'Relaxed' Pochettino ready for final challenge against Liverpool

He went on to make a more serious point that winning regularly depends on the quality of footballers at your disposal, and that the best managers are often successful because they have the best players. But Pochettino exuded a relaxed, positive vibe, and a casual observer could never guess that this is a man in one of the hottest of football's hot-seats, overseeing over a billion Euros worth of underperforming players, while the Americans who head up a consortium of venture capitalists are wondering how on Earth they will ever get a return on their investment.

Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly are the most prominent faces as owners alongside Clearlake Capital, a consortium that spent around €3 billion buying Chelsea from Roman Abramovich and another billion on players over the past 18 months.

Their first season ended in failure, with no trophies or European qualification, a mid-table finish and three managers burned through in nine months before Pochettino was hired last summer. Chelsea are currently in tenth place, unlikely to qualify for the Champions or even Europa League, and Pochettino's security as manager is the source of much speculation.

Although sources behind the scenes say he is safe for the time being, they said that about Graham Potter before the former Brighton manager was abruptly fired.

Not that Pochettino is too concerned as he side head to Wembley as the underdogs, just as he did in his first season at Tottenham nine years ago, when it was Jose Mourinho's Chelsea who hot were favourites and duly won 2-0. Pochettino built an excellent side around Harry Kane at Tottenham, but they never won a trophy, climaxing with defeat in the 2019 Champions League final to Jurgen Klopp's side.

But he is not nervous. “I am so relaxed,” he says with a smile.

“I am 51 years old and more experienced, from Paris and also from playing in finals. The approach is that we are really calm. Of course when we go to work and the moment arrives to play you start to feel the adrenaline. We want to win.

“I told the players we need to start the game at 3 o'clock on Sunday. If we start to play one week before we will expend too much energy. Preparing is different to playing. We are happy with how things are going this week and we are going to arrive in a good condition to challenge Liverpool.” 

This final will be part of Klopp's long goodbye to English football, and while Pochettino has the utmost admiration for the German and his club, he insists there is no room for emotion among the on-field officials. Three weeks ago the Reds thrashed Chelsea 4-1 soon after Klopp announced he would be leaving at the end of the season, and Pochettino believes the wave of emotion around Anfield influenced the referee, who failed to award Chelsea two justified penalty claims. 

“Not one key decision was for us, two penalties were not given. Duels, 50-50s, always for another colour, always red. I want to be treated in a fair way.” 

There is no added pressure on Klopp or his players this weekend, Pochettino believes, but adds: “Maybe it is for the people who want to celebrate with Liverpool. I think we need to be sure we are going to compete and be fair in every single decision.” 

Klopp was in a similar position to the Argentine during his first four years in England, losing two finals and failing to win a trophy until Liverpool beat Pochettino's Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League final, a result that still annoys the former Spurs manager because a highly controversial early penalty set the Reds on their way to victory.

A year later Klopp secured Liverpool's first ever Premier League title and went on to win two domestic cups, but Pochettino does not believe those trophies are a measure of his value as a manager.

“Klopp was good before he arrived at Liverpool and was good after three or four years even when he didn’t win (trophies). It is the same now he has won the Champions League and the Premier League, for me the most you can do.

“I don't judge coaches or their staff on the titles they win. There are too many factors that have an influence when you want to win. If you have good players, you should be close to winning, and maybe everyone can say you are the best coach in the world, but we know it is not like this.

“It’s about being in the right moment, at the right club that trusts in you, that gives you the tools and the possibility to win. And then of course, when you are in that position you will be close to winning.

“Some fans will say, ‘oh he’s good because he wins (trophies)’ or ‘he’s not good because he doesn’t win’. For me, it’s not the way to judge the coach or his staff.” Pochettino is clear that he wants to win the cup on Sunday in order to add another trophy to Chelsea's long list, not to satisfy his own ego or get the doubters off his back.

“We are not playing on Sunday to show people that they are wrong for criticising us, the club or the way we play. We want to win because of us, to be happy and simply to win. We are not playing because of our egos. It’s because it’s going to be good for the club and for the team.” 

His young players lack the vast experience of their opponents, just as his Tottenham team did back in 2015. Jose Mourinho's players rode out a wave of exuberant pressure from Pochettino's exciting young side before using their big-game experience to overcome Spurs.

He understands better now how to prepare young players for a big occasion. “Finals are different, and you learn how to translate your experiences to players, especially younger ones.

“It was difficult for us at Tottenham because we had played a Europa Cup game in Florence on the Thursday and had only one day to prepare, while Chelsea had a week. Maybe our focus and preparation was not the best. Now we have had a week to prepare, while Liverpool had to play on Wednesday, so it's the opposite.” 

He eventually built a Tottenham team that challenged for the highest honours, and he knows he is at the beginning of that journey at Chelsea, trying to knit together a young squad of disparate talents while being expected to deliver instant success.

He feels things are starting to 'click' after a recent resurgence in form. “That progress came from commitment and in the way you compete. Liverpool and Manchester City are the best teams in the world. Not only because they have great coaches, but also great players, who manage really well in the way they compete. If they don’t have a good afternoon, they are calm and relaxed and know how to manage their not-so-good moments in the game. That’s part of the progress that we are managing after seven or eight months. That only comes with time. For Jurgen Klopp, it took four years to win the title. That’s because of the progress of the players. It’s not about just arriving and winning (straightaway). We all want this but it is difficult for that to happen.” 

And victory this weekend can accelerate the process. “It would be amazing for us and for the team, and reduce the time to move forward and start winning things. The first title is important.

“This is the first final of the year and for Chelsea to be there in these circumstances is a massive achievement. It’s important for the club and for this young team to be there. What we are doing is helping the team in different areas in different circumstances to improve as players and as a team.

Asked if victory would help his relationship with the owners, Pochettino said: “It’s not in our hands. It depends what the people above us think. We want to win for us, and for the people who trust in us like the owners, the sporting directors, the fans, the players, and our families.

“After 11 years involved in football in England, we (he and his staff) feel the respect of football people, and that is the most important thing - not titles. Respect.”