Pain good for Spurs: Poch
> Manager confident ‘suffering’ will benefit team
MAURICIO POCHETTINO believes his Tottenham Hotspur side are coming of age despite their already-fading hopes of Premier League title glory suffering another setback with a 1-1 draw away to Watford.
Yesterday’s result was Spurs’ fourth successive League game without a win they’ve now gone from vying for the title to facing a battle to qualify directly for next season’s Champions League in recent weeks.
But Pochettino was just relieved to see his side stop the rot with a battling draw against Watford after playing most of the second half at Vicarage Road a man down following Davinson Sanchez’s red card.
“You can’t win games easy, especially in this League, but you learn a lot about the character,” said Tottenham manager Pochettino.
“It was important for us to change the feelings. We were disappointed after our last game at Leicester (a 2-1 loss in midweek).
“We are in a period now where we are suffering things against us. It is good for the group to try and learn. It is a long-term project. It will be good for the future. You want to win, but in tough moments you learn.
“In the last few games we have deserved more. You can’t question the performance or character.
“It’s so difficult to play with one man less. The good thing is we didn’t concede and we were also close to scoring. We handled the game well as we played for 50 minutes with 10 men. But we were brave and went forward and didn’t concede chances.”
The game was evenly poised, with Son-Heung Min cancelling out Christian Kabasele’s early headed opener, when Colombian defender Sanchez saw red for an elbow on Watford winger Richarlison.
Spurs then held on to a point despite soaking up heavy pressure from the Hornets. – AFP