With the European transfer window now shut and no more distractions for his players, Pochettino wants to see more displays of this manner, especially in their new stadium.
Poch told PA Sport:
“We haven’t played too many games here. Our first game was against Palace then we played a few games more, some in the Champions League, now three in the Premier League this season. Still, it’s all new.
“I think it’s an amazing stadium. I was talking to David Beckham just now and he said ‘I wish I could still play football and play now for Tottenham because this stadium is amazing’.
“For us it’s so important to make our stadium our home and start to feel comfortable. It’s completely different to White Hart Lane and of course I think with time we are going to feel at home and it’s going to be difficult for opponents to beat us.”
Tottenham were at their scintillating best from the off, attempting two shots inside a minute before Son opened the scoring in the 10th minute.
Toby Alderweireld picked him out with a wonderful through ball and the South Korean cut inside and drilled into the corner.
Spurs doubled their advantage 11 minutes later when Serge Aurier – making his first start of the season – saw his cross deflected in by Van Aanholt.
The floodgates were open now and Son increased his tally with 23 minutes played, volleying home Aurier’s cross before Lamela got on the end of Harry Kane’s centre in the 42nd minute.
Pochettino admitted it shows what can be achieved when his players have no distractions. He said:
“When the team is unsettled, when the squad is unsettled, it is so difficult to perform in the way you want to perform.
“I’m not complaining or blaming anyone, but it’s only that in football it’s so easy to describe the situation and the focus wasn’t on playing football and it wasn’t on trying to improve.
“The focus wasn’t on the places we wanted it and it’s not easy to perform that way. Of course, we have quality, enough to win games without focus, but when you are focused it showed in that first-half performance of the team.
“The intensity, the concentration. We know what we need to do and when you are able to do that the quality we have appears. We have tremendous quality in our squad, unbelievable players.
“If we show that intensity in all our games for sure we are going to fight for big things. I am so happy to recover that feeling.”
Palace manager Roy Hodgson admitted the opening 45 from his side was not good enough and felt the only real positive was Mamadou Sakho playing the whole matchfor the first time since February.
“We are obviously unhappy with our first-half performance. All of us are prepared to accept the responsibility for that. We didn’t show the intensity I hoped we would, but I don’t want to take too much away from Tottenham during that spell because they played very well,” he said.
“I am glad it didn’t become more than four. That is bad enough, so I didn’t want any more.
“The only real positive I can take from the game is Mamadou Sakho, after such a long lay-off and such a long time out through injury, got through 90 minutes in a very tough game.”
He keeps talking about 80’s football and smashing it long….that’s inaccurate too. You had long ball but we played football the right way back then, Forest played great football, Norwich played great football, Liverpool were unreal pass and move, there were plenty more. Its a myth.
*sell his shares
Variety is the key. There’s none now. Robots.
It’s about possession, our man Poch is obsessed with it. Look at how we continually pass the ball backwards and sideways. Gone are the days when a big center mid player flick on a header from a goal kick
Yeah. fuck it. just boot it up there and hope it gets to one of ours. NO.
Interesting take on Aurier’s time at Spurs by Garth Crooks;
“Every time I have seen Aurier play for Tottenham I have been left desperately disappointed and quite often angry. Disappointed because of his lack of performance and angry because of his inability to respect the depth of quality in the Premier League.
“This is not France where there are only a couple of decent teams in the league but the toughest and most demanding league in the world. Against Crystal Palace the former Paris St-Germain defender woke up to that fact and finally played like it. And about time.”
He loves it.
A Palace player played a 50 yard back pass into his own channel for a Spurs goal too…..they must be on drugs.
Unless he gets rid of the defensive errors then he won’t be regular first choice at right back. He’s known for being a right back and that’s the only position he can get in this Spurs team playing.
He was great yesterday, if he can play consistently that well and scrub out the bad stuff then we have potentially a very good right back. Up to him to step up.
Dick Emery should have addressed the areas of the team that needed attention rather than buying another attacker, letting their best central defender leave and signing the biggest defensive liability in the league since Aurier.
I reckon he wants the sack, what’s he playing at? All you need to do is load the Woolwich box with players and you’ll probably score or get a pen.
I said they upped their game for us didn’t I? Yes I did.
They’ll be top six, just about…
Here’s Carragher on what I mentioned below. He’s too soft on it. Just say it. Its dumb. He keeps saying oh its the right way…. It isn’t. Football has always been played on the deck, Bill Nic 60/61 etc etc….that’s the way. It NEVER included numbskullery such as this. 3 TIMES they did the same thing. Its not just Arsenal either. Why are coaches encouraging this nonsense?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF4o8hQf1RU
Its happened again. Sheffield Utd chairman Kevin McCabe has been forced by the high court to sell his up to Saudi shareholders. Every times one of the big city clubs gets a solid footing and starts getting success something fucks em over. The McCabe family are Sheffield UTC through and through and have done wonders for them, building a solid base with Chris Wilder a local man and boyhood fan at the helm and British core squad. They got promoted and started well. All that doesn’t fit in with the Premier League community destroying, football sanitising remit though does it? The new owners will tear all the work they’ve done down I expect and bring in foreign players and a new manager. If they’re smart they will stick with Wilder but I doubt it. Absolute disgrace. Club legend Tony Currie was apparently in tears at this decision. Way to kill a club. Keep the elite where they are and make sure nobody else prospers. Fucking disgusting.
Ok so the delicates are settled and all singing from the same hymn sheet, well whoopy fucking doo, this window was chronically mismanaged, again and was all completely avoidable with a modicum of planning and entry level strategy. When will the penny drop with Levy?? Why do i get the feeling that again he isn’t doing what he should be doing and sitting down with Poch and others to say right this isn’t fucking happening again in the run-up to January – and not budging until they have clearly discerned the issues that need solving and defined an option a/b/c for each of them that starts to get put in place fucking NOW.
How can you have a consistent intensity level unless its zero. They have to sleep at some point
Proper Championship clash at Villa Park tonight, red card for the Spammers and Villa should have finished them off.
Spam ‘could have third’ tonight… yeah right.
I’m at a loss what these moron players are up too. Its not just now and again its every match now. Watford’s 1st goal yesterday…WTF were Arsenals players doing? Its like it was a new type of penalisation where you have to pass the ball sideways from a goal kick and play at least 3 passes in your own area before you can continue. Its madness. Just kick the ball into the oppositions half. Utter plebs. Its everywhere now.
The results are in …. Levy is a grade A prick. A crown he wears with pride I might add.
I got sick of telling people serge ain’t shit. OK his final ball needs a bit of work but he’s a decent baller. For me he’s not a right back. I see him as an inside right.
Indeed, there will be insane levels of speculation about Eriksen, Toby and Verts in January again.
The biggest question is if Levy is going to do his job he gets paid so highly for, and not be such a disruptive influence. If he starts dicking about again in January and doesn’t get his ducks lined up properly then he really is a grade A prick…
Yousef atal. Such a perfect spurs player. I’d love him here. That boy can fucking play. Levy please please get him in in Jan. Even if you have to pay a bit more. GET HIM.
Stability until January….. Then back to the abject performances like N’castle et al….. dam you transfer windows