Pochettino hopes for stability after rocky start for Spurs

LONDON: Tottenham host Crystal Palace today in a game Mauricio Pochettino hopes will herald the start of a more stable period for last season’s Champions League finalists.

Pochettino made three signings following Tottenham’s European Cup final loss to Liverpool, the first time since January 2018 the manager had been able to add to his squad.

Yet it was the European transfer window, which closed two weeks after the Premier League version, that caused the Argentine the most stress, given several of his star players were vulnerable to approaches from overseas.

Yet none departed, and Pochettino is now able to carry on picking the likes of Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose, whose futures had been less than clear throughout the summer.

That was partly because the players themselves were eyeing moves elsewhere, with Denmark midfielder Eriksen making no secret at the end of last season of his desire for a new challenge.

Alderweireld had a clause in his contract that made him available for £25 million (RM130 million) until 14 days before the close of the window, which remained untriggered.

But it also seemed apparent that Pochettino was keen to freshen up a pool of players that had consistently challenged for honours without actually winning any.

“The conversation today altogether now is the squad we are going to have until January, when the rumours will appear again,” he said. “It was very good to refocus again on our objective.

“To be clear in our minds, to think that the most important is the collective and start to put outside individual situations, all together again and try to create a dynamic and be strong and starting winning games. That’s the most important thing for us now.”

Tottenham have only one win from their first four games, a sequence that includes draws at Manchester City and Arsenal.