Mauricio Pochettino does not believe Kylian Mbappe had a big say in his sacking and maintains he did a good job at Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG parted ways with the Argentine coach in July, just 18 months after appointing him as head coach, and appointed Christophe Galtier as his replacement.
The former Tottenham boss won the Ligue 1 title, the 2021 Coupe de France and the Trophee des Champions during his short reign.
However, Pochettino failed to set up a first Champions League triumph for the Parisian giants as they were knocked out by Real Madrid after squandering a two-goal lead in the last 16 stage.
There has been talk that Mbappe may have strengthened his grip at PSG after snubbing Madrid to sign a new contract, but Pochettino does not think the France forward is pushing for the sack.
Pochettino said in a lengthy interview with Infobae: “I think PSG did everything to keep Kylian and I agree with that.
“He is one of the best players in world football today and I think PSG, who have all the resources to do so, have convinced him to stay.
“But I don’t think Kylian is the one who proposed the new project. Those who rule, in this case the president [Nasser Al-Khelaifi], are the ones who would have thought that a new project at the club was the most appropriate.”
Pochettino feels too obsessed with winning the Champions League at PSG, with anything short of lifting the trophy considered a failure.
“The only thing that has changed a bit now [since he played for PSG] is the expectation, which is Champions League, Champions League, Champions League,” he said.
“The obsession is the Champions League and anything that doesn’t win the Champions League is synonymous with failure, but not for us. I believe that.
“We did a job where we were honest, we worked as hard as we could and we were unlucky in the last minutes against Madrid.
“Last year we reached the semi-finals when Mbappe was injured in the first leg against Manchester City, and with him in Manchester we could have reached the final after knocking out Barcelona and Bayern Munich. In other words, I think we did a good job, maybe it’s not recognized on the outside because it was expected to win the Champions League.”
