Watford 1-4 Spurs - Mauricio's reaction

Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with the endeavour shown all over the park as we enjoyed another comfortable away victory at Watford on New Year’s Day (Sunday, January 1).

We picked up in 2017 right where we left off in 2016 with another blistering performance and a repeat of the scoreline by which we won at Southampton on Wednesday night.

A well-taken brace from Harry Kane inside 33 minutes had us well and truly in control before Dele Alli got in on the act with a close-range finish four minutes before the break to put us out of sight.

Dele doubled his tally less than 80 seconds after the restart and from there we bossed the possession to see out the game.

Hugo Lloris did have a couple of interventions to make late on and ex-Spur Younes Kaboul bundled home a scrappy stoppage-time consolation after a free-kick caused chaos in the box to make it 4-1, but that didn’t tarnish what was a highly-satisfactory afternoon’s work in Mauricio’s eyes.

“I am very pleased with the performance and the effort of the team,” said the manager, who made four changes from the win at Southampton, including bringing in Kieran Trippier and Kevin Wimmer for the suspended Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen in defence. “I think it was fantastic at a very difficult place, to play in the way we played was very good and it was one of the best performances so far.

“The first half was fantastic, 3-0, and with the way that the team played, it’s something to be very proud of. It’s that opportunity when you see that the players are enjoying playing football on the pitch and I think the performance was fantastic, not only with the attacking players but the whole team.”

Mauricio on Harry and Dele’s goals

“I think all did well. I am happy when our main striker scores because that is a good signal for us. (The finishes) were not easy but for that (reason), they are great players. With their evolution and how they are showing their quality is something to be very proud of and feel good about.”

On Trippier and Wimmer’s influence

“They were fantastic, both showed great quality. It’s always difficult to play when you don’t play normally but I am very pleased and I congratulate them. It was a fantastic effort to make us better, more competitive and that is fantastic news for the team.”