Guillem Balagué - Brave New World

Ivn de la Pea

Mauricio and I crossed paths for the first time when I was still playing at Espanyol, and he arrived in the winter transfer window during a very difficult situation. I am one of those people who thinks that leaders are born not made, and Mauricio has always been a leader. He showed it from the first minute. I remember a group conversation with him at the first game he had at Montjuc where he wanted to convince the group that we were more than capable, had the talent and the ability to correct the complicated situation we found ourselves in, and that what we had to have was belief in ourselves. But more than what he said, it was the way he said it that grabbed the group of players so much.

From the day of his arrival I had a great feeling about him. We saw each other every day, went out to supper together and spent hours through the night talking about football and how we could win the next game. Our families got on very well. Mauricio was not just a teammate, he was and still is a friend.

Later on, as coach, he made us believe in what had seemed impossible, namely saving ourselves from relegation earlier than any of us would have dreamed. We were bottom of the table at that time. I was trying to get over a calf injury but he put us all to work. He made us believe in the path he wanted us to take because it would make us better players, better people and a better group. Training sessions were much more professional and very clear. And you saw in yourself every day that you were better physically, and that tactically the team did what he asked of them. Whats more it was working well.

In March 2009 on the 27th weekend of the season we were losing 31 and were down to ten men. According to what Mauricio told me later the referee said to him, Either you take de la Pea off or I will send him off. He thought about replacing me but in the very next play I scored to make it 32 and we later drew level with a goal from Nene. We earned a draw from a game that just didnt seem possible. At the end of the game I said, You will think I am mad but we are going to save ourselves. And that message came from what I saw on a daily basis, things that the fans dont see. Today Mauricio says those words helped him achieve confidence in the squad. From that moment we all believed it was going to happen.

That season I scored twice against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and we beat them. I was just coming back from a long injury of about six to eight weeks, and he told me to go and play and enjoy myself, although it probably wasnt going to be very enjoyable! Us rock bottom, them top. But we got the type of luck that you need at the most opportune of moments. Obviously we were ecstatic but when you are bottom of the pile, you still have a long way to go before you can achieve your objective; we had to win the next game, and the one after that and another one. For that you had to keep calm, which is what Mauricio did.

I would have liked to have played more games under him, but the last two years I spent most of the time injured. In my last match he gave me the chance to say my goodbyes to the fans and to the stadium, and for gestures like that I love him like a brother.

One thing I will tell you though is that he is a bandit when it comes to playing football-tennis. And Ive told him as much!

I recently came to see him in London and noticed that he continues to have the same leadership qualities that I first saw in him in our first group chat at Montjuc. And that helps him achieve the best possible results because his pupils have blind faith in everything he says. For me he is one of the top five coaches working in the world today.

Jordi Amat

I was playing in the second team, Espanyol B, in the third tier at the time. Pochettino saw two or three of our games. One day he came over to lvaro Vzquez and me, and said, You arent a third-division player. Ill register you with the first team and youll come up with me. I also remember that he gave me the number 5. He said to me, Its time for someone else to wear the number 5 shirt, which had been his. I was thrilled about that.

I made my debut at 17 and he explained how hed made his debut under Bielsa, also aged 17. He said, Stay calm and play your game. Youve fought for and dreamt about this, so itll go well. Thats what he said in the week leading up to my debut. Knowing that hed also made his debut at 17 gave me so much confidence and reassurance for whenever the moment would arrive.

I also remember that my second game was at the Bernabu. Someone got injured and I had to come on. He told me to mark Sergio Ramos at corners. I looked at him with the face of a... well, scared 17-year-old... And he said to me, Youre right, mark Kak instead. There wasnt exactly anyone easy to mark.

He made lvaro Vzquez do some type of taekwondo or something similar because he didnt feel comfortable with the physical side of the game and thats what football is about. And so he had lessons and took it seriously.

Ill always remember Mauricios sincerity and direct approach. I think thats very important. Its really difficult to find people in the football world who always say it as it is, but hes one of the few. A couple of months later he said to me, Look, Jordi. Youre young and you need to play. I was 18. So we arranged a loan deal to Rayo Vallecano, which went very well, and I then went on to sign for Swansea. I owe him lots.

Adam Lallana

When Fonte said there was a rumour about Pochettino, I had to look him up on Google. It was when it was made official that we met for the first time. We had four or five captains at our club, so Jos Fonte, Kelvin Davies, maybe Morgan Schneiderlin, Ricky Lambert and I went to the stadium to meet him with Nicola Cortese, who arranged it. It was January and snowing. We must have been waiting a while in the board room, and then Mauricio eventually came in with Toni and Miki. Ill never forget, Mauricio came in and he was in a suit and he looked amazing and he had a fragrance on, overdid it a bit, but I was impressed. Straight away. His staff werent in a suit so they looked more informal, they were in jeans and a shirt or whatever. Great impression straight away, and a hug. Jess was the interpreter because his English was the best out of the bunch.

He took us in his second week to a training camp in Barcelona and we stayed in a hotel in the mountains. There was nothing going on there. We got a taxi one afternoon to Barcelona and the boss took us for tapas and jamon. It was nice to be in his environment within the first few weeks. We trained on Barcelonas training pitch, and he got us bonding and explained how he wanted us to play. He kept saying press, press, press.

I remember wed had a lot of tactical stuff without the ball. How do we set up from the opponents goal-kick if they play short? Who runs there? And where does the midfield move and where do the back-four slide? If they play back to the keeper, who runs through to the keeper? Someone always has to run through to the keeper to keep him under pressure, and the best thing about it was being told what to do, so you knew what you were doing was right. That was something Id never really experienced before as a player.

But the manager wasnt stupid. He didnt change everything. And then that summer, the next pre-season, we went to Peralada for a training camp. It was a basic hotel, nothing fancy, pitches, pool, double sessions, and getting us fit.