Poch’s pups come of age
WHETHER Mauricio Pochettino wins or loses his 100th game in charge of Tottenham in Dortmund, the head coach says he has already taken the club to a new level.
When the Argentinian arrived 21 months ago, he inherited a side struggling to break into the top four and incapable of sustaining a challenge both at home and abroad.
But after the players expressed disappointment at only drawing the north London derby on Saturday – a game which all too often in the past Spurs have lost – a remarkably strong ‘ second- string’ squad have travelled to Germany to face the 2013 Champions League fi nalists.
Three players expected to be in Roy Hodgson’s next England squad, Eric Dier, Danny Rose and Dele Alli, have all been left at home – rested, injured and suspended respectively. Another, Harry Kane, is likely to start on the bench.
Nevertheless, Pochettino will still fi eld a side bristling with young international talent who have come of age this season.
“I am happy with the way we have developed our mentality in 21 months,” he said.
“We are stronger than before. From the beginning of the season, our ambition was to grow up. Now we are in a good period. This is a good game to play, but it’s not a key game to change the level we are at.
“We are already happy with the development of our mentality since the beginning of the season. We need time to improve.”
The reaction to allowing Arsenal to come back to snatch a point on Saturday told Pochettino his players are fi nally getting there. “It’s a good thing to be disappointed,” he said. “Arsenal were in a different level a few years ago, and a draw in a big derby was a good result.
“We have changed our mentality. It was a game we should have won. But we showed we can compete in this level against Arsenal, a team who have always been in the Champions League over the past few years and invest more money than us. Belief is the most important thing. We
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AUBAMEYANG can always improve the team. But we need time for this.”
Dortmund did most of their growing up under Jurgen Klopp, who is now at Liverpool, and with new coach Thomas Tuchel they remain the closest challengers to Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga.
More dauntingly, their 81,359- capacity Westfalenstadion has not so much been a fortress as a shooting range – Dortmund scoring 61 goals in 19 home matches so far this season.
“It is true this is a key moment because it’s decisive in the last few months,” said Pochettino. “We are in a good position and we can learn about the players, the mentality, how we compete when fresh and tired, after 42 offi cial games.”
Few have more energy than Dortmund’s box- to- box midfi elder Ilkay Gundogan, a 25- year- old £ 23million target for Manchester City.
So desperate is Pep Guardiola to make him one of his fi rst signings when he arrives at the Etihad, the club’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain was photographed talking to the player’s agent and uncle in Amsterdam for 45 minutes this week. Guardiola was also spotted chatting to Begiristain.
When Tuchel was asked if he was disappointed about the photographs, and whether he was convinced the midfi elder would stay, he said: “I’m not disappointed and I’m not convinced.
“We are all looking forward to next season, we are planning and we speak to advisors, it’s part of the job we do. Am I convinced he will stay? I don’t really know, I know what we can offer him and if that’s enough for him to stay then so be it.
“He knows why he’s here, what he’s doing and how he can develop even further and progress with Dortmund.
“I haven’t actually seen the photographs, although I’ve heard about them. I don’t want to express my feelings in that respect.”
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TRIPPIER ALDERWEIRELD WIMMER DAVIES MASON BENTALEB ERIKSEN DEMBELE LAMELA CHADLI REF: C Cakir ( Tur). TV: BT Sport 2.
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