Mauricio Pochettino insists that both he and Aston Villa boss Unai Emery have nothing to prove ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Aston Villa.
Both Pochettino and Emery have previously managed PSG in Ligue 1 and have also had previous jobs in the Premier League; the two north London clubs, Tottenham and Arsenal, who face each other this weekend too.
“To prove? I think for myself and also for him it is not to prove nothing! I think we are trying to help the clubs to achieve what the clubs want”, said Pochettino.
“I never feel like we need to prove something. Before in Tottenham, the coaching staff needed to prove they can win titles. We arrived in Paris-Saint-Germain and in one-year-and-a-half we won three.
“We proved that we can win. You can win with a team that normally wins and when you are in a project, you are ready to win.”
Pochettino may not have won any titles during his time at Spurs, but he did transform the team into securing a third place finish in the Premier League in 2016 and also reached the Champions League final in 2019 in remarkable fashion.
And despite a difficult start to proceedings at Chelsea, Pochettino is willing to be patient with the project at Stamford Bridge.
“Unai Emery and myself are building something. He is also building something at Aston Villa, a really nice project,” said the Chelsea boss.
“We are now starting to build a very good project, a very nice project for the long-term at Chelsea. Maybe some teams need to prove that they can keep winning.
“I think for us it is about helping and to prove we can help the club to earn some level.”
Pochettino’s won three trophies during his last managerial job at PSG. The French giants won the French Cup and French Super Cup, followed by the Ligue 1 title in 2021/22. Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe was the front three at his disposal in Paris, so delivering trophies was the minimum requirement.
During his spell with Tottenham, he got the best out of Harry Kane, Deli Alli, Christian Eriken and Son Heung-Min. Despite coming close, Pochettino failed to bring home silverware for a fanbase who were desperate for glory.
And the Chelsea boss was asked whether it is a bigger achievement to succeed at Chelsea or succeed in France with PSG.
“I think it is not easy to win with Paris-Saint-Germain, it is not easy to win with different clubs. I think we need to give the credit for the coaches or the players who have won with different teams,” said Pochettino.
“Even for a different reason, you feel the pressure also in a club like Paris-Saint-Germain, because it is about winning, there are no excuses.
“I think it is not easy to win, I think in every single competition or in every single club. Of course if you talk about the competition, the Premier League is the most important competition.
“It is the most competitive and of course if you can win here I think the feeling for sure and the credit is bigger.”
Chelsea had a full week of training to prepare without any European competitions, something that Pochettino will want to change in the near future.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, suffered a 3-2 away defeat to Legia Warsaw in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday.
