Mauricio Pochettino reveals who is responsible for Tottenham's defeat
Mauricio Pochettino is not happy with how his side followed up their 3-0 thumping of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Spurs struggled against a resolute Watford side on Vicarage road and reduced themselves to spectators as the Hornets came back from being 1-0 down to win the game 1-2 thanks to goals from Troy Deeney and Craig Cathcart.
Spurs had secured the lead thanks to an own goal by Abdoulaye Doucoure but conceded from two set-pieces to relinquish all 3 points. Watford have now won all 4 of their opening fixtures this season.
Mauricio Pochettino blamed himself and claimed that he is the 'first person responsible' for the Lilywhites' underwhelming performance.
Speaking after the match, Pochettino said,
"It is so painful because after Manchester United I was so disappointed with the performance. It is so painful to concede two goals like this, it is so painful because the first half looked like a friendly game."
"I am very disappointed, very disappointed because if you want to be a contender, first I am the first person guilty of everything, but it is so difficult to understand because I thought we controlled the game in the first 45 minutes."
He also emphasized the importance of sticking to the plan even when you have a one goal advantage.
"To play football, to compete, it looks an easy game because we dominate the ball, we didn't concede because Watford were poor in the first 45 minutes. We scored, but when you score you keep going and play in the same way and then we started to change and play long ball.
However, he remains optimistic and has taken to their first wake-up call of the season with a positive attitude.
"We conceded two goals that if you want to be a contender you cannot concede. It is the beginning and it is a very good wake-up call for everyone and to listen more because people talk about the perception and not the reality. This is good to compare, some people talk about perceptions but the reality was on the pitch.
"The reality is if you want to be a contender today we should win and win easy because everything was ready to win the game. That is very painful but I am not upset. I was more upset after Monday."
He reiterated the same in the press conference where he identified himself as the one person who should have made sure mistakes weren't repeated.
"We have good players in the squad. I think we have a strong squad. We showed against Newcastle and we showed against Fulham and at Old Trafford, but today, it's not that we didn't win because of the players on the bench or the squad," he said.
"The reality is we need to analyse who is in the pitch. Of course myself first I am responsible, the guilty one when the team loses."