Pochettino to Spurs: ring in the New Year like you're in Spain

Tonight is New Year's Eve, and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino expects that his team will be celebrating along with pretty much everyone else. However, with an away match against Everton coming this weekend, instead of issuing a curfew the Argentine has merely issued a suggestion: go to bed an hour early.

"I'll allow [New Year's Eve celebrations]. They are very professional and we trust in them," Pochettino said. "They can be like us, we are Spanish people and we have an advantage because we are an hour ahead.

"We will take the lucky grapes at 11pm (English time) and by five past 11 we are in bed. So we can give that advice to the players."

The "we are Spanish people" is a little odd considering Pochettino is an Argentine and they're three hours behind London, but whatever. It's probably a good idea for the Spurs players to get a little extra shut-eye. I wouldn't be surprised if Poche would schedule a double-training session on New Year's Day just to torture those who didn't take his advice.

Also, I totally had to look up what Poche meant by "lucky grapes" – Las doce uvas de la suerte is a Spanish New Year's tradition whereby eating a grape at each bell strike at midnight on NYE leads to a year of prosperity. That certainly seems healthier than banging down 12 tequila shots at the bell. TIL, I guess.