Pochettino puts future plans on hold as Tottenham prepare for Champions League final

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM, LONDON — Mauricio Pochettino says talks with chairman Daniel Levy about the future of Tottenham are on hold until after the Champions League final as the north Londoners aim to “make history” in Madrid.

Spurs’ manager has previously stated that the club need to “start a new chapter” next season and “operate in a different way”, adding he would be “stupid” to stay if there was no sign of progress.

However, discussions about the best way forward will be delayed until next month as the focus turns to the showdown with Liverpool on June 1.

“All the fans here deserve us to be cautious in the way we are going to talk,” said Pochettino. “The focus and the energy has to be on helping the players arrive in the best condition, and design the plan to try to win. We’re going to have time after the final.

“I think we can make history. If we can win we will write history and change the perception of this amazing club. There’s not another objective now.”

Liverpool preparations

Tottenham wrapped up a fourth-place finish with a 2-2 draw at home against Everton.

Eric Dier gave the north Londoners an early lead, but quickfire second-half goals from Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun put Everton ahead, and it took a free kick from Christian Eriksen soon after to save Spurs from a final-day defeat at their new stadium.

Meanwhile, Tottenham’s Champions League opponents Liverpool missed out on the Premier League title despite amassing 97 points – but Pochettino does not expect the agony of their near miss to affect them in Madrid.

“They will be disappointed now but they made an amazing season and for sure are a little bit unlucky because of the points they got,” said the Argentinian. “In other circumstances they would have won the Premier League.

“They have an unbelievable squad and an unbelievable manager in [Jurgen] Klopp. Today they feel disappointed for sure but tomorrow, like us, they start to think about the final.”

Alli injury

Pochettino had to withdraw Dele Alli at half-time against Everton due to a fitness concern but does not expect the issue to affect the midfielder’s participation in Madrid.

“He didn’t start in the warm-up,” said Pochettino. “He was strange, his feeling, and then his performance was very poor in the first half because he can’t cope with the situation, so because of caution he was out.

“I think it’s not a problem. We need to assess him but I think he was tired for the circumstance. In a normal condition he was for sure not starting the game, but we started with him and before that problem starts something, in half-time we made the change.”

Everton focus

For Everton manager Marco Silva, the priority this summer is to keep his eighth-placed squad together after securing 10 points from a possible 12 against Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Spurs in the final eight games.

“The starting point for us will be to keep the same level we have because just in this way we can improve – keep the level and attack the market in the key positions we should attack and should improve our squad,” he said.

“We can step by step reach a different level as a team and challenge some of the other teams in the Premier League.”