Jan Vertonghen Names Difference Between Mauricio Pochettino & Pep Guardiola Training Methods

Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen has pointed out that there isn't much to be unhappy about when you're a professional footballer, but he still wishes that Mauricio Pochettino would follow in Pep Guardiola's footsteps and loosen up a bit.

The 30-year-old Belgian, who moved to London to join Tottenham from Ajax in 2012, is quite fortunate to have a job that requires short working days and minimal travel. Consecutive days off, however, haven't been coming that often under Pochettino, according to him.

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“Footballers cannot complain, we don’t have to travel that much, and our work days do not last that long," the defender, currently out on international duty, told Belgium publication DH. “Usually we have to be at the club around 9am and we’re back home for 3pm. It’s a good life.

“The negative point is that we rarely have several days off in a row.

“[Pep] Guardiola sometimes offers breaks of 4-5 days to his players but our coach is someone who wants to train hard and a lot.”

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Vertonghen also had a go at London rivals Chelsea, who've apparently ruined his plans to attend a cycling race by exiting the Champions League (he's really big on cycling).

“We play against Chelsea on April 1, pfft, it’s always the same thing. I cannot come to see the Tour of Flanders live," he said, lamenting.

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"So if Chelsea had eliminated Barcelona in the Champions League, the league match against us would have been moved to Saturday and I could have come.

"I would really like to discover the atmosphere in real life. On Saturday, I already missed the arrival of Milan-San Remo because of a flight we had to take to get back from Swansea.”

He probably won't be getting an apology from the Blues, but they're obviously regretfull over getting knocked out too.