Pochettino jokes: After Manchester derby fracas, fans should pay more to see into the tunnel

Mauricio Pochettino has a little experience of altercations in the tunnel, so he would not have been entirely surprised to hear about the fracas that took place after Sunday’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

United manager Jose Mourinho is thought to have taken exception to City’s exuberant celebrations after the visitors’ 2-1 victory, with a row ensuing during which the Portuguese reportedly had milk thrown at him while City coach Mikel Arteta suffered a cut head after being hit with a plastic drinks bottle.

The incident comes at a time when both City and Tottenham are allowing some of their premium-paying supporters to see what happens in the tunnel area.

City have opened a tunnel club at the Etihad Stadium, where VIP fans can see behind the scenes via one-way glass – and Spurs’ new home will have the same feature when construction is completed.

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While off-field skirmishes are fairly rare, Pochettino can see the odd issue arising, and he has joked that a rethink may be needed – or a price increase for the privilege of witnessing any rows.

“When I was a player it happened like a manager – sometimes you would say ‘in the tunnel we will talk’,” he said. “You stay calm during the moment on the pitch, and then in the tunnel, no, with the referee and everyone, because no-one sees you.

“Now City and Tottenham, maybe both will paint [the glass] black – or at half time, curtains. Before the game you open them, at half time [they’re closed]. Or maybe you have to pay double to have them open!

“In France, playing in Ajaccio, it was a tough stadium. I remember at half time there was a massive fight in the tunnel [when I was with Paris Saint-Germain]. It was unbelievable. You didn’t see but there was fighting in between us. It was terrible.

“I was fighting, like my team-mates. After you are scared a little bit because it was like we were animals fighting. I don’t know if it was similar, I don’t know what happened after the Manchester game.

“You can talk when you’re calm and relaxed and say ‘you need to avoid everything’, but when something happens on the pitch and you are under stress and emotional, sometimes you cannot stop and sometimes it can happen.”

Pochettino continued: “We always travelled with massive security in France. Every time we played the derby against Olympique [Marseille] it was amazing.

“I remember [Nicolas] Sarkozy, before being president, was Minister of the Interior, and a big fan of Paris Saint-Germain. He provided us with secret police. It was unbelievable.

“The situation in Marseille was to fly, arrive, go to play, in and out. One day there were a few people close to the coach and starting to shout, and some stones were thrown. We were watching and a few people from behind [started to throw them out of the way]. We didn’t know the secret police were around us, to protect us.

“But the tunnel [at the new stadium] is with the glass, big glass like the bank glass – very safe!”

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For now, Pochettino is preparing for Wednesday’s Premier League clash with Brighton at Wembley.

It comes just three days before Saturday’s trip to runaway leaders Manchester City, and centre-back Jan Vertonghen is only one booking away from a suspension – a potential issue given that fellow centre-backs Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez are also out of action.

However, Spurs’ manager has no plans to rest the Belgian for the midweek fixture.

“That decision I never like to take,” he said. “If Jan gets another yellow card and cannot play against City then another player is going to play.

“Sometimes it happens that you want to avoid something like this, and the day before [the second match] on the training pitch the player gets injured. Then he is still one yellow card off a ban and still doesn’t play. It’s a tricky situation.”
“I think the most important game is tomorrow. We need to win. If some players show they are a little bit tired, it is maybe best to avoid problems and play with another.

“But if I rest players, it could translate the idea that we are not focusing on Brighton, and I don’t want to make that mistake.”

Pochettino hopes that, now the Champions League group stage is behind them and the focus is purely on the Premier League, Tottenham can embark on a winning run, having just secured their first top-flight victory in five attempts by beating Stoke 5-1 on Saturday.

“When you spend a lot of energy like we use in the Champions League, it’s so difficult to feel fresh again and compete with this energy in the Premier League,” he said.

“This season we were determined to show that we have quality enough to compete with the best teams in Europe, and maybe that affected a little bit our performance in the Premier League.
“It’s so difficult to explain why against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Apoel away [we put in] amazing performances, and then we don’t win against Swansea or West Brom. Sometimes the energy is not the same, as we spend a lot of energy in the Champions League.”

Regardless of Spurs’ form over the festive period, the Lilywhites look unlikely to catch a Man City side who lie 18 points ahead of them at the top. But Pochettino insists he is not filled with gloom when the surveys the league table.
“We’re not frustrated. We’re not disappointed in our project,” he said. “City are doing so well but I think in our project we’re in a good process, we’re on time.

“City were behind us in the last two seasons and this season they were very consistent in signing, signing, signing, investing, investing, investing, and this season they are above us. But in the last two seasons we were always above.

“We’re not going to change because they improved a lot. We’ve improved and we’re consistent in this process.

“For us, it’s so important to finish the new stadium, the facilities here, and that will be a massive boost for the team, for everyone, to try afterwards to achieve everything we want.

“In the end, everyone wants to win trophies in every competition. But in the last two seasons, we’ve been playing at half a White Hart Lane without a corner, we’re building the training ground, the hotel – everything. Tottenham is not a final product.

“The expectation this season was massive and when we started to play and show great quality in the Champions League, we felt disappointed in the last few months, because City are so good.

“But if we feel disappointed about that, think about how Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool feel today.”

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