Football
Ben Pearce, Tottenham correspondent 6y

Tottenham's new stadium to be ready before Christmas - Mauricio Pochettino

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is confident the club's new stadium will be ready before Christmas.

Spurs' new £850 million home, which was originally due to open on Sept. 15, has been delayed and no test events have been announced.

But Pochettino said: "I am confident [it will be] this year. I had some private conversation with Daniel [Levy, the chairman].

"They are working hard to try to find the solution. I hope before the year, before Christmas, we can play. That's my wish. It will be a big, big boost for everyone.

"[Daniel and I] have conversations every day. He called me this morning before training and yesterday we took a coffee here at the restaurant.

"Sometimes he opens the conversation about the stadium. Sometimes I open the conversation and say 'Daniel, how is the stadium?', and sometimes it's tough to explain.

"But yes, we hope and wish, and I am very confident, that it [will be] before the year. I hope that after that comment Daniel doesn't kill me tomorrow: 'why you put the expectation now so high?'."

In the meantime, Tottenham will be playing a home match in an unfamiliar ground on Wednesday, hosting Watford in Milton Keynes in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Spurs could have asked for the tie to be reversed, and Hornets manager Javi Gracia said at the end of last month that if the north Londoners could not play at home, "it will be normal to play in Watford."

But Pochettino said: "It's better to play in Milton Keynes. Why play away from home in Watford and give the advantage to the opponent? I don't understand why.

"I don't care if they are happy or not happy. What can we do if we cannot play at Wembley or at our new stadium? Maybe the Watford fans are not happy but I think the people at Watford completely understand we had to find another venue to play at. The draw was Tottenham v Watford rather than Watford v Tottenham.

"If I was in the position of Watford, I would be very supportive of Tottenham because it is so tough. The circumstances are so tough when you are building a new stadium.

"For Watford, to play at Wembley, White Hart Lane or Milton Keynes, it is the same distance, it does not change too much."

One person at least is delighted with the prospect of playing at Stadium MK -- Dele Alli, who grew up in Milton Keynes and came through the ranks at MK Dons before joining Tottenham.

"I was there from when I was 10 or 11 and I went through a lot of ups and downs in my career," said Alli. "There were a lot of great managers who helped me through that and helped me to improve as a player and as a person.

"I can't thank them enough for what they've done for me. They really helped me to progress and be ready for the Premier League. It was sad when I left but at the same time I knew it was what I had to do, and I'm happy with how things have panned out.

"It will mean a lot [to go back there]. It was the place where I grew up, and I've bigged it up a lot to the other boys so I'm hoping it lives up to the expectations. With the boys from Belgium, I say it's better than their villages where they're from."

Alli was part of a Dons side that beat Manchester United 4-0 at Stadium MK in the League Cup in August 2014, with Pochettino watching on. But the midfielder's fondest memory at the ground came nine months later.

"It's probably the game against Yeovil at home -- the game where we got promoted [from League One]," he said. "We were winning quite comfortably late in the game and we were looking out for the other result [between Preston and Colchester].

"We heard the fans cheering so we were sort of playing keep-ball for a little bit and trying to see the game out, just watching the fans' reaction to see if we'd gone up or not."

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