Pochettino demands more desire as Spurs prepare for Liverpool
LONDON (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has demanded an improved attitude from his players for Saturday’s Wembley clash with Liverpool after accusing them of treating their recent visit to Watford like a walk in the park.
Tottenham’s 100 percent start to the season came to a shuddering halt at Watford where they let slip a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 — a loss that left Pochettino inwardly fuming and describing the performance as like a ‘testimonial’ game.
“If you watch the Watford game again, you see we played so slow, so sloppy, from the beginning,” the animated Argentine told reporters ahead of the weekend’s big Premier League clash.
“It was like we thought ‘OK, it is a nice afternoon in Watford, Elton John is in the stands...’ it was like going to walk in Hyde Park with my child,” he added referring to the British singer who is Watford’s Honorary Life-President.
Big-spending Liverpool will provide a tough test, having started with four consecutive wins, and Pochettino said a similar attitude by his players on Saturday to that shown at Watford would have him reaching for the emergency button.
Asked if players could be substituted before halftime, he said: “If Saturday we play the same way — I don’t say performance, because the performance was not bad against Watford — but if we do it the same way, rather than take off players, I will be on the phone to say: “Houston, we have a problem!”
“Come on! If against Liverpool at Wembley you do not have the desire and the focus to play... it is not about playing well, it is about attitude and to say: ‘Hey, come on, we are aggressive and we try to win’.”
Tottenham’s rise under Pochettino has been impressive and they have finished in the top three for the past three seasons.
He runs a tight ship and lapses have been few and far between but the old criticism that Tottenham lack the killer instinct to win the title resurfaced at Watford.