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Tottenham Hotspur Links: Spurs are Hungry for Success with Mauricio Pochettino as Manager

By Alexander Balano

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Here’s the latest Tottenham Hotspur Links.

Today there is some good news (two) and one interesting story. The first story involves Nacer Chadli and how he sees a hungry team who wants to succeed with Mauricio Pochettino as manager. The next article has Pochettino giving Manchester United a fair warning when it comes to playing on Thursdays in the Europa League. And finally, both Mauricio Pochettino and Harry Kane have been nominated for Premier League awards, for Manager of the Month and Player of the Month respectively. To the links below.

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With Nacer Chadli’s return to the squad during yesterday’s training session, he could be in line to start at left midfield against AS Monaco tonight at White Hart Lane in the final Europa League group stage match.

Should the Belgian wide midfielder make an appearance it will be the first time in nearly two months since Chadli played, due to an ankle injury (ligament damage) that he picked up in a goalless draw against Liverpool.

Leading up to the game, Nacer Chadli was asked about the team’s mentality and if there was a sense of hunger among the players with Mauricio Pochettino as manager. And here’s what he had to say: “Yes, for sure. The group we have, we have a real connection with each other.”

“There are a lot of young players and it’s important to have a young group, because you’re hungry to win things. There is a good balance in the squad. There has been a lot of improvement — the training sessions for example — and I hope we can also improve in the future.”

“If you have a good relationship with your team-mates, it is always easier to play than when you don’t. We have a good relationship with each other and that makes a difference.”

Assuming that Chadli starts, and the fact that Tottenham have already wrapped up a spot in the Round of 32 in the Europa League, Pochettino may be rotating his squad with returning players such as Nabil Bentaleb and Nacer Chadli and giving more playing time to Josh Onomah and Harry Winks.

A win won’t only have Spurs top their group but it will make sure they avoid one of the stronger clubs who are coming into the competition after being knocked out of the Champions League.

There are two major reasons why Mauricio Pochettino is warning Louis van Gaal and Manchester United. Participating in Europe’s secondary elite competition on Thursdays and challenging a club like Qarabağ FK at Baku, Azerbaijan shows how difficult the Europa League really is.

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It’s less about a drop in talent from teams and players, but more so about playing on Thursdays and then playing again on Sunday. Adding in long round-trip flights with short rest makes it even difficult to adjust. Especially if clubs have been conditioned to play on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Champions League football.

Here’s Mauricio Pochettino talking about the Europa League and how it will affect Manchester United:

"“It’s difficult to know for sure how they will handle it, but you have to change your cycle and get used to playing Thursday-Sunday instead of Tuesday-Saturday and it is a factor that can affect your week,” Pochettino said, as quoted by the Mirror.“There is a big difference because the bigger travel and playing on a Thursday night always affects the players’ psychology. For them, football means Saturday at three o’clock — but not anymore. It changes your mentality. I don’t know if that helps us [in terms of the Premier League title race] — it will be tough for them and it’s all about being able to develop your game and adapt.”“But I prefer to concentrate on us, and the way we are trying to be more solid and consistent. We are 14 games unbeaten in the league and we need to keep this level of performance,” the former Southampton manager added."

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino and striker Harry Kane have been nominated for Premier League awards for the month of November after helping lead Spurs to another unbeaten month. Winning two games over Aston Villa (3-1) and West Ham United (4-1) while drawing the other two against Arsenal (1-1) and Chelsea (0-0).

Pochettino has already claimed one Premier League award this season, winning Manager of the Month for September after managing his team to three consecutive wins against Sunderland away and Crystal Palace and Manchester City at home.

Another reason why Tottenham were able to secure their third undefeated month in the Premier League was because of Harry Kane. The 22-year-old striker was on the mark with four goals in three out of four league games. One against Aston Villa, another against Arsenal and a brace against West Ham. Kane would also rack up a total of 360 minutes played, a shot accuracy of 60 percent and 199 completed passes.

Kane last won a Premier League award back in January and February earlier this year due to his historic season. The England striker would have had three in a row, but barely missed out on winning the Player of the Month award for March, which went to Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud instead.

Next: Spurs' Youth Director Earns FA Award

Other nominees for Manager of the Month for November include:

Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool), Roberto Martínez (Everton) and Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City)

Other nominees for Player of the Month for November include:

Ross Barkley (Everton), Troy Deeney (Watford), Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), Romelu Lukaku (Everton) and Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)