MX23RW : Thursday, December 19 02:45:10| >> :120:15134:15134:

Emotional Levy revealed 'human' side to Spurs players, says Pochettino

Emotional Levy revealed 'human' side to Spurs players, says Pochettino
© Reuters
The Tottenham chairman, renowned in the game for his stern business acumen, gave a warming speech at the club's training ground earlier this week.

Tottenham's run to the Champions League final has made Daniel Levy more emotional, according to Mauricio Pochettino.

The Spurs chairman is renowned in the game for his stern business acumen, fierce negotiating skills and dispassionate personal skills.

But seeing his club get to uncharted territory this season under Pochettino has allowed Levy to shed his frosty exterior.

He even surprised the players with a warming speech at the club's training ground earlier this week ahead of the biggest game in their history against Liverpool in Madrid.

"The people and the players know him very well, and he was at the training ground, talking with the players and all of us," Pochettino revealed.

"He said: 'Thank you, we're living a dream and it's amazing all we're achieving until today'.

"Some of the players said: 'It's amazing, Daniel is more human!'

"It's a side he never showed too much. He was always more distant, trying to keep the emotion inside.

Tottenham reached the Madrid showpiece after a memorable night in Amsterdam
Tottenham reached the Madrid showpiece after a memorable night in Amsterdam (Adam Davy/PA)

"Now, I don't know why, but his improvement is like, 'If the manager is crying, why can I not show more my emotion? It's not so bad'.

"But sometimes people in business believe they cannot show that. He was like a little bit this type of person who cannot show his emotion.

"He was believing it was a show you are weak. Now he is believing on the opposite side.

"This transformation of the club, that we feel very well, he is a good example of how it is changing.

"It's not that he's going to give us more money now – this area is not going to change, he's going to be strong – but of course in the personal relationships he's improving a lot from when we arrived here."

Pochettino was also emotional this week after his assistant Jesus Perez surprised him by arranging a visit to the training ground from his hero Mario Kempes.

"It was an unbelievable thing," the Argentinian said. "Jesus arranged the surprise, because Mario Kempes was my idol.

"To see him at the training ground was an amazing surprise. Beautiful. Wonderful.

"To have the possibility to meet for the first time Mario Kempes, who I watched win the World Cup when I was six years old in 1978, was another dream.

"I'm living another dream because to meet him was amazing. We were talking about his life now, in the USA, and the possibilities that football gives you to meet people, to know people and know different cultures, to travel.

"I was very surprised. It was Mario Kempes in front of me!"

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Jonathan Veal, Press Association Sport, Madrid');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'f491f9d0-d320-489a-b59d-80db81f3c635');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Emotional Levy revealed \u2018human\u2019 side to Spurs players, says Pochettino'});

ID:360782: cacheID:360782:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:15314:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Georginio Wijnaldum opens the scoring during the Premier League game between Cardiff City and Liverpool on April 21, 2019
Read Next:
Wijnaldum admits Champions League football was never his dream
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool15113131131836
2Chelsea16104237191834
3Arsenal1686229151430
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest168442119228
5Manchester CityMan City168352823527
6Bournemouth167452421325
7Aston Villa167452425-125
8Fulham166642422224
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166642625124
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1672736191723
11Brentford167273230223
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle166552321223
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd166462119222
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham165472129-819
15Crystal Palace163761721-416
16Everton153661421-715
17Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
18Ipswich TownIpswich162681628-1212
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1612131136-255


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!