Mauricio Pochettino faced a barrage of questions about under-fire Manchester Utd manager Erik ten Hag ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Old Trafford in the Premier League.
Manchester United have endured a torrid time of late and it has resulted in an outpour of criticism that has been hurtled ten Hag’s way.
United are languishing down in 7th after losing to Newcastle on the weekend but are ironically five points clear of Pochettino’s Chelsea.
Chelsea have endured their own respective struggles this season and are still very much in a transitional period as Pochettino continues to try and mature and mould his youthful crop of players.
The situation at United is different in the sense that ten Hag’s side were supposed to be the finished article that would be contesting for the league this season but that has obviously flatlined rather quickly.
Asked if he had any advice for Ten Hag, Pochettino said: “It’s not my duty. I need to be focused because we have plenty of things to deal with here.
“I am very respectful; I don’t want to talk about another club.”
Pochettino once seemed the most likely manager to take over at Old Trafford before Ten Hag was appointed.
Asked if he is glad to have avoided the job, Pochettino said: “You try to make me talk too much and make a mistake!
“We need to be respectful about another club. I am not the person to talk about what is going on at different clubs. If you ask me, am I happy here, yes, I am happy here in this project.
“We are dealing with a lot of different situations at the moment that we need to improve on but we are building something here and we are working really hard.”
