Mauricio Pochettino Photo: VCG

"I need to wait for the right project. I will not close any door," former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino said on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football last week.

The Argentine was speaking ahead of watching Leicester City beat Leeds United at Elland Road as an analyst. Speculation is growing that he could be watching English Premier League games from the dugout again soon.

"I'm not going to close any door. I learnt when I was really young, [his former coach] Jorge Griffa would say, 'Mauricio, football is going to dictate your way.' And I am waiting to feel what is the right project for us, which is the right way to take.

"We are living a very crazy situation, a crazy moment in our life that we never expected. All is completely different, not only football.

"My energy is full, I'd love to be involved in the game but at the same time I need to understand that at the moment is a good moment that you need to wait. You need to wait for the right project and for sure football is going to bring what football wants and we need to be open and to accept or not."

It is almost a year since the former Espanyol and Southampton boss was relieved of his duties at Spurs and replaced by Jose Mourinho - though ­Pochettino said it does not feel like that.

"I don't feel like it is one year that I have not been working," the former Argentina international defender said.

"Because of the last seven or eight months without the fans in the stadium it does not feel like football. We are watching a similar game but there is not the passion or emotion there. It is so strange and a difficult time for everyone."

Difficult times

Pochettino knows a thing or two about difficult times, not least when he was let go by Spurs.

"After one year, I can say that I was disappointed, a little bit upset and not happy. This was a club that after five and a half years the relationship was massive with the staff, the players and the fans. I am not going to lie.

"But at some point I understand very well this is football. The stadium, in our period, our chapter, the club had to change. But I am not going to complain about the club, about the decision. All I can do is support because we still have a very good relationship.

"The man who replaced me is a good friend. A manager who always treated me very well. When he was at Real Madrid, he invited me to a Champions League game against Ajax and we were talking in his changing room in the Bernabeu. A delegate said, 'Jose, the game is about to start, we need to go.'

"I feel it is only what I can wish, because I love Tottenham and I know Jose and want the best for him, is to try to win. But this journey missed to win a title. That is what we missed. To put the cherry on the top of the cake."

They came close, second in the EPL before the club moved to Wembley as they improved their own stadium, and runners up to Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League final.

That all followed on from Pochettino's work on the training ground and changing the mentality at the club.

"When I was a player I wanted to win. That is our mentality. I wanted to win every game when I was at Espanyol and Southampton. You use the tools to perform in the best way, respecting our values and our principles. 

"Providing that platform to help the players to improve every day. We are very demanding in all the areas. We want to help them to be better as individuals and as a collective."

This, he said, was supported by his relationship with chairman Daniel Levy and the Spurs board.

"They saw how we wanted to build. Respecting [club motto] 'To dare is to do.' Always on my mind was this sound that Tottenham was about the glory and about the style. Trying to respect that and knowing that it would be massive work to try to compete with the big sides."

Short of silverware

Compete they did, though they fell short of silverware in the end.

"When we arrived in 2014, the big clubs were spending money to improve the team. For us, it was a bit different. Our objective was always to win because as a coach if you don't win it is difficult to stay in charge, but also to improve and to play in the Champions League. Trying to be contenders like in the past. In the same way, trying to create some identity, some philosophy, where the fans could feel proud. That is why I feel so proud."

It is fair to say that Pochettino's reputation has not suffered despite seeing Spurs progress once more under Mourinho. The Argentine hopes his successor can go one better than he did.

"I hope in the future it will be possible to win a trophy in the future with Jose because it would be amazing for the fans and this group of players, the majority of whom were with us."

That attitude might change if as many expect Pochettino returns to a Premier League rival.

He has been consistently linked with the manager's job at Manchester United, where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho in the dugout.

The Norwegian has struggled for consistency, especially at Old Trafford where they have their worst league start since 1972.

Pochettino was reportedly favored over then caretaker boss Solskjaer by club legend Alex Ferguson before the former United striker was handed the keys permanently.

Nothing is permanent of course and the Argentine waits in the wings, with Sky Sports presenter David Jones joking that Pochettino might have to change his all-blue outfits when he returns to management.

"It might be a team in red," Jones joked. Pochettino remained poker-faced.