NEW HOME CAN BOOST SPURS
Fresh Hart for Poch
MAURICIO POCHETTINO claims Tottenham will not be genuine title contenders until they are finally playing in their new stadium.
Spurs finished runners-up last season but face Swansea tonight a whopping 22 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Pochettino insists his side won’t be a serious force until they leave Wembley and are settled into the new White Hart Lane next season.
The Spurs boss (above) said: “First of all we need to move to the new stadium. It is so important for the team, club and fans for everyone to settle into the new stadium.
“The moment you are in the new stadium, and you start to feel that it is your home, then you can be more strong.
“That will change completely the atmosphere, and the vision from the players will be different.
“Of course, for me, it is the moment to say we are a real contender. We are a contender now, yes, and for the last two seasons we were a contender, of course.
Credit
“With a solid structure we are going to be real contenders – and we must be real contenders.”
With top scorer Harry Kane struggling with flu, Heung-Min Son is set to lead the line tonight.
Son has scored nine goals this season but Pochettino says he does not get the credit he deserves because playing with Kane is like playing with Lionel Messi. Pochettino said: “Us, the coaching staff, give him the credit that he deserves. Last season he was very important.
“It’s like a player next to Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo that deserves a lot of credit. “When you are next to Harry Kane – who scores and scores, and all that he achieves – it is normal that the focus is more on Harry Kane or on Messi or Ronaldo than Son.
“Do the players appreciate him? Yes, all the team love him. Not only because of his performances but because of how he is as a man.”
Son is idolised in his native South Korea and has been called the ‘Asian David Beckham’.
Pochettino added: “That is what we think. When we talk about David Beckham, he is a massive icon in the world.
‘‘Maybe Son is like this but here he is so humble and such a normal guy – and that makes him bigger.”