Tottenham boss talks tough ahead of Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino believes rival Premier League managers and fans want his team to win when it tackles leader Chelsea at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.
With Chelsea six points clear, Pochettino thinks Liverpool, Arsenal and the two Manchester clubs will be hoping for a Spurs victory to stop Antonio Conte’s team widening the gap at the top.
Furthermore, the Argentine said it will be good for the leagueasawhole,aswellasfor Tottenham, if Chelsea fails to set a new record of 14 successive Premier League victories within the same season.
“I think it’s important for the Premier League and for us to try to win and try to stop them and reduce the gap because in the end for us the challenge is to try to be at the top,” Pochettino said after his side’s 4-1 win at Watford on Sunday.
Last season the situations were reversed, with many neutrals wanting Tottenham to falter against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge so unlikely contenders Leicester City could take the title.
Their wishes were granted as a stormy 2-2 draw delivered the championship to King Power Stadium.
“Yes, maybe we will feel how Leicester felt last season when all the teams were with them and against us,” Pochettino said.“Maybetheyfeltthesame as us last season.”
However, he warned it will be tough for Tottenham against Conte’s turbo-charged contingent.
“You know Chelsea arrives in very good shape ... and us too, after the last few games,” he said.
“For me it will be a very, very tough game to try to stop them and try to reduce the gap.”
The win at Watford was a perfect warm-up, effectively decided by halftime when Spurs led 3-0 despite the absence of suspended duo Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Walker, both of whom will be available to face Chelsea.
“The first half was great. I think it was one of the best performances so far,” said Pochettino, whose side supplanted Manchester City in the Champions League places on goal difference.
“It was nearly a perfect game. The shame was that we conceded a goal in the last minute, but there were a lot of positive things.
“We scored from the beginning and at that moment I think the game was over. We controlled it and created some chances.”
He also praised the two-goal contributions of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, as well as Vertonghen and Walker’s replacements Kevin Wimmer and Kieran Trippier, who set up both of Kane’s goals.
“I think (Kane) was very good, him and Dele,” said the manager.
“I’m very pleased with players like Trippier and Wimmer, who don’t have the opportunity to play too much, but make us more competitive. Their performance was fantastic.”
Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri said the result was his “lowest moment” in charge, but he pointed to injuries that robbed him of the services of 10 players.
“If you play against Tottenham when you are missing 10 players, maybe five or six of a starting XI, you know it won’t be easy,” he said.
“I don’t want to make comparisons, but if you take away five important members of any other team, they will also be in great difficulty.”
He denied that a run of six defeats in nine games, which has left Watford in 13th place, has put him under pressure.