Pochettino not panicking as Tottenham stutter once again
MAURICIO POCHETTINO refused to panic after his Tottenham Hotspur side suffered a second successive defeat to wipe out their Premier League title hopes and create some top-four jitters on Wednesday.
A 2-0 defeat at London rivals Chelsea, following the 2-1 loss at Burnley on Saturday, means Tottenham’s comfortable third position now looks under threat. They still have a fourpoint gap over fourth-placed Arsenal, are five clear of Manchester United and seven ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea, but suddenly they look vulnerable.
Pochettino lost his cool with referee Mike Dean after the Burnley defeat, something that is out of character for the usually gracious Argentine, and his side self-destructed against Chelsea with a comical Kieran Trippier own goal. The reality is if they lose to Arsenal tomorrow, what was a 10-point gap to their fierce north London rivals a week ago will be down to one.
Asked if he was concerned, Pochettino, pictured, said: “I am not afraid. I have the same feeling as before. We need to enjoy playing football. I think everyone before the season would sign up to have that position before the start of the season, to have the possibility to be five points the gap. The pressure is on them.
“If people are scared now about the top four, that is football. It’s a massive business for sure but we need to enjoy it, playing football. We need to keep going and try to be ready for the next game. But it’s not a drama, eh?”
Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Unai Emery believes the opportunity to inch close to within a point of Tottenham Hotspur in the league will be a “big motivation” for his players ahead of tomorrow’s north London derby.
Midfielders Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan marked their sparkling return to form as Arsenal eased past Bournemouth 5-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
“It is a big motivation,” Emery told reporters. “We need to take the opportunity like today, these three points. After we can have and get an opportunity like Saturday.
“They are still ahead of us in the table, and it’s difficult to win there, but it’s a good test.”
Mkhitaryan and Ozil both put themselves in contention to start the derby with a goal apiece against Bournemouth, but Emery refused to be drawn on whether the pair had done enough to feature in his tactical plans for the weekend.
“I’m going to watch the match back, and Tottenham’s, and after that I will decide our game plan for Saturday with every player,” he added.
“If we can play with big performance I want every player to help us with this decision.” |