Poch - I'm not going to get all Jose Mourinho about it

Mauricio Pochettino id disappointed with the scheduling of the Capital One Cup Final but took it in his stride and suggested Mourinho would have complained but he won't be.

Poch - I'm not going to get all Jose Mourinho about it


In a clear bias towards Chelsea they have given the Stamford Bridge side a whole week to prepare for the tie and given Spurs just two days, one of which is a recovery day. It's a disgraceful piece of scheduling that gives Chelsea a massive advantage in preparing for the game.

There is simply no way Tottenham can put in the tactical preparation Chelsea will been given the time to do for the game, which for a final is a clear indication of who they want to win. Presumably they are going to appoint a Chelsea referee as well, perhaps Chris Foy who handed Manchester United the 2009 trophy by not sending off John O'Shea after 64 minutes with the score at 0-0, United went on to win on penalties.

“Maybe if Jose were in my position now they would be complaining about the situation!  
"But I understand it is just football. It is not fair to play a final on the Sunday after you play in another ‘final’ in Florence on the Thursday. Chelsea play Burnley on the Saturday and then they have a clean week to prepare for the final. 
“It is not fair but then we have to understand this is the competition. We are in the Europa League, the Capital One final and the Premier League. We need to understand that that’s football. It is not the best situation, but we need to prepare every game like a final because we have important games in the mean time. 
“We have a very tough game against Arsenal and then Fiorentina here, then West Ham and Florence after that. Then the final. It is football, we need to accept that and be ready for every game. 
“Maybe we will change the plan and stay in Florence after the game to try to recover better and train there on Friday morning because we need to recover quickly for the game on Sunday. But always it is difficult. 
“It is no problem. We are strong. We believe in our way and will be sure to be ready for the final.”

The is no reason the Football League couldn't have scheduled the game, which takes place on March 1st for a week that Chelsea have a UEFA Champions League game to even things out slightly but that would have been the neutral thing to do and clearly they are not neutral.