Spurs a happy family, says Pochettino in dig at Chelsea
AS Chelsea tried to deal with the Diego Costa dilemma, Mauricio Pochettino had a message for the Premier League leaders. After seeing star striker Harry Kane score a hat-trick, unlike the absent Costa, Pochettino was keen to promote his side’s unity. But that wasn’t all; he reminded Tottenham’s title rivals there is still a long way to go and vowed to continue chasing them. ‘To be together and every player happy and part of our Tottenham family, I think we have a very good atmosphere around the club,’ Pochettino said. ‘ Our supporterssuppor are amazing and I ththink this is a very good mix between the club,clu the supporters, t the players, the staff. ‘I think it’s amazing dayd by day how we feel, how we live on the training ground. ThatT is the important thingt in the end to trytr to win big things, to fight.’ AfterAfte his haul against West Bromwich, Kane is only one behind the Premier League’s top goalscorers, Costa, Alexis Sanchez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, all on 14.
Sportsmail revealed this month that the Chinese Super League are prepared to pay an England footballer £800,000 a week to join them, with Kane and Dele Alli among the candidates. Kane, who became a father last week, insists no-one is going anywhere. ‘I’d be very surprised if any of our players went out there’ he said. ‘What we’ve got going on here is something very great and I think it would be silly for the players here to go and not be part of it. ‘It’s down to the players and what they want to do. But I definitely think the ambition to win Premier Leagues, especially for the young players, will drive them more. We’ve got one of the best managers in the world, if not the best. He’s started a project here, we’ve got the stadium coming, so the future is very bright.’ West Brom manager Tony Pulis, meanwhile, has told his bosses to abandon their ‘tight and rigid and strict’ transfer budget. ‘We need to bring players in,’ Pulis said. ‘We’re desperately disappointed that we didn’t get Morgan Schneiderlin. ‘We have to improve and everyone knows that. We need a lift and not just the players.’ TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (3-4-3): Lloris 6; Dier 7, Alderweireld 7.5, Vertonghen 7 (Davies 64min, 6.5); Walker 8, Wanyama 7.5, Dembele 7.5 (Winks 82), Rose 8; Eriksen 8, Kane 9 (Son 90), Alli 7.5. Subs not used: Vorm, Nkoudou, Trippier, Sissoko. Scorers: Kane 12, 77, 82, McAuley 26 og. WEST BROMWICH ALBION (4-5-1): Foster 7.5; Dawson 5, McAuley 5, Olsson 5, Brunt 5 (McClean 54, 5); Chadli 5 (Robson-Kanu 62, 5), Yacob 5.5, Fletcher 5.5, Morrison 5, Phillips 5 (Field 90); Rondon 5. Subs not used: Myhill, Galloway, Leko, Wilson. Booked: Olsson, McAuley. Man of the match: Harry Kane. Referee: Anthony Taylor 6.5.