Alderweireld backs Tottenham to appoint 'big' manager amid Mourinho reports

Toby Alderweireld is sure Tottenham will appoint a "big" manager after the Premier League club elected to relieve Mauricio Pochettino of his post.

Just six months after reaching the Champions League final, Spurs sit 14th in the Premier League following a dismal start to the campaign, winning just three games.

Tottenham are just a win away from the top six, but are 11 points adrift of the Champions League places with 12 matches played.

Jose Mourinho has emerged as a front-runner to take over and Spurs defender Alderweireld – whose relationship with Pochettino was reportedly strained – is confident Tottenham will have a new manager in place quickly, and one with the credentials to take charge of a club aiming to compete on both the domestic and European fronts.

"Spurs are a big club, there will be a big manager for us. Hopefully we know quickly," Alderweireld told Sky Sports on Tuesday, after playing in Belgium's 6-1 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Cyprus.

"It is a difficult situation, I don't know really the right thing to say. It needs a couple of days to sink in.

"I'm 30, and it'll be the first time in my career there's been a change of manager [at my team] so it'll be strange for me. I can't say how it feels. We have to work hard and I think there will be a new manager quickly.

"We have to stay together, change things as quickly as possible together. The strength of our team is the work rate – that won't be changing."

While Alderweireld has been linked with a move away from Spurs in recent seasons, he is proud of what the team achieved under Pochettino.

"I am surprised," Alderweireld said.

"We came a long way together, with a lot of players, achieved big things, you can see from where we've come from before my time at Spurs, we achieved a lot of things together and I think he took the club to the next level."