Spurs 5-0 Bournemouth - Mauricio's verdict
Wed 26 December 2018, 20:15|
Tottenham Hotspur
Mauricio Pochettino was impressed with the players' energy levels after beating Bournemouth 5-0 on Boxing Day.
The team made it two wins and 11 goals in four days over Christmas, following Sunday’s 6-2 victory at Everton with another convincing display at Wembley.
Bournemouth actually started brightly but once Christian Eriksen’s shot was deflected home on 16 minutes, we clicked into gear. Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura made it 3-0 at the break – all three assists for Kyle Walker-Peters – before Harry Kane and Sonny completed the scoring in the second half.
The win means we have our best points tally at the halfway point of any Premier League season – 45 points from 19 games - toppling the 42 points at this stage in 2011/12. We’re also up to second after Manchester City were beaten at Leicester.
We were clinical, we had patience, we did our job in the way we needed to... the players take big praise
“We had one day less (than Bournemouth, who played on Saturday) to prepare for the game and the condition we arrived in made us very happy,” said Mauricio. “We showed unbelievable energy. We are playing with very good quality and to keep the momentum is so important for us.
“We were clinical, we had patience, we did our job in the way we needed to. For different periods we played very good football and the players take big praise.”
Once again, the importance of the squad was underlined. Kyle came in for his first start in the Premier League this season and was Man of the Match. Lucas replaced Dele and perfectly illustrated Mauricio’s point about the team’s energy, buzzing around everywhere, scoring his sixth goal in the Premier League this term. Juan Foyth returned after injury and helped us keep a clean sheet.
“It’s about the belief, the belief we have in the squad,” added Mauricio. “We always repeat that from day one when we arrived here it was always about the squad. It’s not about the names, it’s about the squad.
“We needed time to show that was real and we are so pleased because when you need to rotate, when you need everyone focused on helping the team to win, this type of collective performance is so important.
“Now we need to be humble and to be ready for another tough game against Wolves on Saturday.”
