They probably acted more out of a desire to rile Southampton supporters than joy at their own team’s performance, which was again patchy, but Spurs’ fans staged their first mass display of affection for Mauricio Pochettino here and the manager said it was significant. Every time a section of Southampton fans booed the Argentinian upon his first return to St Mary’s after defecting to Tottenham Hotspur last summer, the visiting supporters loudly celebrated their relationship with their rivals’ ex.
Pochettino reckons it showed the Spurs faithful believe he is taking the club in the right direction and this draw did at least keep them above his former side. Not that he, unlike the travelling fans, wanted to rub it in.
“I heard it for the first time and that means a lot,” said Pochettino of the Tottenham fans’ chants in his honour. “I am very happy for that because we are starting in our relationship … You can feel the warmth and the people start to appreciate you. I’m a very emotional person and it was very important … I understand the Southampton fans but not because of that will I stop loving Southampton and the people here. I am not scared to repeat it – in my family life I think it was the best moment, my one and a half years at Southampton. But sometimes in football it is difficult to explain decisions.”
Hardly very difficult, in this case. One big factor in his decision to move was surely his belief that at Tottenham he is more likely to fulfil his ambition of taking a team into the Champions League. That conviction did not look especially sound here as Southampton created more chances and twice took the lead through Graziano Pellè.
But Tottenham struck back both times, first through a contentious goal from Érik Lamela, who diverted a cross into the net with the aid of his arm, and then through Nacer Chadli, whose elusive running made him Spurs’ main threat throughout.
The comeback offered more evidence that the main change Pochettino has made to Spurs is to toughen them up mentally and physically. The manager has strived to foster a warrior spirit and he was pleased to see two of his players, Nabil Bentaleb and Federico Fazio, arguing with each other after a sloppy piece of play.
“This is good because you show that you care about your team-mates’ actions, you want to win and fight,” Pochettino said. “I need to fight with my team-mate if something wrong happens. But after it happens, in the changing room, big hug and stop, because it has finished.”
That will to win is also reflected in the pressing and dynamism Pochettino has instilled. Last season Spurs covered less ground on average than any other team in the top flight; this season only Burnley have covered more. But it is still early in Pochettino’s reign and Christian Eriksen admits the team are still trying to find the right balance between charging around and using the ball creatively. “It is difficult to find,” the Dane said. “It is also the first season for us, we have to learn what he wants and he has to learn what we do. You need to have a balance. I think it is a good start to run a lot.”
Pochettino is wary of placing too much strain on his players next season, which is why he does not relish the club’s likely qualification for the Europa League. “We need to accept that this is the game but personally my idea is that it is very tough to play the Premier League, both [domestic] cups and the Europa League – the physiological process to recover the players, you kill yourself,” Pochettino said.
Man of the match Graziano Pellè (Soton)
