Arsenal vs Tottenham: Arsene Wenger hands advice to Mauricio Pochettino for breaking trophyless run

Arsene Wenger has been gracious enough to hand some advice to Tottenham Hotspur if they are to break their nine-year spell without a trophy. Arsenal face Spurs at the Emirates after finishing behind them last season for the first time in 21 years, which led to a lot of criticism for the manager. However, Wenger still came out holding his head high after winning his third FA Cup in four years.

In comparison, Tottenham are yet to compete for a major trophy in years, despite finishing 11 points ahead of Arsenal last season. The Frenchman signed a new two-year contract after the campaign despite vehement calls for him to leave after the north London club failed to put in a proper challenge for the title yet again.

However, Wenger gave some advice to Mauricio Pochettino as the Argentine searches for his first major trophy in his managerial career.

"By keeping your nerves and getting the players to focus on what is important. At some stages, by fighting a little bit against your inhibitions – the fear that you won't get over the line. Basically you need to focus on what is important and not focus on the trophy too much," Wenger said, as quoted by Sky Sports.

Incidentally, Spurs are already out of contention in the Carabao Cup after they squandered a two-goal lead to lose the game 3-2 to West Ham United in the Round of 16.

The Frenchman was then asked to deliver his thoughts on the upcoming north London derby and their need to finish above Spurs this season after two decades of superiority. Wenger insisted that his mind was never on finishing above their rivals but to secure a Champions League spot, which remains his objective to this day.

"I was always more focused on finishing in the Champions League," he added. "When we had less resources financially, I knew that we needed the money to pay the stadium back, so I was more focused on that than on Tottenham. I was never too focused on Tottenham.

"Today, people always take one situation and it is permanent. The judgement is definite, permanent and forever. It is down to us to change the opinions of people with our performances, I cannot say much more. If they have a perception like that, they have a perception like that, but how can you respond? Not by me talking here, we need to show on Saturday that it's not true."