Glenn Hoddle and Ossie Ardiles believe Tottenham will never get a better chance to win the Premier League in the next 20 years

On a spring afternoon at a London restaurant, two of Tottenham's most iconic players talk animatedly. 

Team-mates in a great Spurs side of the Eighties and friends for almost 40 years, Ossie Ardiles and Glenn Hoddle share views on the club they know so well. 

And few know manager Mauricio Pochettino better than his compatriot Ardiles. Rob Draper listened to their views on the club's revival, title chances and Pochettino's appointment. 

Ossie Ardiles and Glenn Hoddle both share fond memories of playing for Tottenham during the Eighties

Hoddle believes Mauricio Pochettino has grown into the role as Tottenham manager in the last 18 months

Sportsmail's Rob Draper (right) sat down to talk all things Tottenham with two of the club's most iconic players

ARDILES: I was not expecting a lot when Mauricio came in 2014. We had bought quite a lot of players with the Gareth Bale money and, to be perfectly honest, the quality of the players we bought wasn't that good. I thought it would take a long, long time to put things right.

The fact that last season they finished fifth was outstanding and when we started out this season no one was dreaming of this. The goal was to finish top four; well, fourth, really. And that would have been a wonderful achievement. And suddenly to be where we are in second spot and the way that the team are playing is very impressive

HODDLE: When Mauricio first came in his major problem was that he wanted to do what he did at Southampton and to press teams high. And he didn't really have the players with the fitness levels. Emmanuel Adebayor wasn't going to do that, was he? Roberto Soldado. Etienne Capoue. They weren't quick, intensive players so I think in that first year he was frustrated

ARDILES: He was frustrated. Coming to a big club like Totttenham he was surprised at the lack of quality. Remember, Glenn, you were in talks about the job and we were saying: 'Hmm. I'm not sure about the quality.' Normally, it takes a long, long time to change a team.

Tottenham initially struggled to reinvest the money recouped for selling Gareth Bale but Hary Kane has shone

Ardiles feels this season is a great opportunity to seize the title with so many teams under-performing

HODDLE: There are still things missing. That first 35 minutes in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal would sum Tottenham up, still. They had so much of the ball, they won the ball back so quickly, but no one could unlock the door. There's so much more that they need and I'm not sure the players they have are the answer for four or five years to come.

This is one-off year where the door's been left ajar. Let's face it, if Spurs don't make it this year and win it, every Spurs fan will look back in 20 years and say: 'That time when we had a chance, Leicester City won it! Not Chelsea, not Arsenal, not United. Leicester won it.'

ARDILES: It is a one-off and I agree this season is a great opportunity. But I would say that the team are in progress. It's a very, very young team.

HODDLE: Don't misunderstand me. I'm not knocking the team. But next season they'll have such a hard task to get in that top four. They'll make the top four this year. But next year Chelsea and United will bring in new managers who will get more money; Jurgen Klopp will get money; Pep Guardiola will. The door could be closed for another three or four years. This is the moment. And at 2-1 up against 10-man Arsenal, that is a defining moment. For 13 and a half minutes we were top of the league.

Hoddle fears Spurs will face a harder task to get into the top four next season due to improvements elsewhere

Pochettino settled well to life in the managerial hot seat at Southampton and has continued to excel at Spurs

ARDILES: Mauricio doesn't see it that he has to win something immediately. He sees this as a work in progress. And they are getting better. Last summer he wasn't so concerned about players coming in. He has ridden his luck a little with, basically, only one centre-forward in Harry Kane. He was much more concerned about the players who were not on the same wavelength. That doesn't mean they were bad players, or bad apples. But for whatever reason they were not on the same wavelength , so they had to go. And now he basically has the squad that he wants.

