Mauricio Pochettino says there will be “no excuses” for his Tottenham Hotspur team if they fail to perform at Wembley next season. The club say farewell to White Hart Lane on Sunday, when Manchester United are the visitors in the Premier League, with the stadium due to be demolished to make way for a new 61,000-seat venue on the same site.
After 118 years at the old place, it promises to be emotional and Pochettino said that he would struggle to hold back the tears. But the progress is essential, he added, and it will take in a season on the road at Wembley while building work on the new ground is completed. Tottenham staged their European ties at the national stadium during the current campaign and they struggled for results, winning once and losing twice in the Champions League before going out of the Europa League after a draw with Gent. Pochettino admitted for the first time that the chopping and changing between White Hart Lane and Wembley had been problematic but that will not be a factor next season.
“When you are focused and you feel that your home is White Hart Lane it’s so difficult to change,” Pochettino said. “One week we play at White Hart Lane, the next week we play at Wembley. It’s so difficult to change your mindset and be ready when you are so comfortable at White Hart Lane. But next season there’s no excuse. Next season it’s Wembley only. I’m sure that from day one next season we will be thinking about Wembley and it will be completely different.
“It’s also funny how things have changed. When I arrived at this club I made the mistake of saying that the [small] size of the White Hart Lane pitch maybe didn’t help us in the way we want to play. I received a lot of criticism for that. But now it’s: ‘Maybe Wembley is so big.’”
Tottenham have been particularly comfortable at White Hart Lane this season where they boast the only undefeated home record in the top division. If they could beat United it would be their 17th consecutive victory in all competitions at the stadium – a fitting way to sign off.
“Because I am a very sensitive person and so emotional, it will be difficult not to cry on Sunday,” Pochettino said. “But the soul and the smell of White Hart Lane will always be with us. It’s important, too, that we’re staying on the same site. We won’t have to change our habits.” Pochettino also responded to the comments of the Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, who said that Tottenham had enjoyed the advantage in the title race of having worked under their manager for three seasons. It has been Conte’s first season at Stamford Bridge.
“If that is the right way to measure our advantage it’s not fair to measure with me – it’s to measure with Arsène Wenger,” Pochettino said. “Twenty years [at Arsenal] is a massive advantage.
“Why [does Wenger] not win every season? It’s not a criticism of Wenger. Maybe it was a comment that was not the best from him [Conte].”
