Maurricio Pochettino Happy to See Tottenham Remain in Europe
Mauricio Pochettino spoke of how proud he is that Tottenham won and is happy to see Spurs remain in Europe to compete for another trophy.
Prior to starting off his post-match comments with Spurs TV, Mauricio Pochettino wanted to first thank all of the Tottenham supporters who showed up for their final Champions League match.
While the amount wasn’t a third straight attendance record, the support from the fans was still their to help Spurs come back from a 1-0 deficit and seal a win, advancing into the Europa League’s knockout stage.
“First of all I want to say ‘thank you’ to our supporters,” Pochettino said on Spurs’ official website after beating CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night.
“This shows how big our Club is. I know they all feel disappointed after Monaco and for us, it’s the same, so it was great to see 62,000 fans (62,034) here, that’s fantastic.”
Following a big win over Swansea City last Saturday, Mauricio Pochettino saw his side erupt for five goals to systematically dismantle the Welsh club.
That performance appeared to carry over at Wembley Stadium with the Argentine manager pointing out that Spurs’ level as of late has picked up. That it has increased following a loss to Chelsea. Like a switch has been flipped.
“It was good, we started to show how we play against Chelsea and Swansea and today confirmed we’ve increased our level.” Pochettino said regarding his team’s performance after urging his players to fight for a win and remain in Europe.
“We were much better. We struggled a little for one-and-a-half months for different reasons and it’s true, when we’re all available and all fit, we’re stronger.”
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Spurs aren’t fully fit just yet, as Ben Davies and Érik Lamela are still recovering from their own respective injuries. But for the most part Spurs are getting back on track to when they had a great run in September (five wins in all competitions).
Having Harry Kane scoring goals, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli recapturing their form and Toby Alderweireld back in the squad, the starting lineup is nearly complete — minus Lamela of course.
With Tottenham’s spot in the Europa League’s Round of 32 secured, Mauricio Pochettino is happy to see his side continue to compete in Europe and fight for another trophy. As well as continue to play at Wembley and make it their home.
Though, Spurs did have to fight hard for a win after CSKA Moscow scored against the run of play when they were being dominated in the opening 32 minutes.
“It was like Monaco and Leverkusen.” Pochettino explained when CSKA went ahead early to put Spurs behind by a goal. “We had chances, they scored and it’s true, they were stronger teams than CSKA and it was difficult for us.”
“This time we came back. I’m happy because we have the opportunity to play more games here and make Wembley our home, try to get more experience and we can go further [in Europe]. That’s our objective – why not?”
Next: Toby Alderweireld Happy to Be Back with Tottenham
The draw for the Europa League’s knockout stage will be held on Monday with Spurs being a seeded team due to having one of the best third-place records among the other clubs who are dropping into Europe’s secondary competition.
As of right now, it appears that Tottenham will play at home during the second leg which will be held on February 23rd. Everything else will of course be discussed sometime next week.