Pochettino: Spurs players will benefit from being pushed out of their comfort zone with loan moves

Mauricio Pochettino believes Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Tottenham’s other loan players will benefit from being pushed out of their comfort zones and being denied the “luxuries” they enjoy in north London.

Nkoudou joined Burnley this month while Marcus Edwards has also left Spurs’ state-of-the-art training complex in Enfield, signing up to spend the rest of the season with Championship outfit Norwich City.

Josh Onomah and Cameron Carter-Vickers are also having a year away from Tottenham, currently representing Aston Villa and Ipswich respectively.

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And, while Pochettino hopes his youngsters get playing opportunities, he feels the experience of being displaced from the Spurs bubble will be just as valuable.

Asked whether he is concerned that Burnley have just signed ex-Spurs winger Aaron Lennon, which could affect Nkoudou’s game time, Pochettino said: “It’s not only this.

“For us, I think the most important thing is the player lives a different experience. Tottenham is such a beautiful place for younger players. Not every place is like this, or different clubs don’t provide you with the same things that Tottenham provide.

“But I hope he can play more and can prove that he can compete in the Premier League, and then get the experience that it’s difficult to provide for him here. Of course it’s more competition now with Aaron at Burnley too.

“My reference was about the amazing facilities here that make your life easier, and the luxuries. For the human being it’s easy to be comfortable and not put risk on yourself. Sometimes you need to realise that life is not like we provide here.

“Sometimes it’s tough to achieve your dreams because you need to suffer. You need to fight to achieve them and to create your life in a good way.

“I think that’s why I say if you arrive from France like GK (Nkoudou) and Tottenham provide everything, and you are so comfortable and happy, you can be confused because you’re still not mature.

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“You’re so young and you say ‘oh that’s football in the Premier League. That’s easy, no?’ Ok, go and fight, and fight for your place.”

In the past, Pochettino has been reluctant to loan his top youngsters out, and last summer he explained that he ideally likes to give them two seasons to break into the first team before, if they are unable to do so, sending them away to gain competitive experience elsewhere.

However, the Argentinian admitted last week that it is now harder than ever for an academy player to break into his matchday squad, and that the bar has been raised by 10 or 15 per cent since he arrived at Tottenham.

With that in mind he feels loans can be useful, and he says every policy is subject to review and change as his squad evolves.

“Always the players can step up in a different environment,” said Pochettino, slipping into Spanish with his assistant Jesus Perez translating.

“Some players start to lose their confidence and self-belief, and when you send them on loan sometimes they start to recover it and can achieve a better level.

“In general with decisions made three and a half years ago – not only regarding young players but in the first team too – to now to take the same decision is completely different.

“Whereas, before, a player’s level was enough to reach or play in the first team, maybe now because the level of the team is different, it’s not enough. You can’t apply the same policy on everything, not only for loans but everything around the first team.

“Sometimes you have to anticipate, be proactive and take unpopular decisions because it will be good for the future. Sometimes it’s easy to take simple or popular decisions and maybe it’s going to be a very bad decision for the future.

“I heard a rumour of how badly Arsenal were dealing with players at the end of their contracts, like Alexis [Sanchez]. Now the rumour is how good Arsenal were to manage the last six months of this player, to get a player they wanted (Henrikh Mkhitaryan) and achieve a big deal.

“In general the feeling was they were doing wrong and at the end it looks [different].”

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