Juande Ramos admits it's a dream come true joining Tottenham.
"From the very first day I realised I was going to be a football coach it's been a dream to take charge of an English team and that's a passion which I've been nurturing since England won the World Cup," said Ramos. "It's such a strong feeling in me that I have really built a view of England as a footballing utopia.
"For example I know that Martin Jol has recently quoted the fact that his name was being sung during the defeat against Getafe - that's English football for you!
"You are losing a game at home and still the crowd get behind you to show loyalty and support.
"Factors like that and the exquisite treatment I've received at this club from the very first minute mean I'm not all that surprised when Martin makes it clear how attached he is to Spurs or that he wants to come back here one day.
"But on the other hand the results don't lie. It is a very long time since the club won something and, to me, the comparison which offers itself is to Atletico Madrid in Spain.
"Both clubs have tremendous prestige but they continue to experience difficulties in competing at the very highest level."
Ramos has seen his team go unbeaten in his first two games in charge - a Carling Cup win over Blackpool and a Premier League draw at Middlesbrough.
He faces Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv in the UEFA Cup on Thursday - a match Spurs must win if they are to progress to the knock-out stages of the competition.
Ramos admitted his priorities may lie elsewhere - even though he has won the competition for the past two seasons with Sevilla - and he's already trying to establish his escape plan to "save the season" on the rocks with the club struggling near the foot of the Premier League.
The new manager is very concerned by the team's inability to hold on to leads as has happened in games with Blackburn, Fulham, Liverpool, Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Bolton and Aston Villa this season.
However, Ramos is optimistic he can spark the revival. "It would be wrong of me to offer up any kind of detailed analysis of what went wrong before I arrived but this is a similar team to the one which I faced with Sevilla at a late stage of the UEFA Cup last season," he told Spanish newspaper Marca.
"It's not too late to save the season and the first thing we have to do is stop tossing away leads.
"We've been ahead against various teams and then not won. After a week it's not possible for me to draw cast-iron conclusions but it's a serious problem and obviously that is under analysis right now."
