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Argentina winger Erik Lamela has opened up about his time at Tottenham Hotspur and how he loved working under Mauricio Pochettino.
The 29-year-old left Spurs for Sevilla in the summer after eight years in North London, with his most successful spell with the club coming under his compatriot Pochettino.
Although he failed to lead Spurs to silverware during his reign, Pochettino is arguably the club's best manager in the Premier League era.
The current Paris Saint-Germain boss managed Tottenham for almost five-and-a-half years, transforming them into Premier League title challengers and Champions League finalists.
The 49-year-old led the club to the first Champions League final in their history when they lost to Liverpool in Madrid in 2019.
Tottenham also lost the 2015 League Cup final to Chelsea and were runners-up to Chelsea in the Premier League in 2016/17.
After a disappointing start to the 2019/20 campaign, Pochettino was sacked with Spurs 14th in the table.
Speaking to The Times, Lamela said:
The era with Pochettino I can say was the best, no? From when Mauricio arrived, the first season maybe wasn't the best but after that we got better and better.
We were always very close to the top of the league, second or third. I enjoyed every season there, but to reach the Champions League final was a big success for the club.
Asked about how Spurs players felt about Pochettino's sacking, Lamela added:
We didn't expect it. He did an amazing job to bring the club to such a high position, to qualify for the Champions League for many years in a row and always in a position to win something.
The way he managed the team and the way we were training so hard every day, we gave our all to always improve and it was a mental shock that we were there.
Pochettino was sacked in November 2019 and almost two years on now, Spurs have only gone downhill.
José Mourinho's time in North London was a disappointing one, while Nuno Espírito Santo, although it's still early days, is struggling as well.