HODDLE: It is Leicester's title to lose, though. There are still 27 points to play for. The only thing with Leicester, it's like when you haven't won a golf major and you hit the back nine. You go to the 10th and see the scoreboard. And you see so many people who just fall apart when they believe they can win. They look at the caddy and say: 'Oh my God! We're two up. It's ours to lose.' I think Mauricio will keep Tottenham calm though. You know him better than me but he seems very level-headed.

ARDILES: Yes, I've only seen him a little bit 'mad' in one game. But you have to look at him as a player. He wasn't a normal Argentinian player, like Messi or Maradona, who is very talented and you don't really have to work so much. No. He really had to work extremely hard. This was the kind of player he was. If the other players were fit, he was extra fit. He was a Paul Miller, not a Glenn Hoddle. He will never give you a little bit of advantage. Nothing. He looked after himself incredibly well and as a manager he does basically the same thing.

Pochettino was known for been a tough-tackler during his playing days as seen throughout the 2002 World Cup

Ardiles and Hoddle have been impressed by the Argentine manager due to the manner he conducts himself

He works very hard. He arrives in the club at 8am and to be honest I think he fights with [chairman] Daniel Levy to see which one can leave last. They go at eight or nine at night. I have never had dinner with Mauricio outside White Hart Lane or the training ground. Normally, I meet friends close to home but this is the kind of guy he is.

His family, his wife and two kids, they are all very balanced. You won't find a single picture of his wife in the press. She goes to the games but she will wait for everyone to disappear and then leave quickly. He doesn't like the parties or manager-of-the-year awards. It doesn't really interest him. He doesn't know London at all. His father and mother came the other day to visit and obviously they were doing a little bit of tourism. For him, no way, no chance.

He's not very well known in Argentina. He left very young. He was a reserve at Newell's Old Boys and because of that he went to play in Spain and France so he spent his career there. Now everyone in Argentina wants to talk to him but he doesn't he doesn't really like to talk too much.

HODDLE: When he went to Southampton in 2013 he was taking the place of an English coach in Nigel Adkins and there was a negativity about him. It wasn't anything he had done but he had to work against the tide, even there.

ARDILES: That's the story of his life. He is always fighting against the odds, not being a big-time Charlie. He is the opposite, an outsider. When he was manager at Espanyol he had to play all the time against the best Barcelona side ever with Pep Guardiola. And he even won at the Nou Camp, 2-1 once. Espanyol would compete until there came a time where it was impossible to hold them.

Pochetinno puts his arm on the shoulders of Kane ahead of the recent Europa League game in Dortmund

HODDLE: Wasn't he influenced by Marcelo Bielsa, the ex-Argentina, Chile and Athletic Bilbao coach?

ARDILES: Yes. Apart from Cesar Menotti and Carlos Bilardo [Argentina's World Cup-winning managers in 1978 and 1986, respectively], Bielsa is the Argentinian who has the most charisma in football. The call him 'El Loco.' But it's not like he's crazy, he's 'loco' about football. 

He's obsessive. He's a very intelligent; his brother was foreign minister. They are a very well educated family, kind of posh. He managed Mauricio at Newell's Old Boys, a small club in Rosario. They were all very young and they fought against River Plate, Boca Juniors. Bielsa discovered him and his style is pressure, pressure, pressure. They were champions with this sort of philosophy.

HODDLE: That's why he would have been so happy with the way they started against Arsenal. I haven't seen them press as well as they did. Arsenal could not get out.

ARDILES: When we played Arsenal away and Man City away, we had this kind of pressing as well. This season I have not seen a better team than Tottenham, even Leicester. Everton away was another impressive performance.

Hugo Lloris (right) has been a strong presence in goal this season as part of a disciplined defensive unit

HODDLE: They've had some wonderful performances. They've hit people in the eye. Leicester have had some great moments, too. We've been impressive with the two centre-halves, Eric Dier and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. On Saturday, there was a looseness which I've not seen most of the season. But there has been a solid base in Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, who I think is the best defender in England.

