On this day in 2019: Spurs sack Mauricio Pochettino

It is hard to believe that on this day, five years ago, towards the end of the international break - Tottenham Hotspur made the decision to sack Mauricio Pochettino, ending his five and a half year association with the club - immediately replacing him with Jose Mourinho.

Regardless of whether or not it was the right choice, the five years since have certainly been nowhere near as fun. Spurs have had one top four finish and one final in the five years since, but also have not played anywhere near as exciting football as the peak Poch days.

Five years to the day since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked

The Argentine took Spurs from their standard sixth or seventh place finishes in the previous few years, and had them competing for the Premier League title within two seasons. Pochettino is often credited with the development of the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane in particular.

During his tenure in North London, Spurs made two finals, being defeated by Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in the 2015 Carabao Cup final, and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in the 2019 UEFA Champions League final.

The domestic results throughout 2019 were pretty poor, although the underwhelming form at the end of the 18/19 season was largely attributed to the run in the Champions League, where Spurs overcame Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, and Ajax to reach the final.

That was all despite having one point from their first three games in the group stages, with a draw at Barcelona on match day six enough to secure second spot. Still, the form at the beginning of 19/20, with no intense knockout stage run, was really poor - for whatever reason - and it cost him his job.

There was some skepticism over the appointment of Poch, whose CV in England was 18 months at Southampton, where he had done pretty well developing the likes of Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana amongst others.

When the now 52-year old departed the club five years ago, there was a serious outpouring of grief, with the manager extremely popular within the entire fanbase. That love did wain when Poch rocked up at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2023 - lasting just one season before being sacked and replaced by Enzo Maresca.

In the past, Poch has been on record saying he would want to come back to the club one day. During an interview in lockdown, he said: "From the day that I left the club, my dream is to one day be back and finish the work we didn't finish. Deep inside I would like one day to be back, this club is special."

For now, he is in charge of the USMNT, overseeing their road to the 2026 World Cup on home soil. Despite the frustration at the move to Chelsea, you can be sure that there are a lot of fans who wish him the best.