Mauricio Pochettino Previews Tottenham’s Match Against Bournemouth

By Alexander Balano | Oct 21, 2016

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 20: Eddie Howe manager of Bournemouth and Mauricio Pochettino manager of Tottenham Hotspur look on during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and A.F.C. Bournemouth at White Hart Lane on March 20, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino conducted his final pre-match conference to talk about Bournemouth and Eddie Howe.

Yesterday, Hotspur HQ’s Ryan Wrenn broke down what challenges Tottenham will face when they travel to the Vitality Stadium and face Bournemouth in this extensive opposition scouting report.

Because it’s a new season, Mauricio Pochettino is looking at every Premier League match as a tough game. And with Bournemouth up next, they are no different despite Spurs beating them last year by an 8-1 aggregate score in two games.

“It’s a different season and every game is different, our mentality is that this will be a very tough game,” Pochettino said (via Spurs’ official website).

“Bournemouth are confident and a team that likes to play football. They are energetic. We’re not thinking about the games we played against them last season, this is another game and we need to be focused and do our jobs.”

To come away with two consecutive draws in as many games, Spurs must find their form to get back to their winning ways.

And Pochettino believes that his team’s resiliency to fight for an equalizer after conceding a goal in the 82nd minute against West Brom will bode well for Tottenham throughout the season.

“That spirit is key for us and we need to keep that belief, keep that mentality, it’s fantastic,” Mauricio Pochettino added. “The season is long and we’re involved in many competitions so we have to be positive and to believe because only with that mentality can we achieve big things at the end.”

Since the season began, all of the players have done very well to help Spurs reach their best start in the Premier League era by going unbeaten in eight games. That spirit and mentality Pochettino is referring to has kept them playing at a high level despite fighting through injuries since opening day.

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At some point, Tottenham should return to full strength but for the time being, while some key starters are recovering from injuries, everyone else is still in high spirits knowing they can compete in all fronts this year. Especially in the Premier League.

“They are okay, there is a good atmosphere at the training ground. They are very positive with the responsibility that we have to go to Bournemouth and, like always, we must win. It’s important to keep our position in the table and the players are in good condition.”

“I feel proud of the team and the players, they deserve the credit. We’ll see what happens but in our mind, we want to win this game. We’re unbeaten and we can feel proud but the important thing now is to take the three points against Bournemouth, and that’s all.” Pochettino said.

Judging from Bournemouth’s last three matches, they recovered nicely from a 4-0 loss to Manchester City and an extra time loss to Preston North End in the League Cup’s third round. Eddie Howe’s side have won two games and drawn once, outscoring their opponents 9-3 in the process.

Mauricio Pochettino knows full well that this won’t be easy and it mostly stems from the way that Howe has turned Bournemouth into a very good mid-table Premier League club since being promoted two years ago.

“They scored a lot of goals and played well against Hull [City], and Everton too,” Pochettino added. “They are a very good team with a very good philosophy. I like Eddie Howe a lot. They are a team that always tries to play good football. They have similar principles to us, a very young coach and this is an exciting game to play, I’m sure it will be a good game.”

“The job he’s done has been unbelievable. They show every week that it’s a team with principles and a team that know what they need to do and how they need to play. For me, he’s a fantastic coach, a coach I like a lot.”

Next: Eddie Howe Hopes to Mimic Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino

With Bournemouth and Tottenham kicking off first on Saturday, October 22nd there’s a chance that Spurs could wind up in first place. Even for a couple of hours depending on the outcome of Arsenal versus Middlesbrough.

Having that kind of pressure is needed to see a good response from Spurs when they need to pick up three vital points to maintain their position in the table like Mauricio Pochettino said, or to even become the new league leaders.