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Mourinho praise small comfort for Pochettino

By Ian Chadband LONDON (Reuters) - It may have been of scant consolation to Mauricio Pochettino after his Tottenham Hotspur side had been soundly beaten at Wembley but his Chelsea conqueror Jose Mourinho believes the Argentine will go on to enjoy major success with Spurs. Following Chelsea’s 2-0 triumph in the League Cup final on Sunday, Mourinho was full of praise for the challenge that Pochettino and his side had set him. “The natural tendency of this (Tottenham) team is to win trophies," the Portuguese told a news conference. “I don’t know when or which ones but they have to win. So many congratulations to Mauricio. It was a tough game for us to win.” Pochettino, who reiterated that he believes Mourinho is the best manager in the world, was not about to disagree with the 'Special One’s' verdict. “We need to learn, but I think we’ll improve a lot from this final and I think this group has a brilliant future,” Pochettino said. “For us, we can take a lot of positive things out of this match,” added the man who is yet to win any silverware while Mourinho now has 21 medals dotted “somewhere" in his living room. “The average age for my players was 23 and a half and for many players it was their first time at Wembley. But it showed that we can play in more finals in the next few years,” said Pochettino. The Argentine felt Spurs had been unlucky with the deflections that led to both goals, the first just before halftime when John Terry’s shot hit Eric Dier and the second when Diego Costa’s strike clipped Kyle Walker and wrong-footed Hugo Lloris. Pochettino was also not about to use the excuse that his side had had to play at Fiorentina in the Europa League on Thursday while Chelsea were enjoying a week-long rest. “I think we finished the game stronger than them in the last part of the game,” he said. (Editing by Ed Osmondcom)