Graeme Souness claims Mauricio Pochettino got lucky at Tottenham and Southampton
By Tottenham correspondent Tony Hughes
Graeme Souness has claimed Mauricio Pochettino was "fortunate" to inherit such strong youth set-ups at Tottenham and former club Southampton.
The Argentine has made a huge impact in the Premier League since being appointed the successor to Nigel Adkins at St Mary's Stadium in January 2013.
He guided Southampton to their best-ever Premier League finish of seventh in his first full season and has transformed Spurs' fortunes during his two seasons at White Hart Lane.
Nevertheless, TV pundit Souness is convinced Pochettino has benefitted from working at clubs with two of the best youth set-ups in the Premier League.
At Southampton, the likes of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers and James Ward-Prowse all emerged from the renowned Saints academy, while Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Nabil Bentaleb, Ryan Mason, Tom Carroll and the recently sold Andros Townsend have all graduated from the Spurs set-up.
Souness said: "He's been quite fortunate when you think of those players who were at Southampton and lots of big clubs chased those players when he left and they eventually went to Man United, Liverpool.
"He inherited a good group there and he's done the exact same at Tottenham. He's walked into a group that was about to happen."
Nevertheless, Souness spoke warmly of Pochettino's role in getting the best out of such promising young players at both clubs.
He also predicts an exciting future for Spurs.