Pochettino plays down Spurs return rumors
Argentine Pochettino was in charge of Spurs for five years from 2014 and took the team to the Champions League final but never won a trophy with the North London club.
Despite having signed a two year contract in September to lead the USA at the 2026 World Cup, which they are co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, Pochettino's name has appeared in bookmakers' lists of favorites for the Spurs job and in several UK reports.
But asked on Saturday about the links, in his post-match press conference following the USA's 2-1 home friendly defeat to Turkey, Pochettino played down the talk.
"After I left in 2019, every time that I was free, and the place of the position of the manager or head coach in Tottenham Hotspur (was vacant), my name is appearing on the list," Pochettino said.
"If you have seen the rumors, I think there are 100 coaches in the list. I think, don't be worried about that," he added.
Pochettino has talked in the past about his remaining affection for Spurs and has never ruled out the possibility of returning to the club at some point.
But he suggested the timing was not right for a second chance with his old team.
"If something happened, you for sure you will see, but we cannot talk about this type of thing, because I think today, it's not real. It's not realistic. And look at where I am, where we are," he said in the stadium press room in Hartford, Connecticut.
"And the thing is, the answer is so clear, no? But we're talking about it because it's my club, like Newells or Espanyol," he added.
Postecoglou was fired just 16 days after the Australian ended Tottenham's 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League.
Postecoglou led Tottenham to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao to clinch the north Londoners' first European prize in 41 years and secure a place in next season's Champions League.
The former Celtic boss paid the price for Tottenham's worst domestic season since they were relegated from the top flight in 1976-77.
The USA have now lost three games in a row, following losses to Panama and Canada in March's CONCACAF Nations League but Pochettino was upbeat about his team's encouraging display after question marks about the attitude of his team in recent games.
"This attitude I want to continue for the future until we arrive to the World Cup … that is the only way we can improve," he said.
"If I decide in September (to have a) different roster, what I want is the same level of commitment, attitude, not to complain (about) this and that," he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Canada's McIntosh crushes 400m freestyle world record
McIntosh, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and former world record-holder in the event, sliced more than a second off the previous world record of 3:55.38 set by Australian Ariarne Titmus at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. "Going into tonight I knew that my training has been really good these past few months, and I knew that I could do something special," the 18-year-old star said. "I mean, I didn't think my training would be 54.1, but I'm really happy with that overall." It was McIntosh's first race of the trials in Victoria, British Columbia, selection meet for the worlds in Singapore July 11-August 3. She's entered in seven events, including the 800m free, 400m individual medley, 200m individual medley, 200m free, 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke. She has indicated she aims to compete in five events at worlds. McIntosh won gold in the 200m butterfly 200m medley and 400m medley at the Paris Games and she'll head to Singapore seeking to add to her tally of four world titles. With Titmus taking a season off, she can expect her greatest challenge in the 400m free to come from Katie Ledecky, but after Saturday's showing McIntosh appeared more than up for a clash with the US great. "To be honest I didn't really feel a lot of pain in that," she said. "I just felt so strong throughout and that's never been the case in the 400 freestyle for me. "The last 100, I'm always really, really hurting, but I flipped up the 200 and I was just cruising, so I knew that I was having a strong swim. "I could tell by the crowd and the way they were cheering that I was probably close to the world record, so I really tried to push that last part for them," McIntosh added.
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Brumbies eye set-piece masterclass to snap New Zealand hoodoo
The Canberra side is once again shouldering Australian hopes in the southern hemisphere competition after a 35-28 win over the in-form Wellington Hurricanes on Saturday thrust them into the final four. It set up a showdown in Hamilton on Saturday with the Chiefs, who have been the standout club all season but suffered a 20-19 defeat to the defending champion Auckland Blues in their elimination final. The Chiefs nevertheless lived to fight another day as the highest-seeded loser under a revamped play-off system. The Brumbies last won a Super Rugby title in 2004 and to keep alive their hopes of matching the feat they must avoid a fourth straight semi-final exit against a New Zealand club. They were ousted by the Blues last year and in 2022, while the Chiefs spoiled the party in 2023. "The process this year has been about going one better than last year, so there's a big challenge in front of us against the Chiefs in Hamilton," said Larkham. "We've been in this situation multiple times through the Brumbies' career. "Very happy that we've won the game, but we know that there's a lot of work to do." The Brumbies were lethal in Canberra against the Hurricanes when given a sniff in the opposing 22, with their tried-and-tested rolling mauls and pick-and-drives from lineouts paying dividends. Four of their five tries came from front-rowers. "We're not experts in winning finals, but certainly feel that having a good set-piece is going to go a long way to winning finals games and we saw that (against the 'Canes)," he said. "I thought our scrum was outstanding. Our lineout let us down a little bit and put us under the pump a little bit with turnover ball. "But obviously those two opportunities there from the maul put 14 points on the board for us." The Brumbies slipped behind to an early Hurricanes try but levelled the game when hooker Billy Pollard finished off a patient trademark rolling maul. © 2025 AFP
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
Pochettino plays down Spurs return rumors
Argentine Pochettino was in charge of Spurs for five years from 2014 and took the team to the Champions League final but never won a trophy with the North London club. Despite having signed a two year contract in September to lead the USA at the 2026 World Cup, which they are co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, Pochettino's name has appeared in bookmakers' lists of favorites for the Spurs job and in several UK reports. But asked on Saturday about the links, in his post-match press conference following the USA's 2-1 home friendly defeat to Turkey, Pochettino played down the talk. "After I left in 2019, every time that I was free, and the place of the position of the manager or head coach in Tottenham Hotspur (was vacant), my name is appearing on the list," Pochettino said. "If you have seen the rumors, I think there are 100 coaches in the list. I think, don't be worried about that," he added. Pochettino has talked in the past about his remaining affection for Spurs and has never ruled out the possibility of returning to the club at some point. But he suggested the timing was not right for a second chance with his old team. "If something happened, you for sure you will see, but we cannot talk about this type of thing, because I think today, it's not real. It's not realistic. And look at where I am, where we are," he said in the stadium press room in Hartford, Connecticut. "And the thing is, the answer is so clear, no? But we're talking about it because it's my club, like Newells or Espanyol," he added. Postecoglou was fired just 16 days after the Australian ended Tottenham's 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League. Postecoglou led Tottenham to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao to clinch the north Londoners' first European prize in 41 years and secure a place in next season's Champions League. The former Celtic boss paid the price for Tottenham's worst domestic season since they were relegated from the top flight in 1976-77. The USA have now lost three games in a row, following losses to Panama and Canada in March's CONCACAF Nations League but Pochettino was upbeat about his team's encouraging display after question marks about the attitude of his team in recent games. "This attitude I want to continue for the future until we arrive to the World Cup … that is the only way we can improve," he said. "If I decide in September (to have a) different roster, what I want is the same level of commitment, attitude, not to complain (about) this and that," he added.
