Poch: We’ve been on the floor but our season starts now

MAURICIO POCHETTINO admitted Tottenham were ‘nearly on the floor’ because of the uncertainty hanging over the squad in the opening weeks of the season. But following his side’s North London derby draw with Arsenal, and with the European transfer window closing today, he declared Spurs’ season starts now. Pochettino revealed he held ‘positive’ clear-the-air talks with chairman Daniel Levy following a summer during which he struggled to keep a lid on his frustrations about progress at the club. Doubts about the future of a number of players, notably midfielder Christian Eriksen, increased Pochettino’s annoyance. And though he stopped short of confirming Eriksen would stay, he dropped a big hint by starting him for just the second time this season against Arsenal and insisting it would now be difficult for him to leave. Pochettino said: ‘I’m so happy because tomorrow is going to finish the transfer window. ‘We have massive quality, we need to be all on the same page. ‘We start from tomorrow being all on the same page, working hard to win games and be in a position we deserve to be. ‘Looking forward, I’m very optimistic, I’m so happy with the squad we have. We can only improve. ‘I think we were nearly on the floor, and now we are going to improve. ‘We have recovered the good feelings after Newcastle and a very tough summer — all that happened in these last four weeks.’ Asked specifically about Eriksen, who has attracted interest from Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Manchester United, Pochettino said: ‘There is still one day to go. ‘I don’t want to say it’s impossible, but it’s going to be difficult. I am optimistic. ‘I hope in 24 hours everything will be clearer for everyone.’ Victor Wanyama is one player who could leave Spurs today. The Kenya midfielder’s move to Belgian side Club Bruges has fallen through, opening the door to a possible return to Celtic. Pochettino ended the day in an upbeat mood thanks to goals from Eriksen and Harry Kane at the Emirates against Spurs’ biggest rivals, despite seeing his side surrender their 2-0 lead. Arsenal head coach Unai Emery (left) urged his side to learn from their costly mistakes. Emery said: ‘At 2-0 down we can be very proud of our response and the atmosphere we created and how our supporters pushed us to this way. After our goal, we got the second goal and had chances to score the third. ‘As for the result, we deserved more. We played a lot with our heart. We didn’t control our heads in the first half. ‘We can have some mistakes but I want us to progress and improve.’