Mauricio Pochettino was right about domestic cups

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino was right to downplay the importance of domestic cups when he spoke about the competitions in September.

All involved with Tottenham Hotspur, from players to manager Mauricio Pochettino to supporters, are flying high following a successful week in which Spurs grabbed a point against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu and also enjoyed a 4-1 romp over Liverpool that was even more of a blowout than the scoreline suggests. The Lilywhites have seemingly found their form ahead of a showdown with West Ham United in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup Wednesday evening.

Pochettino made headlines last month when he suggest Tottenham were too big a club to pursue winning a domestic cup ahead of other goals. Per Dan Kilpatrick of ESPNFC:

"“The project here at Tottenham is to try to win the Premier League or the Champions League. For me, that is the two big trophies,” Pochettino told a news conference.“OK, I would love to win the Carabao Cup or the FA Cup for our fans, but Tottenham must build a project with the possibility to fight for Champions League or Premier League. Sorry, first of all the Premier League and then the Champions League. If we are going to try to win Carabao Cup or FA Cup, and forget the Premier League or Champions [League], it’s a big mistake.”"

The manager’s words struck a nerve among some fans and observers quick to point to the Tottenham trophy case that has accumulated more dust than silverware as of late. That’s understandable. Club football is a results-based business, and winning titles should be the objective of any supposed top-tier team.

Ignore the “hot take” responses to Pochettino comments, and truly think about what he said and about where Tottenham are at this stage of his project. Not only was he right to say what he did at the time. His words ring true more so today than they did in the closing days of summer.

Tottenham recently proved they can go blow-for-blow with Real Madrid, the reigning and defending Champions League winners, at the Bernabeu, and Spurs are tied with Real atop the group table after three match days. Tottenham sit third and are level on points with Manchester United in the Premier League race, and they are only five points behind league leaders Manchester City.

When striker Harry Kane went to ground with an apparent leg injury late in the contest versus Liverpool, Tottenham fans around the world feared the worst. Considering Pochettino’s history of keeping such stories on lockdown for as long as possible, it’s likely we won’t know the seriousness of this physical setback until Spurs face United this coming Saturday. After all, the front man was likely to be a spectator for the West Ham match regardless of fitness.

That scare, as insignificant as it may be when all is said and done, should remind everybody Pochettino isn’t wrong to treat cup games as chances for non-starters to play and, in some occasions, for fringe players to push those in the preferred XI. It’s possible Pochettino would promote a team of academy players for the West Ham contest if given the luxury.