Pochettino: Support for Leicester not right

Mauricio Pochettino questioned the professionalism of fellow coaches who backed a Leicester City title triumph over Tottenham.

Posted Saturday, May 07, 2016 by fourfourtwo.com

Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino says the global support of title rivals Leicester City was unfair on his team.

Leicester pipped Tottenham to the Premier League title after Pochettino's men lost their cool at Stamford Bridge, coughing up a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against Chelsea, confirming Leicester as champions with two games to spare.

But Pochettino says the overwhelming support for a Leicester triumph failed to do justice to his own team's challenge, which was also considered unlikely at the start of the season.

During the title run in, a number of Premier League managers spoke positively of Leicester's title challenge, including West Brom boss Tony Pulis, who said he would "love to see" Leicester win the title.

Pochettino stopped short of suggesting that teams were complacent against Leicester as a result, but insisted it was not a good look.

"Maybe in the next few meetings of the Premier League, the managers and also the staff, we need to say that in future we must be careful with all these comments in public," the Argentinean said.

"In football, our responsibility is to be professional. When you are professional, you do not give your personal opinion.

"If I support Tottenham and we play against some team which fights for the title, or to survive, then I can't give my opinion like a supporter. I need to give my opinion like a professional. It's always dangerous when something happens like that.

"Maybe in the last few weeks or months, we know the football people maybe don't behave like professionals, we need to be careful."