When it comes to raising performance levels, few other managers are better placed to talk about how to craft that journey than Mauricio Pochettino. 

A transformative figure in the modern English game, Southampton's decision to bring him to England was initially a shock but one that sent waves right up to the top of the game. Indeed, just a few years later, the Argentine took the best Tottenham side in recent memory to the Champions League after turning them into bonafide title contenders. 

Having taken over at one of the world's richest clubs, revisiting his discussion with Jake Humphrey on The High Performance Podcast last year seems like a good idea, particularly given his current success on the grandest of footballing stages. 

As ever, GIVEMESPORT have picked out the three biggest takeaways from his episode. 

Never settle 

Pochettino is synonymous with raising the collective game. Coaching the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier into stardom, he took a risk when moving to Tottenham in 2014. 

Indeed, moving the likes of Andros Townsend, Emmanuel Adebayor, Sandro and Jake Livermore out required putting a lot of trust in his youth and not settling for the first-team stars he already had readily available to him.

That idea of constantly questioning yourself and reflecting on what it is you're currently doing is - in his mind - a tentpole of high performance. 

"Not accepting that everything you are doing is good," he said when asked to define high performance. 

"Always to put it into question. 

"High performance is trying and trying and trying to improve and learn."

The importance of attitude 

While his Tottenham team had standout stars, their work ethic and hard running were hugely important facets of their set-up. Indeed, in order to convince players to put in the hard yards, an attitude must be instilled. 

If the attitude is there, in Pochettino's eyes, the success is more likely to come. 

"Life is about attitude. If you don't have attitude, you are not going to achieve anything.

"You can have all the talent God can provide but without attitude you are not going to achieve anything."

Tottenham vs Ajax Mauricio Pochettino

Driving force

When asked about personal responsibility, Pochettino waxed lyrical about how crucial finding a drive in your life is. Clearly, we're not all elite level footballers and coaches but finding that drive is a universal concept, something we can take into whatever avenue we are exploring. 

Having that confidence to believe in what you want to do is a crucial thing for one of the game's most celebrated managers. 

"You need to feel that you drive your life. 

"You need to be confident that how you are going to drive your life is going to and it'll bring all that you want."

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