Mauricio Pochettino cuts a reserved figure in front of the cameras, but Harry Kane has revealed the Tottenham boss can be “ruthless” behind the scenes.
The Argentine has made quite the impression since joining Spurs, and is generally considered to be a gentleman in the public eye; he rarely plays mind games with other managers or openly chastises his playing staff during games.
However, speaking to ESPN FC, Harry Kane has claimed Pochettino shows passion when it’s required.
“A lot of the time he’s calm, but he’s very passionate. If he feels the problem isn’t the game but is about our attitude, he’ll tell us we need to work harder or play harder.
“He’s emotional. And that’s what we want — we all feel the same. We all want to win, we’ve all got the same goal.
“He’s got two sides to him. He’s very respectful — if you respect him, he’ll show you respect back. If you work hard for him, he’ll give you his time. But he’s ruthless if you cross him. If you don’t want to work for him and you don’t want to be a team player, you won’t be part of the team.”
And many have crossed him. Players such as Younes Kaboul, Andros Townsend and Nabil Bentaleb have all been effectively banished from the club for an apparent lack of respect concerning the manager’s methods.
But those methods clearly work for others. Countless Tottenham players have revealed their happiness under Pochettino of late, including Kane himself.
The striker recently told talkSPORT: “Everything is progressing as I want it to be and as the club want it to be so, as long as that continues, I don’t see why I can’t stay there for the rest of my career.”
