According to MP David Lammy, Sir Alex Ferguson had praised Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino and claimed he was the ‘best manager in the Premier League’. Lammy is the Labour MP for Tottenham and had revealed a conversation he had with the former Manchester United manager when speaking on The Spurs Show podcast.
Pochettino first came to prominence when he took over from Nigel Adkins at Southampton and spent 18 months as Saints manager before Tottenham signed him on a five-year deal in 2014. Since then, the Spurs have been on the rise and even reached the Capital One Cup final last season before losing to Chelsea.
This season, the Spurs have slowly but steadily made their way up the table and now sit in second place – five points behind league leaders Leicester City and above north London rivals Arsenal on goal difference. His side have the best defensive record in the league this season and have lost only three times in 25 games.
On the podcast, Lammy said: “I'm going to let you into a secret. About six weeks ago, I sat next to Sir Alex Ferguson at a dinner in support of grassroots football abroad.
“He said to me, ‘I think you guys have got the best manager in the Premier League’. Alex Ferguson said that!”
The 13-time winner of the Premier League with the Red Devils has had his rivalries with various managers over two decades. His first challenge was Arsene Wenger who broke United’s monopoly in England before Jose Mourinho arrived in the mid-2000s.
Pochettino also linked with Manchester United job
The Argentine manager is also reportedly in the running to take over from Louis van Gaal. While the Dutchman is adamant that there were no discussions over whether he will leave the club before his contract expires in 2017, reports suggest that Mourinho has been in touch with the board at Old Trafford and even the details of a supposed contract were leaked to the media.
Pochettino’s philosophy of promoting youngsters from the academy rather than signing high-profile players will fit in with the club’s philosophy. With Spurs, he has built a young squad that can challenge for honours in the next few years, which is how he likes to go about building a team.
A report in The Sun claimed his representatives were approached by the United board with the view of succeeding Van Gaal. His current contract with Spurs runs out in 2019.
