Mauricio Pochettino was damning in his assessment of his Tottenham players after they threw away a first-half lead to lose 2-1 to Southampton, accusing them of “complacency” and “arrogance” and suggesting they do not have the mental strength required to win major honours.
Tottenham looked on course for victory, having taken the lead through Harry Kane’s 26th-minute goal. They were utterly dominant against relegation-threatened opponents but then came a quite incredible second-half turnaround as Southampton recorded their first home victory over Spurs since returning to the Premier League in 2012. Yan Valery equalised before James Ward-Prowse scored the winner nine minutes from time.
The visitors were incredibly poor after the interval, especially in defence, and their manager, who was forced to watch from the directors’ box having been hit with a two-game ban for improper conduct, was not sparing in his criticism.
“It is so difficult to understand the way we played the second half,” said Pochettino. “We showed a lack of hunger that you need to kill the game and if you want to be a contender, to fight for things, you cannot play like this. I am worried about the way we changed from the first half to the second half and the only reason for this is complacency and arrogance.”
The four-way sprint for the third and fourth Champions League places
Tottenham
31 Mar Liverpool (A)
7 Apr Brighton (H)
13 Apr Huddersfield (H)
20 Apr Man City (A)
27 Apr West Ham (H)
4 May Bournemouth (A)
12 May Everton (H)
TBC Crystal Palace (H)
Arsenal
1 Apr Newcastle (H)
7 Apr Everton (A)
15 Apr Watford (A)
20 Apr Crystal Palace (H)
29 Apr Leicester (A)
4 May Brighton (H)
12 May Burnley (A)
TBC Wolves (A)
Manchester United
30 Mar Watford (H)
2 Apr Wolves (A)
13 Apr West Ham (H)
21 Apr Everton (A)
24 Apr Man City (H)
28 Apr Chelsea (H)
4 May Huddersfield (A)
12 May Cardiff (H)
Chelsea
17 Mar Everton (A)
31 Mar Cardiff (A)
8 Apr West Ham (H)
14 Apr Liverpool (A)
22 Apr Burnley (H)
28 Apr Man Utd (A)
4 May Watford (H)
12 May Leicester (A)
TBC Brighton (H)
It is now three defeats and a draw for Tottenham from their past four league games, a curious run given their impressive Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund and one that puts their hope of finishing third in jeopardy. Manchester United and Arsenal, who meet at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, are three and four points behind Spurs respectively.
Southampton have climbed to 16th on the back of their second consecutive home win and go into a three-week break with hopes of avoiding relegation greatly lifted.
“There is a long way to go, but our fans saw today that the players are ready to fight,” said their manager, Ralph Hasenhüttl.
