Total FootballTotal Football
‘Closing the
window so
early left us
vulnerable’
By James Ducker
at the Etihad Stadium
Mauricio Pochettino believes the
“massive mistake” of closing the
Premier League window early has
left Tottenham Hotspur especially
vulnerable among the established
top six clubs.
Tottenham’s manager thinks his
chairman, Daniel Levy, and execu-
tives at other top-flight clubs now
realise the error of their ways and
hopes they rectify the situation be-
fore next summer.
Premier League clubs voted to
close the window before the start of
the season for a second successive
year but, with European windows
open until Sept 2, overseas rivals
could still swoop for players they
will then be unable to replace.
Pochettino fears he could lose
any of Christian Eriksen, Toby Al-
derweireld and Jan Vertonghen, all
of whom have entered the final
year of their contracts, during the
next fortnight and be left with a
weaker and unsettled squad.
Whereas the likes of Manchester
City – whom Tottenham held to a
fortuitous 2-2 draw on Saturday –
and Manchester United have the fi-
nancial clout to rebuff the advances
of Europe’s richest teams, Spurs
have traditionally been a selling
club and Pochettino worries he is
now in a compromising position.
“I wasn’t in agreement [with the
early transfer window closure] but
at that moment they believed that
was best for the clubs,” he said.
“I think he [Levy] and a lot of
people now realise it was a mas-
sive mistake. I hope we fix the
problem for next season.
“I think we need to oper-
ate the same way they oper-
ate in Europe because
I think it’s massive when you
go to compete in the Eu-
ropa League or Champi-
ons League. Champions
League teams can cre-
ate problems in a team
like us and it’s so clear
that I cannot be happy
as a coach that in the
last three or four weeks
that certain clubs from
Pochettino says Europe’s
rich can ‘unsettle’ Spurs
Manager urges rethink
of transfer date ‘mistake’
Europe can unsettle your team. For
me, it’s not common sense and we
need to hope they have a good con-
versation at the Premier League
and go back quickly [to how it
was].” Asked if Levy now agreed
with his logic, Pochettino said:
“I don’t know but I hope yes.”
Spurs rode their luck against
City to leave the Etihad Stadium
with a creditable point but Pochet-
tino said he could not be concerned
that the champions had been able
to manage 30 shots to Tottenham’s
three given the gulf in budgets.
The Argentine said he and his
staff had become “world champi-
ons” at adapting to a changing
squad in his five years at Spurs and
cited Kyle Walker’s £54 million
move to City in 2017 as evidence of
the regular challenges he faces.
“When Kyle Walker was at Tot-
tenham and we sold him to City two
years ago, Kyle Walker-Peters [Tot-
tenham’s right-back on Saturday]
was a kid,” Pochettino said. “Now
we’ve sold Kieran Trippier [toAtletico Madrid] and Kyle Walker-
Peters is playing. Maybe he was the
fourth, fifth option when Kyle
Walker was here so it’s important
people realise we’re building play-
ers and that they’re still young.
“It’s a process that is completely
different when you compare it to
Manchester City, to Manchester
United or Arsenal, Chelsea. They
are preparing themselves to win.
“We are playing to try to win but
we have different resources to fight
in the same race.”
Pochettino added: “I’m not com-
plaining, I try to describe the truth
and some people struggle to under-
stand what the project is at Tot-
tenham. We’re in a process
where every season is: rebuild
the team. I am so happy be-
cause that makes us stronger
and be creative. But it’s tough.
