Mauricio Pochettino: No issue between me and Pep Guardiola over 'Harry Kane team' comment

Mauricio Pochettino says there is no issue now between himself and Pep Guardiola over his October jibe about Tottenham Hotspur being “the Harry Kane team”, and that he admires the Manchester City manager.

The Catalan had made the quip after his side beat Chelsea, referring to how many goals the striker was scoring to fire Spurs, and Pochettino did react abrasively to it the following week. He maintained however that the air has been cleared.

READ MORE: What will happen in the Premier League this weekend

READ MORE: PSG transfer plans stolen from Emery’s home

“I had some conversations with people from the coaching staff,” Pochettino said. “It was a thing that happened in that moment. In the end it's not an issue. We have a very good relationship. I admire Pep - all that he was doing at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now at Manchester City. My idea as a manager... I think he is one of the managers I am more close to in football. Now it's in the past I forgot everything. I think him too, the same.

“Be sure, we're going to see each other and say hello. We have a lot of friends in the middle. The respect is the most important. I don't only admire and respect him how he feels about football. His passion for football. I know him from Barcelona, 21 years old, he was older than me. It's not a problem.

"The most important is to try to enjoy football. Two teams that try to enjoy football. Of course I wish him and all the people I love there all the best. But we're going to win, try to stop them and not just to stop them - we need the three points to try to be in the top four and fight for big things at the end of the season.”

Pochettino also said his players need no extra motivation for this game, as they look to end City’s record-breaking winning run at 15.

“There's always motivation to play this type of game. It's the type of game where you don't need to motivate the players, you don't need to talk to much. You can feel in the atmosphere after the Brighton game that they're so excited. For be, it's about enjoying it. You want to be there, you want to feel what happens on the touchline, feel what happens on the pitch. We're going to play, for me, the best team today in Europe, not only in England. Because they're in their best form. It's so exciting. It's a massive challenge - the type of challenge you always want the possibility to have.”