(SPORTS) Their way under Pochettino was perfect – Emery surprised to see Tottenham hire Mourinho

Unai Emery admits he was surprised by Tottenham's decision to sack Mauricio Pochettino and appoint Jose Mourinho as
head coach.

The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United boss was appointed on a three-and-a-half-year deal on Wednesday just hours after Pochettino's dismissal was confirmed.

Arsenal head coach Emery was shocked by the decision as he considered Spurs' methods under Pochettino to be "perfect", while he is uncertain what Mourinho will do to change their fortunes.

"Yes, it was a surprise," he told reporters on Thursday.

"I think it's a surprise how the relationship with Mauricio Pochettino finished but I don't know exactly why or how he [Mourinho] is going to change their performance.

"He is a very good coach. His career is very strong with the titles and experience. I think also Pochettino's work in Tottenham was amazing.

"In football, things happen very quickly. The last result may be more important than results in the long term because I think Tottenham were doing very good work with Pochettino.

"Maybe [in] the last matches they didn't achieve good results, but I think, overall, their way under Pochettino was perfect. Now they decided to change, I don't know exactly the reason for that, but they have their way and we have our way.

"At the moment we have some distance in the table from them and we want to keep that distance for the next matches."

Pochettino's exit came during a year in which Spurs have managed just 11 wins in the Premier League, only three of which have come this season.