Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has to quickly shake off the shocking 1-0 loss his side suffered today at the hands of West Ham United. It was the first loss in the new stadium for Spurs and it gives a boost to the other three teams (Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United) that are battling the north London side for the final two UEFA Champions League qualification slots.
Spurs still control their own destiny in this regard, but Chelsea could pull level on points with them tomorrow should they win at Manchester United, and a rare road win for Arsenal would place them just a single point behind their north London rivals.
“It is a fight, it is a race, with two games to play,” Pochettino said. “We knew that before.
“I think we did not manage the ball properly. It was a difficult game but in the second half we conceded a lot of space for them to counter attack. But we need to look forward. We cannot stop to think about what we did not do today.”
And look forward they should/must, as the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal tie will be here Tuesday. One could call it the biggest match that the club has seen in nearly a half century. Therefore, Spurs need to refocus quickly.
“We have to forget about it, move on and think about Tuesday,” Pochettino added. “It is tough to prepare for a semifinal against a very good team like Ajax.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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