Alarm bells for Mauricio
MAURICIO Pochettino read the riot act to his players after Watford snuffed out Tottenham’s lead like a candle in the wind in front of a delighted Elton John.
Furious, the Spurs manager accused his side of lacking aggression, disrespecting the challenge of the Premier League and went on to describe the defeat as the wake-up call his players needed if they want to be genuine title contenders.
His side had looked to be on their way to a fourth successive win of the season in the 54th minute, Abdoulaye Doucoure’s unfortunate own-goal finally breathing life into the match after a forgettable first half.
But Watford also had a 100 per cent record to defend and they did so manfully to take their own place alongside Liverpool and Chelsea on 12 points at the top of the table.
Pochettino seemed as angry as he has been for a long time. “It’s so painful to concede two goals like this,” he said. “It’s so painful that the first half looks like a friendly. So yes, I’m very disappointed because it’s difficult to understand.
“It’s about energy, it’s about communication, it’s about being strong. It’s about saying that it’s impossible that the opponent is going to score.
“If you want to be a contender, you need to win games like today. And win easy. You cannot concede. You need to show strength.
“The Premier League is so tough. That’s why after that super style with which we beat Manchester United, we needed to be more cautious. We needed to show more respect to this competition. You need to compete much better.
“You hear my message: from the beginning we needed to go there like a lion and try to score in every single action.
“If you want to win the title you need to show that character, you need to defend well, maybe if you do not play so well but you need to win this type of game.”
Nevertheless, Pochettino was determined to find some sort of silver lining. “To pay and feel the pain, it’s going to help us for the future and to be better,” he said. “It’s still the beginning. I think it’s a very good wake-up call and we can listen more when people talk about the reality and not the perception.”
By the time the final whistle blew, Vicarage Road was bouncing. A defensive mix-up between Etienne Capoue and keeper Ben Foster had left the Watford goal empty nine minutes after the break so when Lucas Moura’s cross hit Doucoure, there was nothing to stop it going into the net.
The lapse galvanised Watford and two set-piece goals, each excellently delivered by Jose Holebas, proved Tottenham’s undoing.
Troy Deeney levelled the scores with a determined header from a free-kick. Then Craig Cathcart was given far too much space to nod in a corner with 14 minutes to go.
Deeney said: “We caused them problems and we’re big lumps – not many defenders like it. Four wins out of four is a huge achievement.
“We’re not naive to think we’re going to win the league. We’ve got a lot to work on. But we showed a lot of character. A lot of teams would fold after going behind to Tottenham. This gives us confidence but we can’t get carried away because we have United next.”