Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his job after Spurs lose 7-2 to Bayern - but wants to stay


Mauricio Pochettino might be the 2/1 favourite to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job, but the Spurs boss insists he's going nowhere.

Pochettino was slashed to favouritism after his side suffered a humiliating 7-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, after which the Argentinian confessed that his side had downed tools late on.

"Of course we are very disappointed, very upset, but we need to stay all together. A message of togetherness and (staying) strong in our mentality," he said.

"I say football is today, it's not yesterday. It's not about experience, it's not about what happened three months ago. Football always is today, to give your best and today we are disappointed. Every single touch of Bayern was very clinical, they scored on every single touch, that is tough to accept. We need to move on.

"This type of situation you need to face. You need to face (it) and be strong and keep going. We need to stay all together, helping each other because the best medicine is to be all together. Not to try and escape the situation.

"When you receive this type of result I think it's important to bounce back and stay together and believe in yourself."

Spurs started their Champions League clash well enough when Son Heung-min opened the scoring but apart from when Harry Kane pulled one back at 4-1 down it was relentless one-way traffic.

The Bundesliga champions ran riot as former Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry bagged four, Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace and Joshua Kimmich also found the net.

It's the biggest ever margin of defeat by an English side at home in Europe while it's also the first time Tottenham have conceded seven goals at their own ground in any major competition.

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Sporting Life's Premier League preview package

Not only are last year's runners-up in danger of a group stage exit after taking one point from their opening two games, but it further adds to their woes this season after a sluggish start to the Premier League and an embarrassing Carabao Cup exit to League Two side Colchester.

To compound their misery, Spurs become the first English side to concede seven goals in any European competition since they themselves lost 0-8 to FC Koln in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in July 1995.

Pochettino, who suffered his joint heaviest ever defeat as a manager in all competitions alongside a 0-5 loss to Real Madrid in March 2012, saw his odds cut to 6/4 from as big as 12/1 before kick-off but they've now been eased to 2/1.

Next in the running with Sky Bet is Everton boss Marco Silva at 4/1 while Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is 5/1 ahead of 6/1 chance Steve Bruce at Newcastle.

Click here for Sky Bet's Premier League sack race odds

Pochettino: I want to stay

"In five-and-a-half years, in every single press conference we're talking about my future," the Argentinian said.

"I hope that we're still talking it means we're going to spend five more years at least.

"This is a moment to stay all together. I accept the opinions when you don't win, it doesn't only happen at Tottenham, it happens in all the clubs in the world, at a different level too.

"It is normal that (the Bayern) game creates a lot of opinion and rumours and everyone needs to talk.

"In the end all that happened is that we lost a game. There is no doubt we are staying together and we are going to find the way to be successful again, no doubt."

Pundits views

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes that Pochettino will need to reflect on the defeat and whether he can get a reaction from the squad.

"I think it will be down to him, how he reacts to this. How he gets his team and his changing room to react to this," Ferdinand said as a pundit on BT Sport.

"This is a huge result. To be beaten at home in the Champions League in a game of this magnitude against a Bayern Munich team who we were talking about before as being in transition.

"To be destroyed like this, he is going to have to look in the mirror and do something."

Ferdinand added: "We've all been there. We got beat at United, 6-1 against Man City our arch rivals.

"That feeling is a horrendous feeling and as a player all you want is a game to come round again - you'd take a game tomorrow.

"It won't go away completely but you want the opportunity to go out there and put on a performance and get a result to revitalise not only your team and staff, but the fans as well."

Former Spurs striker Peter Crouch said: "You can't get beat seven at home, I don't care who it's against. These are top players, international players.

"People have been questioning the character right from the start of the season. Questioning players that wanted to go away - your (Christian) Eriksen's and (Jan) Vertonghen's - and a result like this is only going to ask more questions."

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