KEANE: MY ONE FOCUS IS BURNLEY WE’RE SO EXCITED
And Pochettino doesn’t want to hide it as Spurs, always the nearly men, are talking confidently about the title and are so desperate to learn from last season
SUPERMAC - the political figure rather than the footballing one - once famously told Britain: “Most of our people have never had it so good.”
ENGLAND new boy Michael Keane claims he will not be distracted by the growing number of clubs interested in him.
Liverpool have joined Everton and Leicester in eyeing up Keane, who has blossomed into one of England’s best young defensive talents at Burnley.
Keane, 24, insists his focus is on guaranteeing Burnley’s Premier League survival – they are on the fringe of the relegation scrap after a haul of just three points from seven games.
“I’ve dealt with it all throughout the season and I won’t let it affect me,” said the centre-half (above).
“I’m fully focused on Burnley. We’ve got some big games coming up and we need to make sure we stay in the Premier League, so it won’t affect me at all.
“The first thing in our heads is survival but we think we’ve got enough to do more than that.” now is exciting,” said the Argentinian. “We’re playing for big things.
“We’re in the FA Cup semifinal and second in the table – I don’t think we could be any better-placed. This is our time to be excited.”
Tottenham were in a strong position last season before finishing third in a two-horse race for the title.
But this time there are no signs of an imminent collapse – indeed they showed huge character to breach fortress Turf Moor and make it 35 points from a possible 42.
They have moved to within seven points of Chelsea – the
And 60 years on from Harold Macmillan’s tub-thumping, Mauricio Pochettino has delivered a similarly upbeat state-of-the-nation address to Tottenham fans.
Spurs are second in the table on the back of their best Premier League campaign and through to the FA Cup semi-finals, prompting Pochettino to declare they couldn’t be in a better position.
The Tottenham boss feels they are punching above their weight to be looking down on Manchester’s moneyed clubs, Arsenal and Liverpool.
He is excited about what the next eight weeks could yield for Tottenham, who have had just a solitary League Cup success to celebrate since 1999.
“We don’t need anybody to push us to be excited because the moment we are living in
title race could yet become very interesting with Antonio Conte’s side facing Manchester City on Wednesday.
And they have gone a seventh game this season unbeaten without their injured talisman Harry Kane.
Pochettino is proud of his players’ maturity and feels they have grown because of last season’s chastening experience.
“I tell the players we must show we have learned from last season,” he said.
“Last season was a great experience for us. It was a tough experience, but it is something we need to think about.
“I think closing the gap on Chelsea by three points was important for us. It’s always difficult the first game after the international break but it was a very professional performance. We showed belief, and character and that made me proud.”
While Pochettino is looking forward, his skipper Hugo Lloris is more concerned about what is behind Spurs.
The France goalkeeper played down title talk, claiming his focus was on keeping ahead of the pursuing pack in the race for Champions League places.
“We don’t talk about the title because even seven points is a big gap at this stage of the season,” he said. “I prefer to look backwards and to look at what’s happening behind us.”
Lloris was a virtual spectator because Tottenham stymied Burnley so well. They took control after switching from a 3-4-2-1 formation to a flat back four because of first-half injuries to Victor Wanyama and Harry Winks.
Eric Dier moved forward into midfield from centre-half and opened the scoring with his first Tottenham goal since January 2016 before Heung-Min Son sealed victory.