Mauricio Pochettino's Press Conference: Tottenham vs West Brom

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the media Thursday afternoon to discuss several topics leading up to Saturday’s match-up against West Bromwich Albion.

An update on Tottenham’s injury report wasn’t the first thing that Mauricio Pochettino talked about, but he did quickly address any lingering concerns heading into Saturday’s fixture.

Érik Lamela is still out and is recuperating with AS Roma. He might sidelined for another week before returning to the team. A surprise addition to the injury list however is Marcus Edwards.

The 18-year-old has only made one senior appearance (back in the League Cup) so it’s puzzling to hear Pochettino reveal that the young midfielder is a concern for Spurs. Unless he’s closing in on another call-up with the FA Cup beginning.

“Only Érik Lamela and Marcus Edwards still have problems.” Mauricio Pochettino began.

On the latest with Lamela’s rehab at Italy: “Every day we have information, he is doing well but we cannot push too much because it’s about time for him to recover.”

“Our idea is maybe [he will spend] one week more there and then [he’ll come] back to London so we can see which level [he is at] and start to build his fitness for him to try to help the team as soon as possible.”

“It’s difficult to say [when he will be back], I don’t want to guess again.”

On Edward’s timeline to return and playing for the first team: “Always it’s up to the player. It’s true that he’s still recovering and he is very close to starting to train with the team again.”

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A match against West Brom in recent seasons has proven difficult for Tottenham as they have recorded just one win and three draws since Tony Pulis took over the Baggies as manager in January 2015.

Those three draws by the way have been consecutive and all ended in a one-all contest.

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Not surprisingly a few questions that were pressed to Mauricio Pochettino happened to focus on his thoughts when facing West Brom.

Because the Baggies drew at White Hart Lane back in April, Pochettino was asked if that meeting could pose a problem this time around. And nonchalantly the Argentine manager brushed aside any concerns that last season’s draw could impact Saturday’s fixture.

To him, Pochettino sees every meeting with a Premier League team as a clean slate. That no matter what the outcome was previously, it’s a different game each time.

“For me, the past is the past. That was a different season and different circumstances.” Pochettino explained.

“Always it’s tough to play [against them], West Brom are doing a fantastic job, always it’s difficult to play against a team that is managed by Tony Pulis and it will be a tough game, a difficult game, like all the games are in the Premier League.”

If West Brom will be a challenge, how should Tottenham attack the West Midlands club? Will patience be one key to victory?

Purely based on how the past three games have gone — 1-1 draws — some form of patience will be needed to sneak away with a 1-0 win late in the game perhaps.

“Yes, one of the keys is to be patient, try to move the ball quickly and try to find space to move them.” Mauricio Pochettino continued.

“They will play very deep, they’ll try to play on the counterattack and with set pieces and it’s important for us to be patient, to try to handle the ball in a better way, try to avoid the counterattack and try to find gaps to create chances.”

Must Read: What Do Tottenham Actually Need in January?

Lastly, Mauricio Pochettino continues to address his stance on being happy with the depth of his squad with rumors linking the north London club to certain players.

“I think that we’ve built a squad with [which] we can play in different shapes, with different formations that we can use and that is important for us.” Pochettino added.

“We are in a moment now where we can be flexible in different opportunities. During the game against Aston Villa [in the FA Cup] we changed our formation [from a back-three to a back-four] in the last 20 minutes and that is very important. I am happy with my squad.”

Kevin Wimmer spoke to Spurs’ official website yesterday saying that players have practiced in a three-man backline as well as a four-man backline so they’re able to transition into either formation during games.

Next: Why Tottenham's 3-4-3 is Here to Stay

Because of this, it’s not surprising that no additions will be made if Spurs players are going to be getting more playing time with different formations being used and rotation happening more frequently.

Not to mention, a player coming in January will now have to learn multiple sets/shapes/formations on the fly without a pre-season. Thus signing a player for depth purposes is unlikely. Unless of course it’s for the youth academy instead.

Mauricio Pochettino’s Press Conference: Tottenham vs West Brom

By Alexander Balano | Jan 12, 2017

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the media Thursday afternoon to discuss several topics leading up to Saturday’s match-up against West Bromwich Albion.