“I gave the best of me” – Pochettino releases official statement on Spurs sacking

Mauricio Pochettino has spoken publicly for the first time since losing his job as Tottenham manager last week.

The Argentine was sacked after five-and-a-half years at the club and replaced by Jose Mourinho the next day.

His sacking came as a surprise to many of Tottenham’s players and supporters, but Mourinho has calmed some of the more fiery reactions by leading the Londoners to successive victories in recent days.

Meanwhile, Pochettino resorted to writing a goodbye message to his former players on a tactical whiteboard, an image of which was shared on Twitter by his assistant Jesus Perez.

But the former Espanyol and Southampton manager has now released a statement via the LMA, thanking Spurs’ owner Joe Lewis and chairman Daniel Levy as well as the club’s staff, players and fans.

“I would like to thank Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy for giving me the opportunity to be part of Tottenham Hotspur’s history,” Pochettino said.

“I would like to thank also everyone I met at Tottenham, all the club staff and the football players during these five and a half years.

“Finally I would like to give a special mention to the fans who make this club so great with their fantastic support.

“I gave the best of me to accomplish the objectives I was asked for in our first meeting. There were equally tough challenges as exciting success.

“Best wishes for the future, I am sure we will cross paths again.”

Pochettino led Spurs to four successive top-four finishes in the Premier League and memorably reached the Champions League final last season.

But he was relieved of his duties following a poor start to the current campaign. Last weekend’s victory at West Ham United was Tottenham’s first Premier League victory on the road since January.