Every word Mauricio Pochettino has said about Tottenham return after brutal Ange Postecoglou sack

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With just under two years to his name, Ange Postecoglou is the longest-serving Tottenham manager since Mauricio Pochettino. Since the turn of the millennium, only the Argentine and Harry Redknapp have been in charge of more games.

At just 101, it is not a figure to be massively proud of for chairman Daniel Levy. Since November 2019, Tottenham have had six different head coaches (both permanent and interim).

Since the Pochettino era ended, nobody has come close to equalling his level of consistency or challenging at the top of the Premier League. Postecoglou brought in the club's first piece of major silverware since Redknapp won the League Cup in 2008, but it was not enough to save his job.

Many at Spurs were already disillusioned throughout the 2024/25 season after Postecoglou's major dip in form from the middle of November 2023 extended into his second full year. Although anger was directed towards the Australian, Levy bore the brunt of the protests.

His running of Tottenham has come under increasing scrutiny. The decision to sack Postecoglou only adds to that but in reality, no matter what happened here, it was going to be divisive.

Stick with the former Celtic man and there would have been increasing pressure to go big in the transfer market and to try to ride the wave of European success. That brings with it immense challenges, including turning round the domestic form which led Tottenham to finish 17th last season.

The cycle that Spurs are in was predicted by Pochettino just months before he was sacked. He foresaw a 'painful rebuild.' Postecoglou had echoed that with his own talk of a cultural change in north London.

The contrast between Postecoglou and Pochettino is all the more apparent and relevant for Spurs because they are the two outliers across over a decade of managerial appointments. Both had highs and lows. They were both popular (for Postecoglou, only at times and with a section rather than an overwhelming majority), and saw attention diverted towards Levy rather than their own job.

Again, Postecoglou and Pochettino were picked out for their roles. Did Pochettino have the right mentality to be a winner? Was Postecoglou just too stubborn to achieve great things? What they did well, though, was unite Spurs in a big way when it mattered.

That is a large part of the draw back to Pochettino now. He is not in the club game as he works with the United States Men's National Team (USMNT) ahead of next summer's World Cup.

Pochettino left Chelsea last year after attempting a rebuild in testing circumstances. He has a tough test to satisfy American supporters now as well.

It leaves many to ask if he will come back. Luckily, Pochettino has been extremely open on the subject. Speaking earlier this year, he said: "To be honest, the day that I left the club always I was thinking one day to come back. It's not that I was thinking before the offer from the USA national team, I was thinking to come back.

(Image: Getty Images)

"The day that I left I was thinking I would love to one day come back to Tottenham because like I told in the past, I said for me, I felt empty in the moment that I left. It was like an unfinished job and that is why. It's a feeling, it's a feeling, it's a dream.

"I don't know how you can take or I can explain or describe but I think for sure it's a club that is always going to be special for me. And I would like to one day to have the possibility again to try to arrive in a situation that we are back to finish in a different way."

Those quotes were put to Postecoglou shortly after. "Mauricio if he wants to come back, I hope it happens," he said with the usual abandonment and honesty. "We all have dreams and aspirations.

"I don’t feel disrespected and if you ask Mauricio Pochettino directly you will get a clear answer as to what his intent was. Nothing for me to be consumed with. More focused on making sure we win tomorrow."

Perhaps the most interesting part of Pochettino's words were his answer regarding Levy, who ultimately moved on from him in favour or pursuing 'win now' managers within half a year of Tottenham reaching the Champions League final. "He's always there - and he's going to be there," the former Southampton and Paris Saint-Germain boss said.

"It's another thing to take professional decisions. It's true after nearly six years with all we lived together, that was tough because of all the ups and downs and emotional things that we lived. I've seen always it's difficult in football that that doesn't affect all this type of situation in your relationship.

(Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)

"For us, we split very well. One thing was professional, another personal and now, like the day after we left, we keep always a very, very good relationship."

That is typically measured from Pochettino. Should we expect anything soon, though? Even if Levy would consider Pochettino, maybe not.

"Look, when I left the club I always remember one interview [where] I said I would like one day to come back to Tottenham and that is of course [true, but] I am in the USA," he explained. I am not going to no, I'm not going to talk about that, but what I said then still after six years or five years, I still feel in my heart that, yes, I would like one day to come back. We see the timing, like Daniel said."

His plan for the next year or so remains clear. "I think being the national coach or head coach of the USA with the World Cup in 2026, I think for a coaching staff like us, after too many years working in clubs, I think it was a great opportunity for us to challenge ourselves, and to know how to discover and to learn doing things in different ways.

"I think it was a great opportunity, and that is why we started to pay attention and when the offer arrived, I think that it was easy to say yes. I think to host the World Cup is an amazing experience. Then with the country that we are talking about, the USA, I think that it's amazing."

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