Poch: I aimed to quit
Champions League misery spurs Kane’s trophy hunt EAGLES EYE DIAZ
this was not great to finish like this.
“I’m not a person that avoids facing problems or a difficult situation.
“I love a massive challenge, a difficult challenge and of course now to rebuild that mentality, to make it possible to repeat a similar season, that is exciting and motivates me a lot.”
Speaking in Singapore ahead of Tottenham’s friendly against Juventus tomorrow, Pochettino added: “You know very much when you touch glory you behave differently or you feel different or the players feel different and the challenge becomes different.
“It’s like Kieran [Trippier] explained to me in private and to the media in Madrid that he loved to be at Tottenham and work with us but at 28/29 sometimes a player needs to discover new things and new challenges.
“That’s inside yourself and it’s only you who knows how you feel. It’s not about agreeing or disagreeing, it’s about accepting how you feel.
“You are an individual, you have individual challenges and you have to accept if all the parts are happy.”
Pochettino said the strain of guiding Spurs had taken its toll and that he would have felt justified in moving on if he had achieved Champions League glory.
SEVEN weeks on from the biggest game of his life, the pain has not yet subsided for England’s leading striker.
For Harry Kane, the agony of Champions League heartbreak against Liverpool is still raw. Tottenham lost the final 2-0 in Madrid on June 1, a game Kane claims was “there for the taking” for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
“It was a tough one to take,” said Kane. “We did extremely well to reach the Champions League Final. When you get to those big games and you don’t perform the way you know you can, that’s always the bit that hurts most. “We know it was there for the taking and that’s something we have to deal with over the summer. “It’s a hard one to get over, but with everything surrounding us – the start of the season at Wembley and things like that – I think we did extremely well.
“It’s given us confidence and belief that we can be in the big games, the Champions League finals, so it’s down to us this season to try to perform again.”
Kane’s inclusion in Spurs’ starting line-up against Liverpool sparked
from DAVID McDONNELL in Singapore controversy as the England skipper had only just returned from seven weeks out with an ankle injury.
But he dismissed criticism of Pochettino’s decision to pick him over Lucas Moura, whose hat-trick in the epic 3-2 semi-final comeback win over Ajax got Spurs to the final.
“That’s football, that’s the game we play and the world we live in – everyone has an opinion,” said Kane.
“The gaffer made a decision on what he thought was the best for the team and it obviously didn’t work out.
“But as a team we always win and lose together, and unfortunately that one didn’t go our way.”
Kane said he had not been able to watch the final back and will not do so, preferring to look forward.
“I don’t want to watch it,” he added. “As a player, you know when you could have done better, done more.
“It’s a hard one, because it’s probably one of the biggest games we’ll ever play in our careers and to let it slide by is always a tough one to take.
“It’s not the easiest final to get over but with the belief we have in the squad, we know we’re capable of doing that.
‘‘It makes you stronger, it makes you more determined, it builds the fire in the belly to get back there and, when we do hopefully get back there, prove a point.” Spurs have yet to win a trophy in five years under Pochettino (inset with chairman Daniel Levy), with Kane admitting there can be “no excuses” for that continuing.
He said: “We go into every season trying to win, but we haven’t done so yet. It’s down go us – there’s no excuses.
“As a team we need to do better in the big games and take opportunities when we get them.
“It starts now – the hard work, determination and focus for a big season – and hopefully we can go on to win that trophy.” Thirteen league defeats last season undermined Spurs’ title bid, and Kane says they must match the consistency of Manchester City and Liverpool. “It’s hard to say a reason why or how we’re going to do it, we just have to play better, perform better,” said Kane.
“We know we could have done a lot better in the league last season. Certain games were just unacceptable from our point of view, so we need to try to be more consistent.
“When you look at City and Liverpool, that’s what they were last season – consistent over the 38 games. It’s down to us to match that, if not better it.” CRYSTAL PALACE are weighing up a £5m move for Chile rightback Paulo Diaz, writes PAUL BROWN.
The Eagles have added the Al Alhi star (inset) to their wish list of potential replacements for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Palace missed out on Norwich star Max Aarons, while another target, Timothy Castagne, is set to stay at Atalanta.
The Eagles remain interested in Arsenal misfit Carl Jenkinson but Diaz, 24, has emerged as another alternative, with River Plate also interested.
He has two years left on his contract.