Pochettino rips into ‘sloppy’ Spurs squad

We must be aggressive or we will pay, says coach ‘All the signals were we would crash at Watford’

Mauricio Pochettino has launched an uncompromising assessment of his Tottenham Hotspur squad, accusing them of “crashing” after the elation of victory over Manchester United and playing against Watford like they were “going to Hyde Park” on a family day out.

The Spurs manager said he felt “guilty” for not being able to stop his team falling away in the 2-1 defeat at Vicarage Road before the international break, having sensed something was not right about his players after Old Trafford. His team face Liverpool today in the weekend’s standout game and Pochettino said this is an occasion for his side to show again that they are title contenders.

“If Saturday we play in the same way… rather than take off players, I will be on the phone to say, ‘Houston, we have a problem’. If, against Liverpool at Wembley, you do not have the desire and the focus to play [there is something wrong]. It is not about playing well, it is about attitude and to say, ‘Hey, come on, we are aggressive and we try to win’.

“If you watch the Watford game again, you see we played so slow, so sloppy, from the beginning. It was like we thought, ‘OK, it is a nice afternoon in Watford, Elton John is in the stands’. [The intensity] was like going to Hyde Park with my child. I told the players and they agreed. To win games, we need to be focused for 95 minutes. If not, you always pay in football.”

Pochettino said of his philosophy: “To show respect for the opponent is to kill with every single action. You need to be aggressive. That is how I understand football.”

He said that he had already been worried ahead of the Watford game with the attitude he had detected after the 3-0 victory at Old Trafford.

“All the signals from the team were that we were going to crash. When we finish the game 3-0, we cannot talk about winning the Premier League, [or believe] the job is done. You need to show respect and you need to show you are a contender. To come here on Wednesday and ask for more training, and not play in the first 45 minutes [at Watford] like a testimonial game.

“I am guilty because I saw that but I cannot change that situation.”

He is without the injured Hugo Lloris and Dele Alli today, and there was a clear flavour of the frustrations Pochettino has been feeling during the international break. He said the interim had been “painful” and he would not place any responsibility on the club’s failure to make a single signing over the summer.

By contrast, Jurgen Klopp has invested

around £177million over the summer in four key players. Nevertheless, Pochettino was keen not to give his players any excuses ahead of the game.

“I am not going to criticise and I am not going to be the victim because we didn’t sign, only that is the reality and the reality is they [Liverpool] have a very good team. In the end, it is 11 v 11 on the pitch and we need to try to be better.”

Pochettino was unrepentant about reminding his players of their responsibilities, “In football the energy [required] is 10 months. It is tough, yes, but in our contract and our salary that is why the club pay us because we need to be consistent in 10 months. It’s not one week and another week. It’s difficult to compete if you are not consistent.”