WHAT REALLY MADE POCH SO TOUCHY?

STRANGE scenes at Wembley on Saturday, when Tottenham manager Mauricio pochettino reacted furiously to a very innocuous question about team selection. Asked why davinson Sanchez had played ahead of Toby Alderweireld, pochettino took great offence and was still complaining bitterly about it some 15 minutes later. now, Alderweireld, who played 90 minutes against newport after three months out with a hamstring injury, is not travelling to Turin for tonight’s game with Juventus. It could be that he simply needs more conditioning work. Yet as Alderweireld’s contract negotiations have stalled and clauses in his existing agreement mean he could leave for a cut-price £25million in 2019, one wonders if pochettino’s annoyance hides a deeper frustration. Tottenham’s policy is to sell high, and if Alderweireld won’t agree terms, the only way is to cash in this summer. There are not so many good centre halves around now that pochettino can afford to lose one of Alderweireld’s calibre — and certainly not to a major premier League rival, with Manchester City and Chelsea interested. Maybe that is what is making him tetchy.