’t disrespectful for myself.”
But despite his frustration with Guardiola’s comment, Pochettino admitted it was unlikely to motivate his team throughout the rest of the season.
“No, no, no. I think it's a sad comment because the players laugh about that,” he added. “If you're a manager you must show more, no? To be above this type of comment.
“That is my opinion like I respect his opinion but I think the players, more motivated or less motivated? I think it's the same. It's sad and it's not right in football. Today we want to show respect, fair play and everything.”
When asked whether he had discussed the comment with Guardiola over the phone, Pochettino replied: “No, of course not. He has not called me yet. Maybe after the press conference he calls me. I am sure I will reply.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments