North London Derby – One of the most awaited London Derby of all time. The drama, The Charisma, The Passion, The City – everything will come together when Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur visits Unai Emery’s Emirates ‘The Fortss’ Stadium this Sunday.
Meanwhile, Its a matter of pride for Arsenal and Tottenham, although the Battle of London Titans promises enthusiasm around the globe for neutrals as well.
Well here we present the story of Unai Emery’s story with Mauricio Pochettino during their time in Spain followed by an encounter with the might PSG..
Well as I quoted above, the most recent encounters with Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino came in last summer when Paris Saint-Germain were beaten 4-2 by Pochettino’s Tottenham in International Champions Cup tie held in Florida.
But there is more to their relationship!!
Unai Emery and his Valencia faced Mauricio Pochettino’s Espanyol seven times during 2009 to 2012 before Emery left Valcencia for #. Though Pochettino had the better of Emery in their first encounter – Emery clearly had an upper-hand in five of other six clashes.
But there was No bad-blood between the two (I know, Arsenal fans would like a feud between Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino), though there was none. In fact, Unai Emery recently revealed that he recommended Mauricio Pochettino to replace him at Valencia when he called it a day for the Bats.
“I told the president that, for me, my ideal successor would be Mauricio Pochettino, who was at Espanyol,” Emery told Marca recently.
“Because I analysed all the teams. Later, Poch called me to thank me. And I did it without knowing him, but I knew his Espanyol well.”
The bond between them has only strengthened with time.
Pochettino acknowledged his feeling to face Arsenal and Unai Emery, speaking before yet another London Derby against Manuel Pellegrini and West Ham.
“I am excited to face Arsenal and Unai Emery who is a very good friend of us, to challenge and to face all the coaching staff,” Pochettino said.
“It is a little bit ironic that our worst enemies are West Ham and Arsenal but I love Manuel and Unai and we have a very good relationship. OK, during 90 minutes we are going to fight, but then before and after I think we are going to enjoy.”
Here are some of the eventful matches between the two:
Espanyol 3-0 Valencia – May 2009
Valencia were after the Champions League place then though despite possessing attractive fully laden attacking talent in Juan Mata, David Silva, David Villa and Fernando Morientes – The Argentine led his men to victory in Barcelona.
Pochettino then took Espanyol into the top half of the table by season end, with a memorable victory against the mmighty Barcelona of pep Guardiola at Camp Nou and which was Espanyol’s his fourth in a row. Espanyol went on to make it seven from eight although on the other side Valencia were not so fortunate. Unai Emery’s side did bounce back against Real Madrid, though that was followed up by losing their next two and missing out on the top four.
Espanyol 0-2 Valencia – May 2010
valencia had a difficult season mainly due to some cup exits and off the field issues, though they secured third spot which was in face their highest finish in four years. This time Unai Emery got the better hand and all credit due to Valencia’s striker Nikola Zigic, who netted a couple to ensue they take the three points.
Despite the defeat, Pochettino led Espanyol to yet another mid-table finish by lifting them up 11th in La Liga – which was the highest they were standing during the entire second half of the season.
Valencia 2-1 Espanyol – December 2011
Espanyol continued his rise under Pochettino, finishing eight in the following season. They caught an eye of Unai as the Spaniard quoted, “Espanyol are very well structured and are a very difficult opponent, who are now a direct rival.”
Although Valencia won that match 2-1 and it was the same score that separated them both when they met in December of the same year in the following season. Roberto Soldado and Tino Costa were on target for Valencia as they maintained their grip over third spot.
Emery had words of praise for Pochettino’s side. “We lacked quality,” he admitted. “Though they didn’t have many opportunities, they controlled the game.”
Espanyol 4-0 Valencia – April 2012
The last fixture between the two for Valencia and Espanyol respectively came in the April of 2012m which turned out to be Pochettino’s final full season in charge of Espanyol and Emery’s time at Valencia came to an end.
It was rather humiliating one for Unai Emery as Espanyol put four past Emery’s Valencia.
Espanyol were looking impressive placed on the sixth place then they went five games unbeaten before this victory which did not last long as Pochettino’s team would fail to win any of the next five – sinking to 14th while Emery bowed out of Valencia with another third-place finish.
But who will come out on top when they meet in the Premier League for the first time?
