Hugo Lloris has praised Mauricio Pochettino for giving Tottenham Hotspur the strength to challenge for a place in the top four and believes the manager deserves credit for the side’s recent improvement. Tottenham are fifth after Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal and Lloris feels that their excellent form is down to the way the players have adapted to Pochettino’s style of football.
“We all believe in his philosophy and the way he wants us to play,” the goalkeeper said. “We take strength from him and the improvements we have shown. We take our confidence and ability to fight into every game. We still have a lot to prove, the season is long and there are still a lot of games to play.”
With Southampton and Manchester United not playing until Wednesday night, Tottenham will go third if they beat Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday, which shows how far they have come. Pochettino’s side stuttered at the start of the season and their past three matches against Liverpool have been chastening experiences. Liverpool won 3-0 at White Hart Lane in August and they thrashed Tottenham 4-0 and 5-0 last season. Yet Spurs would go seven points clear of Liverpool with a win.
“I think we are improving and we are in a good dynamic,” Lloris said. “We need to keep the same mentality and instil the same discipline in this game. We also need to make a good recovery because the game will come quickly. But we will show the same desire and we have a good team spirit.
“The season is very long and of course there are some dips along the way because of form and performance. But the key is to work hard every day. That has always been our mentality. We always try to work hard and do what the manager expects. We try to do our best on the pitch. Some performances may not have been so good earlier in the season but in some ways they helped us to the improvements you see now.”
Tottenham also have next month’s Capital One Cup final against Chelsea to look forward to and Lloris hinted he would like to play, even though Pochettino has preferred to use Michel Vorm in cup competitions. Asked if he hopes to start at Wembley, Lloris replied: “That is a very easy question to answer.”
He went on to say he would respect whatever decision Pochettino makes. “It will be up to him to pick the team. We are not thinking about it too much because we still have plenty of games before the final and we take things game by game. It’s not my job to decide. I will respect the manager’s decision and abide by that, like all the players here do. That is the mentality of this squad. If you play or you don’t play, you are still involved in the squad.”
