Pochettino: Tottenham’s Win an Outstanding Performance
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is proud of Spurs’ 4-0 win yesterday.
Prior to Tottenham taking on Stoke City at bet365 stadium, early reports suggested that Moussa Sissoko could earn his first Spurs start in place of Érik Lamela.
Another option would be having Son Heung-Min replace Lamela in the starting lineup.
Whatever choice Mauricio Pochettino went with, he had two good options to choose from. But after choosing the 24-year-old South Korean it seems like Pochettino was a genius.
“I’m no genius, I’m just a manager!” Mauricio Pochettino said smiling (via Spurs’ official site).
“Sometimes you are happy with your decisions, sometimes you feel very bad about your decisions.”
“After 4-0 and a game like today, we feel very happy. In football, you are happy today, sad tomorrow – today, we are very happy.”
When Son decided to return early during World Cup qualifiers, it may have swayed Pochettino to help him jumpstart his Spurs career.
Scoring two goals and being a constant threat throughout the game suggests that Son Heung-Min is serious in making sure that his second season with Tottenham is better than last term.
“I’m very happy for him,” Pochettino said. “He needed to score, he’s very important for the team because he can help us.”
“We have a lot of games ahead where we need Sonny and he can be important for the team.”
“They were great goals, fantastic for him and the team and we’re all very pleased with his performance.”
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Overall, besides Son having a very good game, the entire team did well after Stoke had the upper hand early on during the opening 20 minutes.
Despite getting into good positions deep in Spurs’ own half, the Potters couldn’t find the back of the net. Not conceding early in the match helped Pochettino’s side grow confident as the game wore on.
“It’s always important. That builds confidence and the way you play, so it’s always important.”
When Christian Eriksen sent in a cross towards Son Heung-Min to score minutes before half-time, this would set the stage for a dominating second-half performance by Tottenham.
“It was outstanding, a perfect performance,” Mauricio Pochettino said.
“It’s true that we started the game a little sloppy but after 15 or 20 minutes we got on top, scored the goal and started to handle the game.”
“In the second half, we fully deserved the result. I’m very pleased for the players and for our supporters as well.”
“Every game is a challenge, our next challenge is Monaco at Wembley and then Sunderland.”
“It’s important to take it step by step and to show character, personality and to play in the way we want to play – and try to win, because football is about winning.”
The Argentine manager would also comment on Harry Kane’s goal too.
After the England international scored 21 Premier League goals two years ago, he wouldn’t find the back of the net until the seventh game last term.
A long scoring drought doesn’t seem like it’ll happen this time around.
Next: Pochettino: Tottenham's Title Woes Forgotten
It has taken the 23-year-old four games to score this year, which is earlier than everyone expected.
For Mauricio Pochettino, he always had faith in Kane and knew it was only just a matter of time before he scored.
“It’s very important for him. It’s always important for strikers to score. Now he’ll feel free and happy and will just play football, that’s most important.”