Pochettino claims Chelsea fans 'fall in LOVE' when they meet him

Mauricio Pochettino will target Thursday night as an opportunity to build on his fractious relationship with those Chelsea fans who have not forgiven his Tottenham Hotspur past, with this reunion of rivals falling on the eight-year anniversary of the Battle of the Bridge.

Pochettino’s Spurs drew 2-2 at Stamford Bridge on May 2, 2016 – a night of unbridled enmity which ended with Leicester City being confirmed as the Premier League’s 5,000-1 champions.

The 52-year-old Argentine is aware that his history posed a problem for some supporters when he took over at Chelsea. Speaking on Wednesday, Pochettino insisted that whatever is spouted on social media is not mirrored in real life and that a connection is clearly growing.

‘When I walk every day with my dog in different places of London, I feel… I won’t say “love” but the appreciation from the fans,’ Pochettino said of Chelsea. ‘On social media, it can be, “Hey, you must do this, do that,” but here, it is the opposite.

‘When I am on the street, the people are really good. They appreciate and give us credit for working in a project and process that is so difficult, because the people who understand football know what is going on here.

‘The fans sometimes get the image that is not real, that is fake. Maybe sometimes my words are taken or a photograph is taken of me looking sad, but I am not a sad person. I laugh. I smile. I am very positive. I am not acting. Sometimes people get the wrong idea. If you face me on the street, for sure you will become in love. Especially if I have my dog.’

Pochettino has a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Sansa after the character in Game of Thrones and joked of those paying him compliments: ‘Maybe it is because they are scared of my dog, because it is a