When Espanyol were bottom of La Liga with only 10 games to play, Mauricio Pochettino laced up his hiking boots and trekked 12 kilometres from Barcelona to the Benedictine abbey in Montserrat to pray for salvation.

This was January 2009 and the Argentine had not long taken his first managerial job, which could have been curtailed quickly had a miraculous eight wins in their remaining games not saved them.

The Virgin Mary answered his pleas and — depending what you believe — a combination of hard yards and divine intervention saved his club, and his career.

Christian Eriksen slides a shot past Joe Hart to score Tottenham Hotspur's second goal at the Etihad

Eriksen (left) is hugged by fellow scorer Harry Kane (right) after his cool finish late on at Manchester City

MANCHESTER CITY VS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR - DISTANCE DATA OVERALL DISTANCE COVERED TEAM A MINS PLAYED METRES KM MILES Manchester City 111,919.4 111.9 69.5 David Silva 90 11,205.7 11.2 7.0 Fernandinho 90 11,163.3 11.2 6.9 Yaya Toure 90 11,130.8 11.1 6.9 Raheem Sterling 90 10,727.4 10.7 6.7 Nicolas Otamendi 90 10,481.4 10.5 6.5 Vincent Kompany 90 10,231.0 10.2 6.4 Pablo Zabaleta 90 10,194.4 10.2 6.3 Sergio Aguero 90 9,679.4 9.7 6.0 Gael Clichy 75 8,383.1 8.4 5.2 Fernando 66 8,130.7 8.1 5.1 Joe Hart 90 4,456.9 4.5 2.8 Kelechi Iheanacho 24 3,664.0 3.7 2.3 Aleksandar Kolarov 15 2,471.3 2.5 1.5 TEAM B MINS PLAYED METRES KM MILES Tottenham Hotspur 121,038.6 121.0 75.2 Christian Eriksen 90 12,557.3 12.6 7.8 Eric Dier 90 11,822.1 11.8 7.3 Mousa Dembele 90 11,250.8 11.3 7.0 Dele Alli 81 11,192.7 11.2 7.0 Danny Rose 90 11,119.3 11.1 6.9 Kyle Walker 90 10,914.7 10.9 6.8 Kevin Wimmer 90 10,720.6 10.7 6.7 Toby Alderweireld 90 10,417.7 10.4 6.5 Harry Kane 89 10,401.0 10.4 6.5 Son Heung-min 72 8,720.7 8.7 5.4 Hugo Lloris 90 5,473.4 5.5 3.4 Tom Carroll 18 3,316.2 3.3 2.1 Erik Lamela 9 2,177.2 2.2 1.4 Nacer Chadli 89 955.0 1.0 0.6

It is no wonder, then, that the Argentine places great importance on being prepared to go the distance in search of success and explains how in such an important title-race match against Manchester City on Sunday, his squad had the legs to run six miles further than their opponents.

Tottenham Hotspur's players covered 75.2 miles at the Etihad Stadium, hounding the City players throughout as they edged a hard-fought victory 2-1.

Heading the list of long-distance runners was midfield creator Christian Eriksen who celebrated his 24th birthday by running 7.8m, almost a mile further than City's hardest-working player David Silva.

Pochettino's education in intense exercise came far earlier than that, however, when he was schooled as a young defender by Marcelo Bielsa at Newell's Old Boys, in Argentina.

The coach was nicknamed 'El Loco' because of his revered reputation for a frightening work ethic.

He would spend entire training sessions screaming orders at his players like a sergeant major.

Pochettino's sides play the same high-pressing, chasing-down-possession, intense football which is the hallmark of Bielsa's teams.

Dane star Eriksen ran almost a mile further than City's hardest working player, David Silva (right)

THE 10 HARDEST WORKING TEAMS IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM SEASON DISTANCE (km) AVERAGE MATCHDAY DISTANCE (km) Bournemouth 3,060.6 117.7 Tottenham Hotspur 3,003.8 115.5 West Bromwich Albion 2,917.5 112.2 Liverpool 2,910.2 111.9 Manchester United 2,903.0 111.7 West Ham United 2,881.9 110.8 Leicester City 2,874.3 110.6 Arsenal 2,871.5 110.4 Southampton 2,863.6 110.1 Crystal Palace 2860.6 110

'Running is commitment, running is understanding, running is everything,' Bielsa has said of his approach.

Bielsa, who would go on to manage Argentina and Chile, would order the teenage Pochettino to go away from the training ground and research their next opponents to compile a dossier on them — so he was thinking like a manager from the very early stages of his playing career.

But while Pochettino has adopted the extreme fitness side to his management, he has dropped the dominating persona of his mentor.

The players may not love the training sessions — especially in pre-season where the emphasis is on running — but they are enjoying the results.

'There hasn't been a good moment in pre-season,' Harry Kane said during their first pre-season after Pochettino had moved from Southampton.

Pochettino's education in intense exercise came when he was schooled by manager Marcelo Bielsa

THE TOP DISTANCES COVERED BY INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS IN A SINGLE GAME PLAYER TEAM OPPONENT DISTANCE (km) Dan Gosling Bournemouth Everton 13.87 Dan Gosling Bournemouth Leicester City 13.82 Dan Gosling Bournemouth Sunderland 13.76 Matt Ritchie Bournemouth Watford 13.73 Dan Gosling Bournemouth Tottenham Hotspur 13.65 Dele Alli Tottenham Hotspur Manchester City 13.4 Eunan O'Kane Bournemouth Leicester City 13.39 Dan Gosling Bournemouth Chelsea 13.34 Dele Alli Tottenham Hotspur Swansea City 13.32 James Milner Liverpool Newcastle United 13.32

But that has enabled him to run further than any other forward in the Premier League this season and remain amongst the Premier League's top scorers for a second successive campaign.

Pochettino somehow manages to brilliantly blend an incredibly strict training regime with a likeable personality.

'He's a cool guy,' Adam Lallana said, having played under him at Southampton. In an age when many managers often have to mollycoddle their stars, sometimes not to the player's long-term benefit, Pochettino is persuading them to change their eating habits.

'My body fat has gone down a lot because of the hard training and because I now take care of what I eat all the time,' Kevin Wimmer, who signed last summer, said.

Everything is monitored closely using GPS technology — so there really is no cutting through the woods to half that half marathon — and Pochettino's mantra is: 'Suffer in training so you don't suffer in the next match.'

Mauricio Pochettino manages to brilliantly blend an incredibly strict training regime with a likeable persona

Players from his former clubs have all testified to that. Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse said: 'It does feel like you need two hearts to play like that.'

While Dani Osvaldo played for him in the early days at Espanyol and on the south coast and said: 'He makes you work like a dog. Sometimes you feel like killing him, but it works.'

The results find Spurs two points behind first-placed Leicester City and ahead of third-placed Arsenal on goal difference and fans are praying that this could finally be their year.

Should their manager wish to join them, the nearest Benedictine abbey is a 22km walk — taking you through Hampstead Heath and past Wormwood Scrubs — from White Hart Lane in Ealing.