Champions League victory restores confidence, says Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino

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Mauricio Pochettino says he will “give 200%” to deliver the results Tottenham fans expect after his side thrashed Red Star Belgrade 5-0 for a first Champions League win of the season.

 

Spurs have won just four of 13 fixtures in all competitions this season.

 

Pochettino said: “Of course now is a tough situation. We are a club and that commitment that we showed in the past, we are now showing.

 

“I need to work every day 200% to try to provide the result they expect.”

 

The home supporters repeatedly chanted their manager’s name during Tuesday’s emphatic win despite a dismal start to the season which has seen his position come under increasing scrutiny.

 

“I say thank you, I want to be grateful with them,” Pochettino said of Tottenham’s fans. “I think the same love is in both ways. I feel that they love me and I think they need to feel that I love them too.

 

“But I think always the most important is the team, the players are the principal actors and always I am here to help the club and help them to be happy, like it was the previous season.”

 

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min both scored twice and Erik Lamela grabbed the other goal as the north London side recorded their first victory in Group B, having picked up only a point from their opening two games.

 

Last season’s Champions League finalists have also struggled in the Premier League having won three, drawn three and lost three of their first nine fixtures, sparking rumours of unrest at the club.

 

Last month the Argentine suggested the squad needed to build “togetherness”, after their Carabao Cup defeat by League Two Colchester, because there had been “different agendas” among the group.

 

“In football we try to find a reason from nowhere,” he said. “The problem was on the pitch and that is all. It’s normal to see problems on the pitch, and you try to find a way to spark the team.

 

“But things happen in football you can’t explain. It is so difficult and complex to explain. My theory is we started late in our preparation.

 

“We used pre-season not just to settle our principles of play and build fitness, but also to build a dynamic of the group. I believe that was affected because we started so late [because of playing in the Champions League final].”

 

Spurs’ squad will be rewarded with a day off on Wednesday before they begin preparing for a rematch with Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League leading Liverpool on Sunday.

 

He added: “We need to go step-by-step, being solid again.

 

“The most important thing is to be together and be calm and know that this type of thing can happen in any team.

 

“It was an important result. One, for our confidence and two, for another three points in the table.”