Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino firmly believes his team deserved to win the Premier League title during the 2016/17 season. Pochettino argues that Spurs should have been awarded the top spot after Chelsea were found guilty of rule violations concerning financial misconduct surrounding Eden Hazard's transfer from Lille back in 2012.
I've said it before, we should have won a title, one Premier League. It should have been awarded to us, — Pochettino declared, recalling Tottenham's record-breaking 86 points that season, finishing seven points behind Antonio Conte's Chelsea.
They were punished; they acknowledged everything themselves, so that’s that. The title should go to the team that came second… we definitely deserved to be champions that year because we were the second-best.
While acknowledging the efforts of Antonio Conte, Pochettino emphasised that the circumstances for clubs were not level:
We didn’t start the season on equal terms... it’s impossible if one club plays with offside and others don’t. Or if some are using VAR while others aren’t.
Pochettino also revealed that he had been approached regarding a potential return to Tottenham last season, but the timing didn’t align:
When I was free, no one contacted me, and when I was working, I got an offer, but I couldn’t make the decision to return. We were a bit unlucky.
He confirmed his willingness to return to the club “in any division” and expressed sympathy for former chairman Daniel Levy following his dismissal:
He feels the same way I did when I was sacked. Now he knows that feeling.
