Mauricio Pochettino has opened up about his “very good relationship” with his successor at Tottenham Jose Mourinho, describing the Portuguese as a “good friend”.
Mourinho replaced the Argentine after his sacking last year and has quickly inspired a resurgence with the club third and two points off leaders Liverpool.
But despite swiftly replacing him at Spurs, Pochettino has rejected any animosity between the pair.
“What I can do is support because I will still have a very good relationship (with the club) and the guy who replaced me was a good friend,” Pochettino said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
"He always treated me very good when I was at Espanyol and he was at Real Madrid. And I always remember going to watch a Champions League game of his at Ajax and we chatted before the match.
"Someone had to tell him, ‘Jose, we need to go out to the match the game is starting’. And he said, ‘Sorry, sorry’.
“I love Tottenham and I know Jose and I want then best for him and the best way is (for him) to try to win. We missed (the chance) to win a title. That would have put the cherry on the cake.”
Pochettino did admit he felt some hurt in the days after his dismissal, but now concedes that has subsided.
“After one year now, I'm not going to say I was not disappointed,” Pochettino added.
“I was a bit upset and was not happy when we left a club that you feel after five-and-a-half years the relationship is massive with the staff, players and of course the fans. I'm not going to lie.
“But I understand football very well and the stadium maybe in our period, in the chapter, that maybe the club needed to change. But I'm not going to complain at the decision of the club.”
