I want to come back to Premier League and win it this time – Pochettino

The Football Interview is a new series in which the biggest names in sport and entertainment join host Kelly Somers for bold and in-depth conversations about the nation’s favourite sport.

We’ll explore mindset and motivation, and talk about defining moments, career highs and personal reflections. The Football Interview brings you the person behind the player.

Interviews will drop on Saturdays across BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website. This week it will be shown on BBC One at 23:45 GMT (and after Sportscene in Scotland).

———————————————————

When Mauricio Pochettino first came to the Premier League as Southampton manager in 2013, he was not widely known.

But now, after spells with Tottenham, Paris St-Germain and Chelsea, he is one of the most recognisable names in the game.

Pochettino, 53, is preparing to coach at the World Cup for the first time, as manager of 2026 co-hosts United States.

The former Argentina defender sat down with Kelly Somers to talk about growing up on a farm, hosting barbecues for his players, and his desire to return to English football.

Kelly Somers: Why did you want to be involved in football?

Mauricio Pochettino: When I was a child, it was a thing which began to grow in my body, my brain, my blood. Maybe because my dad, my family, always felt passion for football. But when I try to remember, I go back to my grandad’s farm when I was very little. I would have a ball in my hand and I would play.

Kelly: So you used to play football on a farm?

Mauricio: Yes, on my grandad’s farm. I started to play with my brother, my dad. That’s when I started to feel a passion for the game.

Kelly: Can you remember the first team you played for?

Mauricio: In my hometown of Murphy. I played there. But because my dad was a Racing Club fan, I grew up supporting them. Then I moved to Newell’s Young Boys, and grew my career there in the academy and first team.

Kelly: Can you remember a time in your young career that you thought, ‘I’ve got a chance of making it here… it could be my life’?

Mauricio: It was never in my head that I was going to make a living playing football. When I was 13, 14, when Newell’s Old Boys signed me, that’s when I realised, ‘I am not only playing, this might be a way to build my career and be a professional’. That’s when I realised I was not only playing for fun, but to survive in life and earn money.

Kelly: Can you remember a time when you thought, ‘I want to be a manager’?

Mauricio: It started to grow little by little in my mind, when I was 27, 28. I moved from Espanyol to Paris St-Germain. I started to notice how the coaches dealt with situations. I started to challenge my coaches, to notice why they dealt with things. Then it is up to you – your character, your capacity to understand and make decisions. If you get asked to make a decision, and you say, ‘wait’… like people say now, ‘I’ll ask ChatGPT’ … no, you need to make decisions very quickly, store knowledge from different people, and believe in yourself.

Kelly: If you could relive one match from your career, what would it be?

Mauricio: Player or coach? Changing the result or reliving the experience?

Kelly: Whichever way you want to go with it.

Mauricio: One game I want to go back to and relive, as a coach, is the Champions League semi-final with Ajax [as Tottenham manager in 2019]. That was one of the best moments in my career, my life. The feeling was amazing. The emotion… it was one of the greatest moments. And the final in Madrid [which Spurs lost 2-0 to Liverpool], I will try to play again this game, for sure. I have no regrets, but if you gave me the opportunity, I would not like it to finish the same way.

Kelly: Describe to me a young Mauricio Pochettino. What were you like growing up?

Mauricio: I don’t know if you can be more happy than when you were a child. My first memories are very happy.

Kelly: Describe to me the home set-up… what it was like being in your household.

Mauricio: My parents, my brothers on the farm… I grew up on a farm until I was six years old. It was amazing, with my dogs, horses, but it was a place of work. My dad was a farmer. He had only one pair of shoes – for Sundays. What I learned as I evolved as a man was to respect life, respect people. That’s because if you grow in a place with animals, they don’t judge you. They show love and you share all these things in life. It is a massive lesson and a nice environment for a child to grow in. I love the city, but when you are a child growing up in a natural environment, you can learn a lot.

Kelly: We will all be watching the World Cup next summer. What can we expect out there?

Mauricio: It is going to be amazing. The USA is an amazing country, with amazing people and fans. I invite people to go and visit America, and share the excitement. It is a massive opportunity for the USA to show how football, soccer…

Kelly: Still football? Or are you trying to call it soccer?

Mauricio: No, it’s soccer! They push me to say soccer!

Kelly: It must be exciting to be spearheading that, and be part of that – coming from a football culture and instilling what you have learned in your career to them?

Mauricio: The motivation is massive. Sometimes you feel people don’t understand the culture of football… soccer. Sometimes you need to live with people who can help you. There are coaches out there who say you need to understand the culture of American players. I say, ‘no, the most important thing is the culture of soccer’. They need to know, and we need to translate that to the American players. After one year, we are making great progress, and building with people who are starting to realise the language of soccer is only one – it doesn’t matter if you are American, Brazilian, English… there is only one language of football. We are excited to build a team which is competitive to win in our own country, to try and get the result.

Kelly: Is there a part of you which misses the Premier League? Do you still watch it a lot?

Mauricio: Yeah, I watch a lot. The Premier League is the best in the world. Of course I miss it. I am so happy in the USA, but I am always thinking about returning one day. It is the most competitive league, and of course I would love to come back again.

Kelly: Tell me one thing about you, Mauricio, which would surprise me.

Mauricio: I am a very good chef, particularly barbecues.

Kelly: Then why do you live in England!

Mauricio: It is possible to do with umbrellas when it is raining! I barbecue steak, veggies, fish, chicken. I am very good, very confident. When I was a player, I did it with my team-mates, and as a coach.

Kelly: You’ve done barbecues for your players?

Mauricio: At Tottenham, every 10 days or two weeks, we prepared a barbecue. We had chefs and I would help.

Kelly: [Former chairman] Daniel Levy has left Tottenham now. You had a relationship with him when you were at the club. What did you make of the news of him leaving and the legacy he’s left?

Mauricio: I was very surprised. We still keep in touch. Our relationship was always good. His legacy is there. It’s amazing what he did for the club. We’re in contact and one day I’d like to share a coffee with him. He made it a possibility for me to manage a club like Tottenham – one of the best clubs in the world with an amazing fanbase. I’m very grateful to him and proud to be part of the family of Tottenham.

Kelly: If you could achieve only one more thing in your career, what would it be?

Mauricio: Talking about the Premier League, and we are in London… to win the Premier League and the Champions League. We were so close in Tottenham. I want to achieve this. I am still young, I have the energy, experience and motivation to try in the future. Outside, to make my family feel proud – my sons, my wife, my dog, my horses, my mum and dad, my granddaughter…

Kelly: You have a granddaughter?

Mauricio: Yeah, eight months now. The most important thing is the people who are around you, and want to be with you. That is the most important thing you can achieve.