Mauricio Pochettino: Ex-Tottenham and Chelsea boss hopes to return to Premier League in future
Mauricio Pochettino has always been good company - warm, engaging and likeable. Having had a few weeks to reset away from the spotlight, there were enthusiastic hugs all round for the Sky Sports News team as we all swapped summer stories. His, though, has been rather busier than ours.
The former Tottenham boss guided the USA team to the last 16 of the World Cup, where the host nation's dreams of victory came to a crashing halt against Belgium, but that barely tells the story of an extraordinary few weeks for the Argentine.
There was Donald Trump - there was always going to be - and the changing-room team talk. There was Trump, FIFA and Folarin Balogun's suspension of his suspension, and along the way, Pochettino became something of a fashion icon.
Then a few weeks later, another significant headline - Pochettino had, a little surprisingly perhaps, signed for four more years with the USA.
Where to start? I smile before jesting, and Pochettino just laughs and says he's ready. His reflections on the World Cup seem like as good a place to get going.
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For Pochettino, the biggest takeaway is how much he and his coaching staff, including his long-term lieutenant Jesus Perez, have learned.
"We are much better coaches now," he insists. It is revealing because the World Cup has reinforced his appetite to keep learning and evolving. He talks about the importance of the smallest details, the difficulty of getting every decision right and the challenge of translating his ideas to a group of players who spend far less time together than a club side. He adds, "Everything needs to be perfect."
There were times during the tournament when life must have felt a little wild, I suggest. There's managing at the World Cup, then there's managing at a home World Cup for a nation whose President rather enjoys the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, Pochettino chooses his words carefully, focusing on the support and backing Trump gave the side.
At the time, he was asked about his role in getting the Balogun suspension suspended, and he admitted the "politics and manipulation" did overshadow the game against Belgium. Pochettino understood the anger around the situation, but his role was much simpler - "If you pay attention to the noise, you become crazy." FIFA allowed Balogun to play and he says, "When the letter arrived the day before the game confirming Balogun was available, the decision was straightforward."
Balogun has been in the headlines again over the past few weeks after his proposed move from Monaco to Everton collapsed late on Deadline Day. Pochettino has not spoken to him yet. He has deliberately given him some space because he knows it would have been a difficult situation. He would, he says, have liked to see Balogun playing in the Premier League. Instead, he remains at Monaco, and Pochettino hopes he can get himself into a good place.
'I hope to return to Premier League in future'
There was of course the fashion too. Pochettino has always taken his style seriously, but I am not sure even he could have imagined the impact his touchline navy ensemble would have had. It created its own headlines - not least because Wayne Rooney went out and bought it. "I saw him. He looked good on him, like a top coach," he laughs.
It really was a summer that had it all.
Then, as the footballing world moved on from the World Cup, the rumours linking Pochettino to a number of clubs looking for a manager began. But that speculation was short-lived with the news that he was staying with the USA.
If Pochettino sees out his contract until 2030, six years away from club football feels a long time. Is that his Premier League story over? He disagrees, and for him his desire is not only to be back in English football, but to compete for honours.
"I have the ambition," he says. "My dream now is to be in the USA for four years, but after that, why not? We are still young, and I think coming back is always my goal; to win the Premier League, to be in the Premier League and to build a project with the possibility of winning."
"I love the football here. I think to have the chance again is one of my wishes and I hope that happens."
Did Poch come close to Spurs return?
That unfinished business takes me back to an interview I did with Pochettino 18 months or so ago - he spoke about wanting to one day return to Spurs. At the time, Tottenham were struggling under Ange Postecoglou. Since then, Postecoglou has gone, and Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor have arrived and departed as the club got perilously close to the drop.
So did that call to rescue the club ever come? Pochettino says of a return: "Always I say, one day, why not?"
So was it ever a possibility this time? Pochettino says: "People talk and maybe we receive some approach, but it never was close." Not this time then.
What about some of those other jobs - at one point AC Milan looked like a possible destination.
"We were not open during the World Cup to talk with different clubs that were interested," he says.
But were there clubs interested? "Yes, always," he says as if that is the norm. "Yes, always have different, you know, options," he teases.
I try again - did any of them come close to taking your attention? "We never gave the opportunity to be close. We always closed the door before it got close."
Poch assesses old clubs Spurs and Chelsea
So what of where his old club Tottenham are right now, because I joke it is never dull at Spurs.
"They are investing like other clubs", and Pochettino sees the logic after a couple of difficult seasons. Tottenham have changed their approach and are spending big on players who already know the Premier League. I think back to how close Pochettino was to delivering Spurs glory in the league and Europe and how little he spent by comparison - what would he have given to have had £300m to spend? There's a mischievous smile, and he pretends he couldn't possibly understand what £300m is.
So does he think this new strategy will work? "You never know," he replies. "We need time to see if that works or not.
"Like in all the games, when you make a decision like a coach that can work well or not. I think it's a different strategy and a different way to operate. I always wish the best for Tottenham because it's in my heart."
There's also been a big shift in direction at his former side Chelsea. The head coach role he held two years ago has now been changed to manager, while there has been a significant change in transfer policy with the club buying Premier League-ready players rather than projects under Xabi Alonso.
Pochettino is reluctant to make direct comparisons, but he sees similarities in the ambition of both clubs, and concedes "buying players like this you can expect to fight, to be a contender for the Premier League."
Chelsea's defeat to Arsenal has already provided an early reality check, but Pochettino is urging patience with Alonso.
"Of course they are disappointed after the defeat against Arsenal, but I think we need to give time to Xabi's first season after three games in the Premier League," he says.
"I think we need to give time, and of course for Tottenham the same."
For Pochettino, Arsenal are very much in pole position.
"Mikel [Arteta] is the best coach in the Premier League today," he says. "Knowing what he needs to do, it's going to be tough to beat them."
