Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Jose Mourinho’s recent comments on referee’s decisions against Chelsea will not affect Anthony Taylor’s performance on Sunday in the Capital One Cup final.
Chelsea were on the wrong end of bad decisions by the referee when they faced Burnley last week and should have had two penalties in the first half. In the second half, Ashley Barnes should have been sent off but stayed on the pitch.
When Pochettino was asked if Mourinho comments on the referees will play a hand in the final, the Argentinian commented, “No, I don’t think it affects the referees. They are professional and we have trust in them. I don’t think we need to be scared or worry about that.”
He added that both teams have their own game plans on how to face each other and said that in a final, winning is all that matters, “It is only small, tactical details because it is Chelsea. We know Chelsea and Chelsea know us.
“It is about our performance, it is a final and it is about winning not about playing good. It is important to get the trophy.
“Chelsea is one of the best teams in the world and I think that whoever plays for Chelsea, they have the same philosophy and great team a for us, we need to be focused on our game.”
Pochettino and Mourinho managed in Spain at Espanyol and Real Madrid respectively and the former Southampton boss said that they enjoy a good relationship, “Jose and I have a very good relationship from Spain.
“He is a manager I admire a lot. I think he is one of the best, if not the best, in the world. For me it is an honour to play a final against him.
“In our minds we feel we are always stronger than the opponent a we work hard to provide that feeling to the players and it is a very positive thing for us.”
Tottenham beat Chelsea in their last League Cup final clash in 2008 when the blues were under Avram Grant and Spurs were managed by Juande Ramos. In their last game, Tottenham came out on top thanks to an inspired performance by Harry Kane. Sunday’s game promises to be an intriguing encounter and the cageyness of a cup final could be removed since it will be a derby as well.