Mauricio Pochettino praised his players’ resilience in emerging from a “difficult month” with their unbeaten record in the Premier League still intact after Harry Kane’s equaliser earned Tottenham Hotspur a point at Arsenal. Spurs have won five and drawn six of their 11 league games to date their best start in 56 years, and boast a point more than at the same stage last term, when they had challenged Leicester City up until the last few weeks before finishing third. Yet they have actually failed to win any of their last seven matches in all competitions and have struggled in front of goal – they have scored once from open play in seven matches, plus three penalties – a trend maintained across the capital despite Kane’s return after a seven week absence.
That recent run included Wednesday’s damaging Champions League loss to Bayer Leverkusen at Wembley.
“But you know, all teams have good and bad moments over the course of the season,” said Pochettino, who lost Dele Alli to a knee injury in training on Saturday. “If you have bad moments, as we have had this month, and you are still unbeaten … all you can do is smile. I’m happy. We’ve had many small problems but now we have two weeks to recover the players.
“Competing in the Champions League and Premier League, two of the toughest competitions in the world, you need all the squad fit. We have suffered some issues, so maybe we haven’t been able to rotate in the way we want to give freshness and put the players in their best condition, so we have to use the same players. But I’m very happy, very happy to be 11 unbeaten in the Premier League. It’s been very tough for us, so the feeling is fantastic because that was a strong performance from the whole team.”
The Argentinian denied there had been any risk starting with Kane, who was eventually withdrawn for Vincent Janssen after 73 minutes, with the forward now hoping to play a part for England in the World Cup qualifier against Scotland and friendly against Spain over the next 10 days. “Why would it have been a gamble?” asked Pochettino, who is now unbeaten in five league derbies against Wenger’s Arsenal. “We are professional about that. We are not amateur. If we take a decision like that, we know it’s not a gamble. We assess it every day. Harry Kane had been working the last few weeks very hard on the training ground. When you decide to pick him, it’s because you believe he can do well.
“His return was important for us. He’d missed 11 games in those few months, and he’s our main striker and last season’s top scorer in the Premier League. So losing him was difficult. But I think he will be okay for England.”
Kyle Walker may not be available for the national team after suffering an injury that forced him off the field 10 minutes from time, while Alli should be fit after the international break. “He suffered a minor problem in his knee when he clashed during the tactical session yesterday, and twisted his knee a bit,” said the Spurs manager. “It was impossible for today, so common sense for me to rest him and get him to stay at home.”
