Tottenham Hotspur's Mauricio Pochettino said Jose Mourinho, his counterpart at Manchester United, has been "inspirational" to a number of managers who are younger than he is.
Mourinho, 55, has come under fire in recent weeks, not only for his team's mediocre start to the season -- including a 3-2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on Aug. 19 -- but also for a number of reported fallouts with the club hierarchy and key players.
But Pochettino, 46, said he has learned "a lot of things" from Mourinho over the years and believes he will be able to eventually right the ship at United.
"I think for every single manager that is younger than him, he was the inspirational manager," Pochettino said. "Of course, he is an unbelievable manager and, of course, the circumstances that happen with myself and happen with different managers is always going to be up and down. He has been inspirational -- but I am younger than him."
The two teams will meet on Monday night at Old Trafford, where Tottenham have lost every Premier League game since January 2014 -- the season before Pochettino was appointed.
Pochettino said he believes he was to blame for those defeats because Tottenham's players were not prepared before the game.
"Always when you lose, you feel the responsibility," Pochettino said. "I am a manager who always assumes the responsibility and always my thought is, 'You can do better.' ... Many things can happen. It is not just as simple as saying we believe we can win, we are ready to compete ... and then the performance is so bad and you find they were not ready to compete.
"There are many circumstances that can affect this and it is not always under our control. But of course, that mentality to win is here at the club every day."