Pochettino remembers 6-0 rout under Bielsa as Spurs bid to recover from Bayern mauling
MAURICIO POCHETTINO is confident his Euro flops can lift themselves up — thanks to his old boss Marcelo Bielsa.
The Tottenham manager and his players are reeling after Tuesday’s 7-2 Champions League hammering at home to Bayern Munich.
Spurs travel to Brighton today with many wondering whether they will recover from the heaviest home defeat inflicted on an English team in Europe.
But Pochettino knows from his experience as a player that it is possible to recover from a thrashing on home soil in a major competition.
The former Argentina defender, 47, was 19 when he was in the Newell’s Old Boys team thrashed 6-0 at home by San Lorenzo de Almagro in the Copa Libertadores in February 1992.
Newell’s were then managed by his mentor and current Leeds boss Bielsa.
Poch recalled: “I don’t remember ever conceding seven at home but we did lose 6-0 with Marcelo.
'NEED TO BE CLEVER'
“We played the first game of the season and we won. Second game was Copa Libertadores against San Lorenzo — 6-0 at home. It was really, really, really painful. Similar to Bayern Munich.
“But that season, we finished by winning the Premier League in Argentina six months later and even reached the final of the Copa Libertadores, only losing to Sao Paulo on penalties.”
That is why Pochettino believes all is not lost at Tottenham despite their battering by Bayern.
And he remains hopeful his beleaguered boys can still emulate his former Old Boys by still having a successful season.
He said: “In six months, we changed completely the perception.
“Sometimes this type of situation makes you stronger and, of course, better.
“That is the most important thing. We need to be clever and learn from this type of situation.
“But we will have to do it in a different way for me now. That was 27 years ago — now it is a different era, a different period of people.
“But, of course, it was an experience I can draw from.
“I was a 19-year-old then and how I perceived the situation was different to how I see it now.
“But I remember Bielsa talking to us individually and talking to the collective, making changes and slowly turning around the situation.
“Football changes, society changes, but the principle and psychology is still there nearly 30 years later.
“Of course, that gives me hope. The way we lost against Bayern was so important. When you lose the game 7-2, it is never good.
“But the team were always alive and it was in the last ten minutes that was a massive hit for us and left us very disappointed.
But the performance was very good. The problem is to find the balance when you analyse between the performance and the result.
“They scored seven but we played similar and only scored twice. They were very clinical and that surprised some people — and surprised us.”
Tottenham’s capitulation in the last seven minutes against Bayern bore the hallmarks of a team not playing for the manager.
But Pochettino insists that is not the case and claimed his squad is eager to make amends at the Seagulls.
He said: “We all think the same. We were talking before training, during training, after training and at lunchtime after the defeat, and we all feel the same.
“It’s so painful. You cannot be happy with that defeat. And we are trying to move on.
“They want another opportunity to play and rebuild the confidence.
“We need to win games but we know that the first 30-35 minutes in the first half against Bayern was our best period of the season.
“It was 4-2 after 83 minutes but then we conceded three goals more, which was so painful.
“And when you feel pain and you are so down, only you can bounce back again to rebuild your confidence.
“The most important thing is to stay together and support each other and find a way to perform at our best.
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“So one bad result is not going to change our plans. We are so strong in our mentality and ideas.
“In football, if you don’t win you need to assess and analyse everything.
“You will try to find a way to improve but you stick with your ideas and work hard.”