New Mauricio Pochettino links add major intrigue to the West Ham clash with Spurs this weekend as reports make a big claim.
West Ham head to north London for a clash with bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur this Sunday and a new subplot has been added to what is already a huge game for both sides.
Like West Ham, Tottenham have several players out injured for the match.
Key Spurs midfield star Rodrigo Bentancur will miss the West Ham clash after being ruled out for the rest of the season. Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris also misses the game as does Bentancur’s back-up Yves Bissouma, who requires ankle surgery. And it has emerged Ryan Sessegnon is also out of the meeting with West Ham.
If that didn’t give West Ham boss David Moyes encouragement for the prospect of a much-needed win, a development involving Spurs boss Antonio Conte surely did yesterday.
It was announced by Tottenham that Conte will also miss West Ham as he has remained in Italy to recover from a recent operation.
West Ham and Tottenham have been fighting at different ends of the Premier League table this season. But one thing that Conte and Moyes have in common is that they have both been under pressure to keep their jobs.
And former Spurs boss Pochettino has been heavily linked as a replacement for both of them.
According to reports in January, West Ham have made a genuine attempt to sound out Pochettino for the Hammers hotseat.
But the out of work Argentine has also been linked with a return to his former club. So much so that a Spurs site stated they were confident Pochettino would reject West Ham – just as he did Aston Villa earlier this season before they appointed Unai Emery.
So new Pochettino links add major intrigue to the West Ham clash with Spurs as reports make a big claim.
According to the likes of talkSPORT’s Alan Brazil and The Sun, Conte’s absence for the West Ham game is a pre-cursor to him leaving in the summer and being replaced by Pochettino.
Not only does that add a layer of intrigue to the absence of Conte this weekend, it also takes Pochettino out of the equation for West Ham with many expecting the club to replace Moyes in the summer even if the Hammers stay up.
“Antonio Conte is set to “leave” his position as Tottenham head coach at the end of the season,” The Sun reports after Spurs announced he was staying in Italy to recover.
“And his incoming replacement will be none other than former Spurs gaffer Mauricio Pochettino.”
It was always a long shot for West Ham to go for Pochettino, especially in the midst of a terrible Premier League campaign.
Perhaps if West Ham had taken action earlier in the season the job would have been a more attractive proposition for that calibre of manager.
It will also be interesting to see what impact Conte’s absence and the Poch rumours have on the Spurs players and performance against West Han. Let’s hope the Hammers can take advantage of any uncertainty.
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