Gus Poyet made the tough decision to move from Chelsea to Tottenham Hotspur in 2001, but he didn’t realise just how detrimental this transfer would be for his career
Gus Poyet believes he was “naive” to leave Chelsea for Tottenham, claiming he was a “victim” of Claudio Ranieri’s reign at Stamford Bridge. The former midfielder, now Jeonbuk manager, spent four years playing for the Blues and won various domestic cup honours as well as a European trophy in his debut season.
Spurs and Chelsea meet in the Premier League on Saturday with kick-off at 5.30pm. The two London have a historic rivalry – although it is one Poyet says he was unaware of when he made his controversial move between the two clubs.
The Uruguayan quickly became a fan favourite at Stamford Bridge, scoring 49 goals and assisting 16 times in 144 appearances. However, things quickly soured when he chose to switch sides in London and made the move to White Hart Lane in 2001.
After joining Chelsea on a free transfer, the west London side accepted almost £3million from Tottenham during summer 2001 for the midfielder’s signature. This was at the time that Ranieri was bedding down in London, and the Italian received plenty of criticism for selling well-loved players, including Dennis Wise.
Poyet called out his former manager in an interview with The Standard in 2012, stating that the move across London was not something he was in control of.
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He said: “I still have a strong feeling for them. I played in a very good Chelsea team and for most of the time we were in control of games. We won very good trophies in England and in Europe and it was one of the best times in my career.
“I took a lot of stick from the Chelsea supporters for joining Tottenham, but I had to stay in London for the sake of my childrens’ education. I was a victim of Claudio Ranieri’s changes. I had a year left on my contract and was still very fit to play, but the manager thought I couldn’t play week in, week out. The same thing happened to Dennis Wise and he had been the captain for 11 years.”
Poyet went on to admit his naivety in the rivalry between Spurs and Chelsea, adding: “I knew I was joining a rival club but I didn’t view it in those terms.
“I asked myself what the great, great rivalries are in London and I would say it’s Tottenham-Arsenal. Maybe people might now add Tottenham-Chelsea, but for me it is not up there with Arsenal.
“So I didn’t have that pressure from my side, although I realised afterwards because of the reaction from the Chelsea supporters who asked how it was possible that I was coming to Spurs and how I was betraying them.”
Last year, Poyet reiterated his lack of education on the feud between the two London clubs, telling Full Circle with Bet365: “I will be honest, I was very naive, very naive. I swear by it, it isn’t a lie, I had no idea how close they were and all the reactions I would get from Chelsea supporters.
“My explanation is a simple one, because when I played for Chelsea, the two teams that I wanted to beat were Arsenal and Man United. They were the ones winning the league, I wasn’t even thinking about Spurs with respect to them. There was even more of a fight against Leeds because of the previous history between the teams, more than when Chelsea played Spurs.”
Poyet added: “When I was at Chelsea, it was during a time when we were beating Spurs often enough that no one made a big deal about it and it just seemed like a normal game. I had a couple of offers from some teams out of the country and another option being at Spurs, and I wanted to stay in London.
“So then I moved, and Glenn Hoddle was a big part of that, but after the news had broken it was crazy. I didn’t know what I had done, it was madness. It was only then that I realised, but the truth was that I was very naive.
“I didn’t realise it would be so dramatic, but now I’m on the other side with a team that didn’t beat Chelsea for however long. As much as I loved Chelsea, my character meant I had to do everything in my power to win for Spurs now.
“The first couple of games against Chelsea, we lost, but we eventually beat them on the third attempt I think. It was a strange night, but it was important as a professional.”
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