Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, the US national team coach and former manager of English clubs Southampton and Tottenham, described the previous era of the Premier League as a "deception" following major allegations of breaches committed by Manchester City.
Manchester City staff received a message from Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman of Manchester City's board, after inquiries were made about updates on the case involving 115 alleged breaches, which had been covered by media outlets last Friday.
Senior officials at City contacted employees within the club to provide them with necessary reassurances, informing them that the case would take a long time to reach a conclusion, while affirming to their staff that the club's position would be strong if they appealed any sanction.
Pochettino's statements regarding the Manchester City crisis
The US coach said during the press conference ahead of the match between the USA and Chile, as reported by TalkSport: "How can we fix everything that happened because of this case? If it is true that they have been found guilty of 114 breaches, as rumored, then we lived through a long period of deception."
He added: "Where was the oversight? This is what I am thinking about, where was the oversight? When we were at Southampton, and then at Tottenham, because we were building the stadium, we did not have the financial capacity to sign even one player for 18 months, and I believe we were the only club to go through such a period without signing a player."
He continued: "A team like us was going through this phase, yet we kept fighting for titles against all the clubs above us, finishing in the top four every year, and reaching the Champions League final without being able to spend for 18 months."
He went on: "All this was done to comply with financial rules. The rules were harsh on us but lenient on others; this is very strange. Whatever the penalty may be, it is impossible to turn back time. There has been significant damage. In the end, some clubs followed the rules and others did not."
He concluded: "What will they do? Deduct points or impose a fine? It is hard to accept. It is a great sadness. We have reached a stage where we realized that what was celebrated was not real. What seemed good turned out to be bad. We went through a period where sporting justice did not exist."
