LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino says he is treating Tottenham like a job for life, but he refused to rule out managing Real Madrid in future.
Pochettino said he would rather retire than coach Arsenal or Barcelona but he explained that -- unlike Arsene Wenger or former Manchester United boss Sir. Alex Ferguson -- he does not have "absolute power" to stay at Spurs indefinitely.
Real coach Zinedine Zidane is clinging to his job after Wednesday's Copa del Rey defeat to Leganes and he has admitted that only a strong performance in the Champions League round of 16 will save him from the sack.
Asked about the possibility of succeeding Zidane, Pochettino underlined his commitment to Spurs but suggested it would be foolish to rule out too many jobs in such an unstable industry.
"I am so clear: I am never going to be manager of Barcelona or Arsenal because I am so identified with Tottenham and Espanyol," Pochettino said.
"I grew up in Newell's Old Boys and will never manage Rosario Central. I prefer to work on my farm in Argentina than in some places.
"But my commitment is massive in this club. I am working like I am going to be here forever. But in the end, it is like the players, you never know what is going to happen in football.
"Tomorrow Daniel [Levy, the Tottenham chairman] could have a bad night and say, 'Oh I am going to sack Mauricio.' And then I look stupid saying I am not going to work in one place or another.
"You never know in football. That is the problem. It is a very unstable situation."
In an earlier news conference, Pochettino claimed Arsenal boss Wenger had "made a mistake" when the Frenchman hinted that Liverpool and Spurs received too much praise from the media given their relative lack of success in the past 25 years.
And the Argentine explained that, unlike Wenger, he was not at leisure to decide when he leaves north London, which makes the job more difficult.
"It's different if it was Ferguson or Arsene -- they are symbols of the club and they can decide how long they stay, whether it's 20 years or less. But I am coach, I am a club employee. It is not a position like Ferguson or Wenger - they have full control of everything," Pochettino said.
"Why is it that Liverpool and Tottenham both received praises? Why? It's because of the challenge of being a coach at Tottenham and Liverpool, to not have the power that Wenger has. Wenger has absolute power to create a project, develop it, to stop it, to sign, not to sign, to sell, not to sell and it's normal because that he has more responsibility in that.
"I think he [Wenger] could understand the situation of the other coaches, how we are, which is completely different to what he and Ferguson had.
"It's not down to me," Pochettino continued. "Always I work like I want to be here for the rest of my life. That is my responsibility, how I take my job. The way I work is like thinking I'm going to stay forever in the same club. It's the best way to commit to your job.
"But I am realistic and today you look in England from the beginning of the season and today in six months, seven months, there's many changes on the Premier League benches.
"Then it's not only you. It's about the results, the ideas, it's the chairman, he can change the chairman and say come on, out."