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Mauricio Pochettino believes a domestic cup triumph means nothing to a club in terms of the creation of a winning culture. The Tottenham manager knows the FA Cup represents his only chance of a trophy this season and his team play at Swansea City in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Pochettino wants to win but, even if Tottenham were to claim the trophy, which would be his first as a manager, he would not consider it a decisive step in what he is building at the club.
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Pochettino won the Copa del Rey twice as a player with Espanyol and he says it “changed nothing” for him. He insists that only winning the Premier League or the Champions League would make a material difference to the mentality of his players.
“When you win a real tournament, when you need to play under pressure and perform at your best over 10 months – that is the moment when you start to learn about winning,” Pochettino said. “ Winning a cup is going to help but to create that winning culture you need to work a lot and take many steps. It is not: ‘Oh, I am going to create a winning culture in two months [at the business end of a cup run].’”
Pochettino’s Copa del Rey successes were celebrated but he says they were underpinned by intangibles such as the draw, form and other of-the-moment circumstances.
“We were very lucky,” he said. “Maybe we didn’t deserve to win. I am in the history of Espanyol because we won but I don’t feel it made a massive change [to the club]. It changed nothing for me, personally. Nothing. Sometimes success doesn’t help you to be better.
“Sometimes you win because the draw is kind and maybe it makes you play a team that is focusing on the Champions League. The form of the players that you are going to face is another factor. I don’t know if who wins titles like the FA Cup or the League Cup is the best team. The Premier League is the truest test because you need the whole squad and the competition is 38 games over 10 months.”
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Pochettino even included the World Cup in his comparison. He played for a highly rated Argentina team at the 2002 finals but they were eliminated at the group phase having arrived out of form.
“It’s like the League Cup, Copa del Rey, FA Cup – they are very short periods and, sometimes, it’s a coincidence; maybe you have some players not in good form,” Pochettino said.
“There are competitions that if you win, fantastic, but if you don’t win, nothing changes.”
To Pochettino, the process and the stability of what has been built is all important. “Leicester winning the league was a fantastic story but the moment you lift the trophy and then put it down, that disappears,” the Spurs manager said. “You need to be ready for the next challenge. If not, all that happiness will transform into sadness.”
FA Cup quarter-final day is not quite what it once was, but the competition is Tottenham's last chance to end a 10-year wait for major silverware.
They travel to freezing cold Swansea, resurgent under charismatic manager Carlos Caralhal, but not for the first time Maurcio Pochettino has downplayed winning the cup as a mark of progress.
Pochettino said: "The Premier League or La Liga or the Bundesliga or the Calcio (Serie A), not only you need luck - you need to deserve to win this type of title.
"Then there are short competitions, like in the World Cup. When Argentina arrived in Japan (2002 World Cup), I think we were first in the FIFA classifications but we didn't arrive in the best form and were out in the group stage. You need luck.
"To win the Premier League is different. I don't know if who wins the titles like FA Cup or League Cup is the best team.
"The Premier League is the true test because you need the whole squad to be involved then the competition is 38 games, 10 months.
"League Cup, Copa del Rey, FA Cup… they are very short periods and sometimes it is a coincidence, maybe you have some players not in good form, you compete and you are out.
"It's completely different. There are competitions that if you win, fantastic. But if you don't win, nothing changes.
"When you win a real tournament, when you play under pressure and perform at your best over 10 months, in that moment is when you start to learn about winning.
"What it means to be winners, what it means to be professional. That is one step when you start to understand in your head."
Defender Toby Alderweireld may return to Tottenham's team after resuming training following a leg injury.
Striker Harry Kane remains sidelined with a damaged ankle and is unlikely to return to training until next month but is expected to be fit for the World Cup.
Teams to follow shortly.
Antonio Conte remained defiant Chelsea will try to win the FA Cup and finish in the top four Antonio Conte remained defiant Chelsea will try to win the FA Cup and finish in the top four
Antonio Conte has vowed Chelsea will "fight until the end" to win the FA Cup and qualify for next season's Champions League.
Premier League champions Chelsea were knocked out of Europe by Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Wednesday, having been eliminated from the Carabao Cup at the semi-final stage earlier this season.
Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona on Wednesday
Chelsea, fifth in the Premier League and four points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, face Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, and Conte says they must try and achieve both their remaining two targets.
"I think every trophy is important for us," the Italian said. "We started the season to try to fight until the end for every competition.
"In the Carabao Cup we reached the semi-final, in Champions League the last 16. This is the FA Cup quarter-final. If we win, we can play another semi-final at Wembley. We try to do our best in every competition. This must be our target."
Asked whether he was more focused on securing a top-four spot or lifting the FA Cup, Conte replied: "I think we have to try to do both. To try to go to the next round and to reach the semi-final in the FA Cup it won't be easy.
"Leicester is a good team. In the last game we played at home, we suffered against them. Then to try to do our best also in the league, to find a place in the Champions League. It won't be easy."
Alvaro Morata has been left out of the Spain squad
Chelsea's £70m signing, Alvaro Morata, is without a goal in 2018 and has been left out of the Spain squad for upcoming friendlies, just months before this summer's World Cup in Russia.
Morata has started just one of Chelsea's last eight games, but Conte insisted the forward's national team absence is not his concern.
"This question is for the national coach not me," said Conte, with defender Gary Cahill also not selected for international duty with England this week.
"My only worry is to have the players in the best form for Chelsea. Maybe he [Morata] could score on Sunday."