“I’m not worried [City had
30 shots]. When you face
a team like City you are
exposed. We know
very well our level was
difficult to fight face
to face with a team
that in the last
three seasons is
building to win
and are so clinical in
the way that they operate
and sign players.”City swarm all over Tottenham
Man City's heat map shows how
they spent nearly the whole
game in the opposition half.Hosts lay siege on goal
The hosts had 30 shots at the
Etihad, compared to only
three for Tottenham. Ten ofTottenham, by contrast, were
effectively reduced to setting up a
10-man defensive wall.City's efforts were on target,
whereas Spurs scored from both
of theirs in the 2-2 draw.Manchester
City’s Kevin De
Bruyne and
Tottenham’s
Tanguy
NdombeleOff target
On target
Goal
Not
including
blocksMan City Tottenham
How
Guardiola's
side played
Spurs off
the pitch
Man City Tottenham
City swarm all over Tottenham
Man City's heat map shows how
they spent nearly the whole
game in the opposition half.Tottenham, by contrast, were
effectively reduced to setting up a
10-man defensive wall.City's efforts were on target,
whereas Spurs scored from both
of theirs in the 2-2 draw.Manchester
City’s Kevin De
Bruyne and
Tottenham’s
Tanguy
NdombeleTottenham
la's
yed
ff
Man City Tottenham
Forget the scoreline – City could
Such was the dominance
over their title rivals,
James Ducker wonders
what hope the rest have
A
quick glance at the
result might suggest
this 2-2 draw was
closely fought, that
Tottenham Hotspur
went toe to toe with
Manchester City and the teams
traded plenty of punches, that
there was not too much to separate
them. That would be an illusion
and even Mauricio Pochettino, the
Tottenham manager, conscious his
side had got out of jail long before
the video assistant referee denied
City victory in stoppage time, made
no attempt to pass this game off as
something it was not.
Spurs lay reasonable claim to
being the country’s third-best team
and yet here they were battered, if
ultimately not beaten, by a side
playing football that Pep Guardiola
ranked as among the best he had
witnessed in his three years at the
helm of this supercharged team.
There will, understandably, beplenty of focus on the result, but
look beyond that for a moment and
ask yourself: if City are able to
pepper this Spurs side, one of the
apparent title contenders, with 30
shots and concede just three in
return (or two, according to
Guardiola, who did not consider
Harry Kane’s botched attempt at
another halfway lob to constitute a
meaningful effort), what might
they do to more modest
opposition?
It was probably not even the
most persuasive or one-sided of
the many statistics that underlined
City’s superiority, despite first
Erik Lamela and then substitute
Lucas Moura cancelling out goals
from Raheem Sterling and Sergio
Aguero.
City created 22 chances to
Tottenham’s three – the
irrepressible Kevin De Bruyne
alone was responsible for nine of
them – and Spurs managed just five
touches in the opposition penalty
area. City? Well, they had
registered 52 in Tottenham’s box
by the time referee Michael Oliver
called a halt to proceedings,
moments after signalling that
Gabriel Jesus’s “winner” had beenKevin De
Bruyne has hit
out at football’s
“impossible”
new handball
rules and
claimed
the only
way players
could avoid
accidentally
handling the
ball in some
instances
would be to“chop off ”
their arms.
De Bruyne
says his
frustration
that Aymeric
Laporte, the
City defender,
was punished
for handball
in the build-up
to Gabriel
Jesus’s late
“winner” was
compoundedHandball rule attacked ‘Should
ruled out by VAR for a handball by
Aymeric Laporte.
There must be Premier League
managers up and down the
country shuddering at the thought
of visiting the Etihad Stadium. It is
not unreasonable to think that,
over the course of the campaign,
City might threaten the Premier
League’s record win of 9-0, set by
Manchester United against Ipswich
Town in March 1995.
“I think we dignify this sport,”
Guardiola said. “We dignify theat that moment they believed that
was best for the clubs,” he said.
“I think he [Levy] and a lot of
people now realise it was a mas-
sive mistake. I hope we fix thee
problem for next season.
“I think we need to oper-
ate the same way they oper-
ate in Europe because
I think it’s massive when you
go to compete in the Eu-
ropa League or Champi-
ons League. Champions
League teams can cre-
ate problems in a team
like us and it’s so clear
that I cannot be happy
as a coach that in the
last three or four weeks
that certain clubs from
in the same race.
Pochettino added: “I’m not com-
plaining, I try to describe the truth
and some people struggle to under-
stand what the project is at Tot-
tetnham. We’re in a process
whwere every season is: rebuild
the team. I am so happy be-
cause that makes us stronger
and be creative. But it’s tough.
“I’m not worried [City had
3 0 shots]. When you face
a team like City you are
exposed. We know
very well our level was
difficult to fight face
to face with a team
that in the last
three seasons is
building to win
and are so clinical in
the way that they operate
and sign players.”Window pain: Mauricio
Pochettino is fearful
Premier League
match details
Pages 16-17
10 ** Monday 19 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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