Spurs 1-2 Liverpool - Mauricio's reaction

The message from Mauricio Pochettino was ‘keep calm’ after we slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool on Saturday.

Goals from Georginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino put the Reds in the driving seat before a late rally and Erik Lamela’s reply in added time. Hopes of an unlikely leveller in the final seconds disappeared as appeals for a late penalty were waved away.

“It’s so important to keep calm and to assess the team in the right way,” said Mauricio.

“I’ve not changed my vision of the team from the beginning of the season when we beat Newcastle.

“My thoughts are the same, we still need to improve, the circumstances are different this season and our responsibility as a coaching staff is to not talk about the perception, but to talk about the reality.

“Whether we win or lose, we still we need to improve if we want to be at the level we want to be.”

Mauricio on the match...

“Everyone who watched could see it was a difficult game. Liverpool are a great team. We made a lot of mistakes and were punished, and it’s difficult when you concede those chances. We had a massive chance at the start of the second half but we hit the post with Lucas Moura, that could have changed the game but in the end we conceded the second goal and it was difficult.

“The team always kept pushing and if it was given, the penalty for Mane on Sonny, then we would have been talking in a different way about character and personality but that’s football, it’s only the beginning of the season and we need to keep working.”