Mauricio Pochettino has blamed basic errors from his players and not the club’s shortcomings in the transfer market for Tottenham Hotspur’s stuttering start to the season.
The manager sends his team out for Saturday’s late kick-off at home to Everton in need of a tonic, after the opening-day loss at Manchester United and draws against Stoke City and Leicester City.
The club on Friday completed the signing of the South Korea forward Son Heung-min from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee believe to be in the region of £22m, and on a five-year contract subject to a work permit, but there has been frustration among sections of the fanbase at how Pochettino has been left to begin the season with an unbalanced squad.
With Emmanuel Adebayor banished to train with the development squad and Roberto Soldado eventually sold to Villarreal, Harry Kane has been the lone available, established striker. Clinton Njie was added from Lyon two weeks ago but the forward has yet to feature as he lacks fitness. Njie, who had an injury at Lyon in pre-season, will not be available against Everton.
Tottenham have also tried and, so far, failed to prise Saido Berahino from West Bromwich Albion, while they have experienced similar difficulties in their move for the Southampton midfielder Victor Wanyama. Pochettino wants to add bite to his midfield options.
It has been easy to make the connection between the holes in the squad and the poor results but Pochettino refuses to do so. Instead, he has been infuriated by the mistakes, both individual and collective which, in his opinion, have handed goals to the opposition. Tottenham threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at home to Stoke while they conceded the equaliser at Leicester 90 seconds after they had scored. They lost at United through Kyle Walker’s own goal.
The manager remains relaxed and optimistic about the season ahead, particularly if the club can add the players he wants before Tuesday’s transfer deadline. But he said the upturn has to come from improved levels of concentration.
“It is true that individual errors are killing us,” Pochettino said. “If we have two points after three games, it is not because we have a lack of players or we don’t sign one striker or one goalkeeper, it is because we make some mistakes, like at Leicester or Stoke, after we were 2-0 up. This is not about signing a player, this is about competing much better and this is our focus now – to compete.
“The players will agree with me, which is good. We lost two points at Leicester. Come on, we scored and then we switched off. Never in football can you switch off for one second. The opponent can score or we can concede a chance if they deserve to but not because we give them possibilities, like Leicester, like Manchester United, like Stoke.
“You need to be strong, focused and never switch off. I am optimistic about the future. If we add some real quality players, I think our balance is better and if we only fix [the errors], it will be a great season.”
