Younes Kaboul set the backdrop for Watford’s New Year’s Day clash with Tottenham perfectly.
As the centre-back prepared to face his old team-mates, he reflected on his time at White Hart Lane, via the Daily Mail:
“The end was not OK.
“Because the manager disrespected me, 100 per cent. When Mauricio first came we had a very nice, human, man-to-man kind of respect. And then something happened and I don’t know what it was.”
Any criticism of ‘Magic Mauricio’ is all but officially forbidden in the Lilywhite half of north London. It’s also interesting how, as always when these stories come out, there’s no real explanation as to how he disrespected him.
The trick that Kaboul is missing, however, is that comments like that need to be followed by performances.
Here was the 30-year-old’s chance to prove a point to Pochettino, and it was an opportunity he wasn’t capable enough to seize as Spurs romped to a stylish 4-1 win.
A goal as the result of a last-minute scrap on the goal line will not have left the Argentine kicking himself as to why he didn’t give the Frenchman more of a chance. His defending for one of Dele Alli’ goal will have no doubt left the Spurs boss feeling vindicated, if he gave it any thought at all.
While the ever-eccentric Heurelho Gomes received a warm reception from the boisterous away end at Vicarage Road, Kaboul has somewhat dampened his relationship with his old club.
Mainly remembered for his famous last-minute winner at the Emirates, the best way to describe his time at Spurs is in his own words: “ups and downs”.
What the former Portsmouth and Sunderland defender may not realise is that players like Younes Kaboul are the very reason Pochettino – himself a former centre-back – was brought in.
David Pleat once said that it was his job to keep the mediocrity away from Tottenham. It’s now Pochettino’s.
Sadly, Kaboul, like Andros Townsend and Ryan Mason after him, is now merely a symbol of how far Spurs have come in the last few years. He may rarely find himself described as the epitome of progress, but in this case it’s true.
The partnership of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen seems a far cry from two seasons ago, but it’s thanks to Pochettino that the club has blossomed – even if that’s meant disrespecting a few egos along the way.
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