Pochettino accuses rivals of not being ‘respectful’ in derby
Mauricio Pochettino has stoked the fires ahead of Wednesday’s north London derby by claiming Arsenal “weren’t respectful” in their celebrations after beating Spurs 4-2 at the Emirates this month.
Arsenal players posted selfies on social media of themselves revelling in the win, which Pochettino said at the time he took as a compliment to his team.
Speaking after Tottenham’s win on Saturday, however, Pochettino suggested Arsenal’s players showed a lack of respect – though he added that such a reaction was understandable. “Of course it hurt because it is a derby but, in case we win, it is going to be the same,” he said. “It is not to be disrespectful – I think they weren’t respectful to us. They showed their happiness for their fans from the changing room but that is fair enough.”
Pochettino was delighted with his side’s resolve in overcoming a stubborn Burnley, but his preparations for the Carabao Cup quarterfinal at the Emirates took a hit yesterday with the news that Eric Dier would be out until next month after surgery to remove his appendix. Spurs are already suffering a Mauricio Pochettino has given 13 academy players a senior debut since he was appointed at Tottenham – 11 of whom were born within 20 miles of White Hart Lane. Oliver
Skipp was the latest on
Saturday.
Ollie Skipp Age: 18 Born: Welwyn Garden City Josh Onomah Age: 21 Enfield Harry Winks Age: 22 Hemel Hempstead Filip Lesniak Age: 22 Kosice, Slovakia Kyle Walkerpeters Age: 21 Edmonton Luke Amos Age: 21 Welwyn Garden City Tashan Oakleyboothe Age: 18 Lambeth Shayon Harrison Age: 21 Hornsey Cameron Carter-vickers Age: 20 Southend Marcus Edwards Age: 20 Camden Anthony Georgiou Age: 21 Lewisham Kazaiah Sterling Age: 20 Enfield Anton Walkes Age: 21 Lewisham defensive injury crisis which caused Jan Vertonghen, Juan Foyth, Davinson Sanchez and Serge Aurier to miss the Burnley win.
It leaves Pochettino potentially light at the back against an Arsenal attack that destroyed the Tottenham defence just over two weeks ago. Spurs, though, have responded well since that defeat and now find themselves five points ahead of their north London rivals.
In spite of the inevitable focus on Wednesday, Pochettino warned against being overly pre-occupied with the Arsenal rivalry, and insisted his team were only worried about their own results.
“If you lose your focus, focus on another club, maybe you need to improve if you are to achieve the thing you are dreaming of,” he said. “Tottenham was a little way loose in focus [in the past] and I think now the focus is to improve yourself, compete, and the challenge is to be better every season.
“The consequence will be to be above some clubs but the focus is never on another club like Arsenal.”
Pochettino also pleaded with the Tottenham fans to avoid any repeat of the banana-throwing incident involving Pierre-emerick Aubameyang when the sides met this month. After a week in which a Chelsea fan allegedly racially abused Raheem Sterling and a section of the club’s supporters sang an anti-semitic chant in Budapest, Pochettino stressed that he regarded racism as “the worst thing in the world”.
He added: “Our fans, Arsenal fans, Chelsea fans, around the world – we need to celebrate for us. I don’t care if it is Arsenal fans, Argentina fans, Tottenham fans, Espanyol or Barcelona fans – I am against this type of situation. For me, it is the worst thing in the world and that is why I am completely against this behaviour. Our responsibility is to behave.”
On Saturday against Burnley, there were familiar “Yids” chants from Tottenham supporters but otherwise the match passed without incident at a half-full Wembley.
Until Christian Eriksen popped up with a stoppage-time winner, it had looked like being a frustrating afternoon for Tottenham. Instead, they pulled off their 10th league win from 12 matches and kept their faint title hopes alive.
For Burnley, it was frustrating to lose so late after effectively containing Spurs for 90 minutes. The defeat, coupled with Southampton’s win over Arsenal, meant Burnley ended the weekend in the relegation zone. Manager Sean Dyche is confident, though, that improved performances will soon bring points. “I know the group, so it’s not about being concerned,” he said. “The realities are you can have a bad day at the office – we had one recently [against Crystal Palace], but, equally, you can correct that very quickly and we have done.
“Now of course you’ve got to add on getting actual results. I thought we were very close today.”