Mauricio Pochettino: 'The game was wrong from the beginning. We moved the ball far too slowly'

Published: 21 September, 2014
by DAN CARRIER at White Hart Lane

Premier League
SPURS 0, WEST BROM 1

SPURS’ head coach Mauricio Pochettino saw his team lose at home for the second successive Premiership match today (Sunday) and criticised his players’ lack of urgency against a bottom-of-the-table West Brom side who, until their visit to the Lane, had yet to win a game this term.

After watching his team concede a second-half goal and fail to muster a response, he said: “The game was wrong from the beginning. We moved the ball far too slowly.”

He said it was early in the season and his side was a work in progress. He added: “I am disappointed. There was a lack of movement and too often we were wrong in our approach.”

West Brom started well and made it difficult for Spurs to settle. The visitors won four corners in the opening 20 minutes, one resulting in a low drive by Graham Dorrans that Hugo Lloris did brilliantly to get to.

Meanwhile, Spurs flickered occasionally. 0n 35, Christian Eriksen freed Emmanuel Adebayor but Joleon Lescott managed to get a toe to the ball before the striker could bring it under control.

It was the first real moment in a first half that saw Spurs produce precisely no shots on target.

The second half was more of the same. Spurs struggled to carve any genuine chances, while Albion were content to stay deep and bide their time. And the warnings were there – midfielder Saido Berahino stung Lloris's palms with a rasping shot on 53, while winger Stephane Sessegnon caused all sorts of problems.

On 60, Pochettino changed the tactics, bringing on Roberto Soldado to go up front alongside Adebayor. It gave the team more presence but they still failed to carve clear openings.

However, the Spaniard went closest when on 70 a snap-shot brought the first save of the afternoon from Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster.

Three minutes later, West Brom won another corner and James Morrison was left unmarked at the back post to head home. Even falling behind failed to galvanise the home team. Sloppy passing meant they conceded possession regularly and hesitancy at the back meant the game was played at a pace that suited the visitors.

By the end, Spurs were reduced to pumping balls forward in the hope a striker might get a knockdown. It showed a paucity of ideas that summed up a depressing afternoon at White Hart Lane.

Spurs: Lloris, Rose, Kaboul,Chiriches, Adebayor, Lamela, Dier, Dembele (Paulinho, 60), Chadli (Soldado, 60), Eriksen, Capoue (Lennon, 75).
Subs: Vorm, Vertonghen, Lennon, Paulinho, Soldado, Naughton, Bentaleb.

SPURS COMMENT by Dan Carrier

VLAD Chiriches has been at the club for a year. The 24-year-old, signed from Steau Bucharest, looks like he has the making of a stylish, ball-playing centre-back.

But one of the problems with today's performance was the worrying regularity attempts to bring the ball out from the back simply ended up with Chriches and his fellow centre-back Younes Kaboul putting themselves in danger.

They played weak passes and, as Pochettino pointed out, the ball was moved slowly. Chiriches all too often found a team-mate in a position where they were instantly under pressure, while Kaboul looked uncomfortable with the ball at his feet. To make matters worse, they were both guilty of trying to do Cryuff turns in parts of the pitch where you shouldn't really be taking players on.

Chiriches is still finding his feet at Spurs, having not had a regular berth last term. He needs game time in a settled back four before judgement can be passed as to whether he is genuine Premiership quality – but surely Jan Vertonghen and Federico Fazio are ahead of Chiriches in terms of team selection, and expect them to face Arsenal; next Saturday.