Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has said his reunion with Tottenham will be emotional as the teams prepare to meet on Thursday evening.
Pochettino faces his former club in the Premier League tomorrow, having spent five-and-a-half seasons in charge of Spurs between 2014 and 2019.
The Argentine was appointed as head coach of London rivals Chelsea in the summer, and led the Blues to a 4-1 win in the reverse fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Ahead of the clash, he said it will always be ’emotional’ to face Tottenham due to his connections to the club.
“It was special when we played there [in the reverse fixture in November]. It was my first time since leaving the club, but now it is a different time,” Pochettino said at his pre-match press conference.
“It will be emotional coming up against people who I worked with for a long period. I can’t hide my emotion for the club. I think it is going to be emotional because facing a former team, where the history was good, you remember that.
“But I have said before – across the 90 minutes we want to win and Tottenham are going to come here to try and win. It will be a good game.”
Chelsea will be hoping to bounce back from a run of one win in four games, but have a number of absences heading into the game. Pochettino said the fixture could be a chance for some of the club’s emerging talent to feature in the squad.
“Of course every single game is a challenge for us.
“Tomorrow we have a big challenge against a great team like Tottenham. I think it is going to be good, going to be a nice game to play and great opportunity for some kids to be on the bench and possibility to play.
“When the opportunity appears it is about being conscious, stepping up and being here and wanting to play for Chelsea.”
On his side’s injuries, Pochettino added: “I need to be honest. What I can say in all the new processes there are things we can do better, of course.
“We all feel the responsibility. Of course, we can do better, but there are too many circumstances that happen, that is why it is difficult to explain in one word or sentence.
“We are working on trying to improve, we have amazing staff in medical and performance and coaching, with amazing experience being in this business. Too many circumstances arrive some periods and it can happen. We need to be at the end of the season with all the information on the table and be better and improve the communication, dynamics, strategies, put all our knowledge in to improve what we can improve.
“The quality is here but sometimes it happens with a team. Why doesn’t that team perform? Yes, we know why, we are assessing why, but inconsistency of a new project can sometimes [be it] but I don’t say it is that. There are too many things that are all together today and why we are suffering so many injuries.”
