Mauricio Pochettino will have some much-needed breathing space as he searches for answers to the worst spell of his Tottenham tenure after travelling to Qatar.
The Spurs manager flew to the Middle East after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton and he will spend the next two days at the Aspire Global Summit on football performance, where he was due to deliver a speech today.
The event has been in his diary for several months and the club have no issues with him being in Qatar. It comes at a welcome time, with Pochettino admitting a break would help “to change the air, dynamic and energy” at Spurs after a miserable week. The loss at Brighton followed a 7-2 home defeat by Bayern Munich.
Pochettino, who is due back at Tottenham on Thursday, has been accompanied by his assistant Jesus Perez, leaving first-team coaches Toni Jimenez and Miguel D’Agostino in charge of a skeleton squad at the start of the international break.
Manchester United, Juventus and Paris-Saint Germain — all admirers of Pochettino — are among the clubs to have sent delegations to the conference.
Meanwhile, Hugo Lloris is due to report to the training ground this morning for further assessments after dislocating his elbow in the third minute at Brighton. The initial prognosis suggests he will be sidelined for around two months, leaving Paulo Gazzaniga and Alfie Whiteman, who is yet to make his debut, as the club’s senior goalkeepers.
Moussa Sissoko apologised on social media for the display at Amex Stadium, insisting it was not down to a lack of desire from the players, while Harry Winks insists the squad is fully behind Pochettino.
“He’s been fantastic ever since his arrival at the club and taken us to new heights,” Winks said.
“We are going through a bit of a rough patch. That happens in football, it’s important we stand up as men and get through these dark times. Hopefully we can get back to playing well.
“In the last six years we’ve come a long way and become title challengers. But we haven’t shown it this season.
“In certain games we have played really well but for the majority of this season we haven’t shown what we are about. It has not been good enough, no excuses. The only way we can put it right is back in training and the next match.”
Eric Dier, who made his first league start of the season against the Seagulls, has admitted Spurs are in a crisis but said reports of a divided dressing room are wide of the mark.
“We are obviously going through a difficult period,” said Dier. “Is saying it’s a crisis a bit too strong? No.
“We have to push through it. The stuff about the squad, that’s not the case. But it’s natural these things will come up because of the situation we are in.”
