Pochettino press conference & root cause

Mauricio Pochettino looked very disappointed, even annoyed with his players at the press conference after throwing away 2 points when comfortable at 2-0 up with 20 minutes left.



We fell to pieces for a bit when Manchester United scored last week and this week we concede 2 goals in 5 minutes. That is a concern that needs to be addressed, frightened players won't perform at their best.

Without confidence you don't try to make a difference or you neglect duties you should be performing, you hide at certain times and that affects team mates. Without giving away a stupid and avoidable penalty we would have won, but we didn't.

Whether we win or whether we lose each player should be asking themselves what did I do well today, what did I do badly and how can I be better in the next game. Gary Neville summed Spurs up a couple of season ago, Spurs are what you expect Spurs to be. He was suggested we play lovely football but can be a soft touch.

Mentally strong sides, winning sides see out games like that, we have to acquire that mental strength. Stoke didn't grab 2 points because of their performance we simply handed it to them on a plate. We have to ask why and address it rather than just brush it under the carpet and say these things happen. Winners are ruthless, not casual.

At 2-0 up we have to be ruthless, we have to make it 3 or 4 not go away considering ourselves unlucky not to have scored more. Being content is not a successful philosophy, it is a comfort zone philosophy and staying in a comfort zone will achieve nothing, will improve nothing.

That is the impression you get with us, oh well never mind, let's forget about it. You take positives out of a game but you have to recognise and evaluate the negatives. Once you know what the negative is you can do something about it but if you con yourself into believing it's something else then it won't be turned into a positive.

Toby Alderweireld made a mistake, simply saying defend it this way next time doesn't solve the root of the problem, it only solves it's manifestation temporarily, it will simply surface in another area. You have to ask why he did it, answer that question and you'll find the root cause. Address the root cause and the manifestations (actual errors) are drastically reduced.

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