By Daily Sports on January 5, 2017

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has warned Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola that football in England is “totally different” to anywhere else, saying anyone who underestimates the Premier League will struggle.

Guardiola is still getting to grips with life at City and this week he accused the Premier League of having “different” rules after his team had a player sent off and conceded a controversial goal in the 2-1 win over Burnley.

Pochettino, like Guardiola, moved to England with experience of Spanish football, but he has had little trouble adapting in four years at Southampton and Tottenham.

“When you come to a different environment it is not easy, the Premier League is totally different,” Pochettino told Spanish news agency EFE. “Until you are here, and you live in it, you do not realise what it is really like.

“Sometimes people underestimate the English league, they think that here everyone just plays long ball, that there is no quality, that every Wednesday the players have the day off. But those days are over. I have been in this country four years and never seen this.”

Following criticism of Guardiola from sections of the English media, Pochettino said “humility” and hard work were essential to success in England.

“If you come here and don’t have the humility to know that you must work, you can be disappointed,” he said. “Guardiola is one of the best coaches in the world and it is normal that he needs time to settle in and get across his ideas.”

Tottenham will leapfrog Guardiola’s City in the table if they beat league leaders Chelsea at White Hart Lane on Wednesday and Pochettino is wary of the threat posed by Premier League top scorer Diego Costa.

“Diego Costa is a player you hate when you are playing against him, but you love when he is your teammate. Someone super competitive, with character, who never likes to lose,” he said.

“He is proud, which gives him the capacity to improve every day. He transmits this winning culture to his teammates, of never being satisfied, of always looking for more. He makes you better each day and anyone would want him in their team.” (NAN)

•Photo shows Pep Guardiola

Source Daily Sports

Posted January 4, 2017

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