Following Tottenham’s come from behind win over West Ham United, Mauricio Pochettino was elated with the character that Spurs showed.
On the heels of a one-all draw against Arsenal before leaving for the international break two weeks ago, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino commended his team for turning things around.
A point at the Emirates Stadium was crucial, but the fantastic effort they showed was even better as the whole team could use that match as a springboard to further improve themselves.
Lo and behold, Spurs pulled off a come from behind win over West Ham United, a game in which they battled hard for all three points.
Everyone inside White Hart Lane felt many emotions throughout the 90 minutes, even Pochettino himself.
“There are a lot of feelings now,” the 44-year-old said (via Spurs’ official website). “First of all, we’re very happy and pleased for the character we showed. Maybe it wasn’t our best game but you cannot always play well and you always need to show character.”
“It was a very difficult game. From the beginning, they were very aggressive and it was difficult to play.”
“The second half was fantastic and it’s just a shame we conceded the second goal from the penalty because at that moment, we were much better. The important thing was that we continued in that way, kept going, always believed and how we won the game was fantastic in the end.”
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Indeed, yesterday’s match was a difficult one. It took 51 minutes to finally breakdown West Ham’s defense and find the equalizer after a combination of lost possession and good defending.
Then to lose that 1-1 scoreline in the 68th minute after Vincent Janssen conceded a penalty was gut-wrenching.
Trailing 2-1 with 18 minutes left to go, Mauricio Pochettino decided to bring on Son Heung-Min and it was a great decision in the end.
The South Korean international didn’t start the match because of Pochettino’s 4-4-2 diamond which saw Mousa Dembélé and Harry Winks play pseudo-wide roles. Because both players are central midfielders they weren’t tasked to stretch West Ham’s defense, instead that responsibility would fall onto the hands (feet?) of Kyle Walker and Danny Rose — as usual.
Still, Son coming into the match was not only a shrewd move, but it was a risky one as well. Not too long ago, Son confessed that he has been suffering from a nagging ankle injury since October.
While he continued to play matches despite being less than 100 percent and not being able to recapture his form from September, he never got seriously hurt. Plus, with with three vital points on the line, a risky move is what Tottenham needed.
In the 18 minutes of action that the South Korean winger was affored, he was directly involved on Harry Kane’s brace. One of the goals — Kane’s 89th minute tap-in — would see Son Heung-Min get credited with an assist.
Two minutes later, early in stoppage time, Son would be brought down into the box which Kane would coolly convert sending the White Hart Lane faithful into a frenzy as Spurs picked up three points, beat their London rivals, snapped their seven-match winless streak and still remain in contention for a top four spot and first place.
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Mauricio Pochettino summed it up best as his side showing character. The character to keep fighting, keep working hard and continue to believe in yourself. Perhaps these three mantras, along with talent is what will help carry this team throughout the season.
“That is the good thing we need to take out of the game. Never forget that always believing is the most important thing, work hard and that is the main thing we need to keep for the future.”
“Football is never finished until the final whistle and if you believe, keep working and try to find the best situation to score, anything can happen in football.” Pochettino added.