ARDILES: Toby is one of the best in the world! In the Premier League, no doubt about it. In the world you're talking about Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, who else? He has been the big difference. Last season we were conceding a lot of goals, Lloris was our best player, nearly every game. This season the difference at the back is huge.

HODDLE: But when I saw the team against Dortmund, I was really disappointed. I couldn't really believe it. Dortmund are a different class to the teams they have faced so far in the Europa League and it needed an experienced team which at least could take the game back to White Hart Lane with us still in the tie.

Ryan Mason is one of a number of young English players currently excelling in the Tottenham squad

Full back Danny Rose will hope to grab the attention of England boss Roy Hodgson in the coming weeks

ARDILES: It's clear his priority is the Premier League. If he had gone with his top team against Dortmund, it would have been very hard. And there is a big game against Aston Villa [today]. I think he made the right decision.

HODDLE: They have been lucky in a sense — and there is luck, you don't plan these things — in the young players coming through in Harry Kane, Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb. And they're not all home-grown players: Kyle Walker, Danny Rose came from other clubs. But you have a group of young players who came through together and that suits the way he wants to press. You can't do that with old men. You can mould young players, they're like a sponge. You're thirsty and want to soak in everything.

ARDILES: When you're an older player, you will listen and after that you will do whatever you want!

HODDLE: But Tottenham have been a selling club recently, with Luka Modric, Gareth Bale. The No 1 way to keep the manager is to keep the best players. Players like Lloris, Alderweireld and Kane are worthy of playing in the Champions League, be it with Tottenham or be it with another club. 

You have to keep those players and that will keep the manager. The next phase is difficult. They have a new stadium to build. But they then need to add players and keep some so that, once the stadium is built, they become as big as Arsenal. They have an opportunity there. There are some real question marks and testing times. on and off the pitch.

Ardiles thinks Spurs have the best training ground in England and will only get stronger with the new stadium

Hoddles hopes current owner Daniel Levy can convince Kane to remain at Spurs for the foreseeable future

ARDILES: I agree but there is a lot of optimism at the club. We have the best training ground in England, in the world maybe. Now we are going to have the biggest stadium. The only thing that was missing was a team to fit with all these beautiful things.

HODDLE: But we did have a team in the Champions League and they sold their best players. If Manchester United come in with a £70m deal for Kane, they'll sell him.

ARDILES: That remains to be seen.

HODDLE: That's the question. I'd love Daniel Levy to say: 'There is no way we would sell him if the boy wanted to stay.' And I think the boy does want to stay.

ARDILES: I think Kane has had the opportunity to go. But he knew that this second season was going to be very difficult. Sometimes you go to a new club and, well, God help you. Clubs have the attitude: 'We paid a lot of money for you, so you just do it.'

Kane is part of a youthful English core at Tottenham that are battling for a first league title since 1961

HODDLE: He wasn't ready for that.

ARDILES: No, so he said: 'I stay at Tottenham. I know everybody, I know the manager. There is no need.' Definitely we have to keep the manager and we have to keep our best players. No club which sells its best players can keep on being successful. 

But the club has changed. Mauricio has been completely different. He believes in promoting young players. Some people say Mauricio might be going to Real Madrid I don't see them as a team for Mauricio. 

I don't think for a moment he would be happy there, bringing in big-time Charlies. HI think he is much, much more comfortable working with the youth.

HODDLE: In England there are clubs that might nibble at him but I get the feeling he is happy at Tottenham and wants to build something. But it's not about whether the manager stays, it's what the board of directors do first to persuade him.

ARDILES: Kane has just signed a long-term contract, Dele Alli has just signed a long-term contract, Jan Vertonghen has just signed a long-term contract…

HODDLE: Contracts are one thing but when the money goes 'bang', that's a decision. It doesn't matter if you have a five-year contract, if Kane gets an offer to go somewhere and they take the money, every Spurs fan will go: 'Here we go again.' It's time for Tottenham to change that.