Mauricio Pochettino: Tottenham Must Be Clever and Play with Intensity
A win for Tottenham tomorrow, will give them seven points in Group E with two games left to advance into the knockout stage.
After addressing Tottenham’s injury news, Mauricio Pochettino focused on Spurs’ second Champions League home game at Wembley Stadium.
Since a 2-1 loss against AS Monaco, wherein Pochettino was critical of how his team performed in the first half, the Argentine manager was asked if he would come up with a different approach this time around against Bayer Leverkusen after a goalless draw on October 18th.
“[Last time] it wasn’t a problem with the approach, only that the game was difficult from the beginning, we made some mistakes and we allowed Monaco to score,” Pochettino said (via Spurs’ official website).
“We conceded two goals very early in the game but we played well. These are things that can happen in football but we cannot blame Wembley. I think that we need to be clever now, to know that we need to play with intensity from the first moment of the game.”
“We need to improve from the last game at Wembley. Our mistake was the problem against Monaco, not Wembley.”
Playing cleverly and with intensity is perhaps a saying for Pochettino to get his team to attack first but don’t give opponents a chance to counterattack.
Eric Dier said that Spurs gave Leicester City opportunities following numerous failed chances to kill the game off after a 1-0 lead.
Of course, Victor Wanyama’s error was the main reason why Leicester scored the equalizer, though Dier is correct about one thing. When Tottenham don’t score, teams tend to go on a quick counter putting pressure on their defense.
So in order to limit opponents from having chances, should Spurs’ defense be much better than it already is? Not necessarily. Even with Toby Alderweireld sidelined with nerve damage in his knee, the entire starting backline is still as good as it was last year.
More from Champions League
- The Fourth Agenda Cycle At Tottenham Is Insanity
- Tottenham uninspiring in Champions League exit vs AC Milan
- Tottenham Out Of Europe In Predictable And Unwatchable Style
- Bold Prediction for Tottenham vs Milan Champions League Match (Back the Spurs)
- Fixtures and foe set, as Tottenham faces AC Milan in the UCL
“Last season we were strong too and we showed that we worked very hard to keep our goal safe. This season we’ve improved a little bit in that area but we need to improve in our offensive situations and we need to be more clinical.” Pochettino explained.
“All the stats are saying that we are the team that creates more chances but we need to be more determined and aggressive in the last third. Football is about different situations that happen.”
“It’s true that in the last few weeks after international duty it was difficult for us to score or be more clinical in front of goal. We are creating maybe the same chances as before but it’s true that we need to improve our percentage of scoring.”
“We are talking about and working on that but it’s an area that we need to improve a lot.”
A lack of finish could potentially impact the team’s confidence. Physically, Spurs are one of the more fit teams, to be able to run constantly up and down the pitch. And while they will eventually wear down as the match progresses stamina isn’t an issue. What could be more of a worry is the team’s mentality after not scoring enough during their recent run of form.
A winless streak that has stretched to five games since the end of the last international break has seen Spurs’ brilliant September quickly disappear in the rear view mirror.
However, despite no wins since the start of October, Mauricio Pochettino and company aren’t under stress. They’re taking things one game at a time and understand that tomorrow is an important match to not only win three points but to get back to winning ways.
Next: Leverkusen's Injury List Outweighs Tottenham's
“I think it’s important for us because we understand that the game will be key,” Pochettino said.
“It‘s very important to win the game, to take the three points but in the same way we understand that Bayer Leverkusen are a very good team, they proved in the first game they were tough opposition, they have very good players and it will be tough but we are conscious that we need to take the three points if we are to go to the next round.”
“It’s a very important game for us.”