Jan Vertonghen has urged Mauricio Pochettino not to abandon Tottenham when they are on the brink of something special.
Pochettino is admired by Manchester United for his work this season at Spurs, who are seven points behind Premier League leaders Leicester with five games left to play.
Speaking after Tottenham’s 3-0 win over United yesterday, Vertonghen said he believes the Argentine’s presence is crucial to Spurs’s chances of future success.
“For me it is vital,” said the Belgium centre-back. “To keep this thing going, he has to stay. I think everyone wants him to stay and he feels that — that we want to fight for him and that this team is the best thing for him, so I hope he stays.
“I am extremely excited. If you feel the buzz in the club, in the dressing room with the guys, it is something I’ve never experienced before and we have to keep this together. It is something special, at the training ground, in between the players. It’s everywhere.
“We have the belief that we’re the best team in the League at the moment, although if I say that I am disrespectful towards Leicester and I don’t want to be. But if you see the way we play, how dominant we are, how we have the best attack, the best defence, how we run more than most teams.
“We have got everything to be up there and I think the manager gives us that belief. Normally at this stage, the best team are top, so compliments to Leicester, but I think we are a very good team.”
This was Vertonghen’s first game for nearly three months, after he damaged knee ligaments in the 3-1 win at Crystal Palace on January 23. The experienced Belgian rarely put a foot wrong as three goals in six minutes from Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld and Erik Lamela secured Tottenham’s first home League win over United since 2001.
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Vertonghen, 28, added: “I can bring experience but that is a strange word to me. If you see how hungry these guys are on the pitch, there is not much more I can add.”
