Pochettino fumes at passionless Tottenham
london — Mauricio Pochettino accused his Tottenham flops of lacking passion after Monaco ruined their record-breaking night at Wembley with a 2-1 win in the Champions League.
Pochettino was hoping his side would mark their return to the Champions League after a fiveyear absence with a dominant display in front of an English club record attendance of 85,011.
But the north Londoners slumped to a lacklustre loss as goals from Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar handed the points to the French league leaders in the Group E opener.
Pochettino couldn’t hide his frustration at Tottenham’s below-par performance and the Argentine coach questioned his players’ desire, as well as lambasting their sloppy defensive efforts. “We need to show more hunger and passion. We showed a lack of passion today a little bit because we cannot concede that first goal,” Pochettino said.
“We need to be more aggressive when we have chances to score. That is what we said in the changing room.
“It was a fantastic opportunity. We waited a long time to be in the Champions League and we fight a lot last season to be in it. The feeling is why didn’t we do more? “We need to show more hunger on the pitch. We need to show a different image than we showed in the first half.”
Despite the record-breaking display from their fans, Tottenham never looked comfortable in their unfamiliar surroundings following the club’s decision to move their European games to Wembley while White Hart Lane is being redeveloped.
But Pochettino refused to use that as an excuse and insisted his team had only themselves to blame. “No, that is to put an excuse. Football is on the pitch. We need to improve and learn we cannot concede a goal like that first one,” Pochettino said. —