Tottenham GAGGED the players but the big Mauricio Pochettino question is the ONLY one left

“No questions on the future of the manager, please.”

Access these days is heavily managed by a club’s media department and the ‘quid pro quo’ for the beaten finalists creditably putting up a number of its players is that journalists had to agree not to ask them THAT question.

Nevertheless, right now, as far as Tottenham fans are concerned, it is the only question.

When a club’s remarkable five-year success has been tied so intrinsically to the project-building genius of its manager, of course, everybody wants to know what happens next.

Goodness knows Mauricio Pochettino has not been shy about making noises that things may be coming to an end.

He hinted after the semi-final that if he won the competition he might walk away from football. So what now that he has not. Does that mean he will stay?

The Argentine had shut down the issue in his post-match issue. “It is not a moment to talk too much,” he said. ” Now is the time to stay calm, change the mood, for sure we are going to have time to talk.”

A far cry, note, from “See you all again in August!”

Part of the equation is where he would go next. Satisfactorily or not, the prime posts at Manchester United and Real Madrid have recently been filled. Juventus seem close to appointing Maurizio Sarri.

At Chelsea, they are just about to lose Eden Hazard, could be banned from signing any replacements and, if things did not go well from the very start for Pochettino, he would have the additional burden of, through no fault of his own, not being Frank Lampard.

However, that is to do a disservice to Pochettino. After five years at Tottenham, how green the grass is on the other side of the fence is not the issue.

It is all to do with what he still believes he can do at the club he and chairman Daniel Levy have built in that time.

In the dispiriting aftermath of losing a major final – one where Liverpool, in truth, were there for the taking having played competently enough but still well below par – World Cup winning captain Hugo Lloris admitted that Pochettino’s enthusiasm, sparkle and philosophy may not be enough on its own to get the club to the next level.

“We have shown improvements year after year, so we now cannot throw everything in the bin after a Champions League final defeat,” Lloris said.

“But maybe we had too much focus on the way to play rather than to win the game. There is one club [Liverpool] who sets out to win every competition in which they play, and that is not the case with Tottenham.

“We work and try to stick with the philosophy of the board, the philosophy of the manager and the club.

“We spoke about small details before the game but the small details were not that important. They managed the game much better than us.”

If finishing in the top four and getting back into the Champions League next season is considered a success, Pochettino would back himself to do it – not least because he would have an entire season to enjoy the benefits of their £1 billion new home.

But having been thwarted in Madrid by a £67m goalkeeper with a £75m centre-back in front of him collecting the UEFA man-of-the-match accolade – the same cost as all 14 Spurs players who featured in the final – he is under no illusions that if silverware is on the agenda, it is going to take investment in the team, not just the infrastructure.

Despite cooling interest from Real Madrid, Christian Eriksen looks set to leave. So, too, could Toby Alderweireld with his £25m release clause. Kieran Trippier seems set on a move to Napoli. It looks like being a busy transfer window after a couple of barren ones.

Pochettino will be encouraged by the club’s £50m-plus bid for Giovani Lo Celso of Real Betis, but will seek reassurance he will no longer have to fund that sort of outlay by selling other players.

Of course, the 47-year-old could start again somewhere else on a new project. But emotionally he has invested a lot in Spurs and, at the root, his relationship and trust with his boss Levy appears to be a strong one.

Pochettino will not have to be begged to stay. But, at the same time, that’s not to say it might not take a little persuasion.

source: express.co.uk