Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino was unhappy following his team’s defeat to Watford. Tottenham got the lead in the match courtesy of an Abdoulaye Doucoure own goal in the 53rd minute. However, Watford equalised in the 69th minute thanks to Troy Deeney before Craig Cathcart scored the winner in the 76th minute.
Following the match, Pochettino said that his team will have to do more if they are to become title contenders. He said, “I think if you want to win, show you are contenders, you cannot say we are going to play for 45 minutes and 0-0 and just win it in the second half. We need to do more, show more aggressiveness, because we have the quality. We score and go in front, and then in two set-pieces we concede two goals. If you want to be a contender, to be at the top, you cannot concede this type of action.
I think it is important to clarify the point, first half we were so relaxed, we dominated the game, but we were not aggressive enough. A lot of unforced mistakes. You need to show more strength, be more aggressive in your defending. You need to show you want to win.”
Mauricio Pochettino added, “We were talking a lot in the three previous games, I told you and everyone I wasn’t happy. Of course when you lose, you must learn and improve. But my disappointment is, when you win and maybe don’t deserve to win, why do you not learn? That is what is so disappointing. During the week I was trying to explain to the players that we were not great, the perception and reality was totally different.”
However, Pochettino believes that this defeat is a reality check for the players. The Argentine said, “It is so painful. Today it is of course so painful to concede two goals like this, so painful that the first half looks like a friendly game. I think it is a very good wake-up call for everyone, to listen more about the reality and not the perception. Today it is good to compare those. If you want to be a contender, today you should win and win easy. I think it is good to pay today, to feel the pain, I am sure it is going to help us in the future to be better. I am of course very disappointed, and I think you hear my message.”
Tottenham’s next match is a very tough one as they host table-toppers Liverpool on September 15.
