Tottenham: Tim Sherwood On Eriksen, Dembele, Adebayor, Naughton

Tim Sherwood had only words of praise for his players following the comeback against Southampton.

His post-match comments were reported comprehensively on Twitter by @SpursOfficial and @HotspurRelated. The manager was delighted with the effort and fighting qualities displayed by the players and he acknowledged that they had had to work hard to get back into the game after another slow start. Speaking to @SpursOfficial, he said,

"We had to dig deep and try to find a way to win the game and I’m so proud of the lads that we managed to achieve that."

In his post-match press conference, he tried to explain the problem. Tom Moore, a reporter for the london24.com website reported Sherwood’s comments,

"I wanted to play a high tempo game and press them high up the field and I didn’t think we had the energy to do it. I think the European games take their toll. We always seem to finish very well but we don’t start the game very well."

On Christain Eriksen

Sherwood said, as reported by @HotspurRelated

"Christian Eriksen is one of the best acquisitions that this club has ever made. He’s a fantastic trainer, has so much in the locker. He not only assists he scores, he effects football matches. He’s young, a baby in footballing terms."

@SpursOfficial reported another remark,

"Christian possesses real quality. He gets himself in positions to score. He doesn’t just take part in games, he affects them."

Mousa Dembele [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]On Mousa Dembele

One of the changes which the manager made at the interval was to replace Mousa Demble by Gylfi Sigurdsson. Dembele had only returned from injury having missed the previous three games. Sherwood spoke of his reason for making the substitution.

"Dembele put himself on offer to play today but doesn’t matter how much talent no energy in tank isn’t no good to me. I said to Dembele at half time as much as you want to play you aren’t giving me what I need so you have got to come off. I said get yourself fit for next week. We know he’s got talent and Gylfi came on and gave us a spark."

On Emmanuel Adebayor

Tim Sherwood reported that Adebayor who missed the mid-week game in Portugal had been left out of the team due to injury. He said,

"Adebayor wanted to play but playing him today might have made his injury worse. He’s possibly back in the team next week. We’ll go four up front against Liverpool and just have a go. Haha."

On Roberto Soldado

Soldado received great support from the Tottenham fans following his display against Southampton and Sherwood was pleased with his performance.

"I thought he did well. I said to Robbie you won’t always score but you have to guarantee me 100% effort."

Tom Moore reported the manager’s comments on Soldado,

"He’s tired down there and that’s what he needs to be. He’s only going to get better from that because he runs around…. credit to him. He’s training well and done himself no harm."

On Kyle Naughton

Kyle Naughton’s mistakes led to Southampton taking a two goal lead but Tim Sherwood was impressed by the attitude of his right back. He mentioned Naughton to @SpursOfficial, saying,

"Special mention to Kyle. He made two errors, but didn’t hide. In adversity, he stood up to be counted. That’s what I want to see."

Further comments on Naughton were reported by @HotspurRelated.

"I want to see people roll their sleeves up and have a go. Anyone can make mistakes. You’ve just got to get on with it. He wanted to go put that right and did that second half. I give him massive credit for that. He’ll grow from that."

The manager knows that some players would have wanted to come off at half-time or kept a low profile out on the pitch after what happened to Naughton in the first period but Sherwood praised Naughom for the way he dealt with the set-backs. Tom Moore reported the remarks of Sherwood on the london24.com

"What everyone can’t do is stand tall and put themselves on offer in the second half of the game. Too often, players go hiding and want to come off. He wanted to go and put that right and he did that in the second half and I give him massive credit for that."

Sherwood showed understanding and admitted that he knew how it felt and was sure that Naughton would learn from the experience.

"He’ll grow from that. I played in a lot of games and they were a disaster. You learn from playing in that and get stronger next time. I want to see people roll their sleeves up and have a go. Anyone can make mistakes. You’ve just got to get on with it."