Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has honestly admitted his admiration for the man in charge of the Tottenham team after the dramatic tie in the Champions League against Manchester City.
After beating Borussia Dortmund convincingly in the round of 16 of the Champions League, Spurs were given another tough task as they were drawn against Premier League champions Manchester City.
As expected, many had Pep Guardiola’s side as the favourites to win the tie after their surge for the league title this season.
But Wednesday night belonged to Tottenham Hotspur, who somehow scored three goals at the Etihad stadium to knock City out of the competition in simply dramatic style.
Mauricio Pochettino was required to make a number of significant tactical decisions, especially with star striker Harry Kane ruled out by injury.
After making what turned out to be the right calls, Pochettino has been lauded by former Arsenal player Paul Merson, who has admitted he is a ‘big fan’ of the Spurs boss.
“They did the business in the first leg, kept it tight and scored late on. Tonight, when Pochettino put Llorente on I thought ‘I’m not sure about this, this is early’. I’d have gone Heung-min Son up front [and put someone else on], who has a bit of pace. But in the end, it paid off.” Merson told Sky Sports
“Fair play to Pochettino. I’m a big fan of his and he deserves it. There have been a lot of injuries, their bench wasn’t mouth-watering. We always sit there and say City were unlucky but credit where credit is due for Tottenham.
“They’ve been up here when they were 2-1 up and they’ve been down and then up against it and they still had that fight to come back. That takes a lot of bottle.”