Mauricio Pochettino and Mikel Arteta go back a long way.
The two Spaniards were teammates at PSG between 2001 and 2002, and have been close friends ever since.
Now, with Mikel Arteta having led Arsenal to their first Premier League title in 22 years and Mauricio Pochettino managing the United States at the World Cup, the former PSG duo are among the very best coaches in world football today.
Speaking exclusively to beIN Sports, Pochettino was asked for his reaction to his former teammate’s success this season.
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Although he is obviously happy for his friend, he still regards Arsenal as a rival from his Tottenham tenure.
“To be honest, it’s amazing. I am very happy for him,” Pochettino said. “I congratulate him because I think he deserves all the big prizes and it’s amazing what they did.
“Very happy for him because he’s like my little brother. He’s an amazing coach and he showed his real quality — but we knew, we knew the quality of the coach that he was going to be.”
Then came the admission that will leave a wry smile on the faces of Arsenal fans. “The only thing is that I am a Tottenham fan. I love Tottenham and it’s difficult to accept as a Tottenham fan the victory of Arsenal.
“But we need to be fair and congratulate Mikel. When you earn this type of victory you need to say congratulations, because Arsenal was the best team in the Premier League this season.”
The USA manager was full of praise for one of Arteta’s players, Kai Havertz, after the Arsenal forward produced a Man of the Match display against his side in a warm-up game.
Pochettino described the German as a “physically dominant presence in the box”, after Havertz notched an early headed goal in a 2-1 win.
It seems Arsenal are hard to escape this summer for Pochettino. And for Arsenal fans, that is very much a good thing.
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