Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino this morning spoke out over the gulf between his side and Liverpool, ahead of the crunch matchup between the sides.
Liverpool vs Tottenham
Spurs are set to travel to Anfield this evening, for their first Premier League outing following the international break.
The clash is set to come as a crucial one in both the race for the English top-flight title, and a place in the top-4.
Manchester City’s victory over Fulham yesterday afternoon saw Pep Guardiola’s men leapfrog Liverpool back to the summit of the Premier League table.
Tottenham, meanwhile, were joined by Manchester United in 3rd in the table following the Red Devils’ hard-fought win versus Watford yesterday, with North London rivals Arsenal a point adrift in 5th.
Anthony Martial celebrates during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Watford. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
‘Cannot compare’
But, while Spurs are now battling to keep their Champions League hopes for next season alive, the capital giants were, up to last month, considered as very much in the race for the Premier League title.
A dismal run of domestic form which saw Mauricio Pochettino’s men pick up just a solitary point from their last 4 league outings, though, has since seen them fall completely off the blistering pace being set by Manchester City and Liverpool.
As such, Pochettino was this morning questioned on the widening gap between his side and their opponents for this evening.
The Argentine tactician, though, was eager to stress that the two clubs simply ‘cannot be compared’, on a financial or any other basis.
Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, ‘Poch’ explained:
‘You cannot compare [Liverpool and Tottenham]. When Klopp arrived at Liverpool it was only about focusing on building a team that could compete and be a real contender with other teams.’
‘Our philosophy is completely different. We can’t compare the two projects. They are on a completely different level. In the last two transfer windows we didn’t sign one player – it’s like we are banned!’
Mauricio Pochettino speaks with Jurgen Klopp prior to the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
‘We are focused on different things, that’s why we are different. And we must be focused on operating in different ways and still be competitive as football is the most important thing in this company.’
‘[Liverpool] have an unbelievable squad and every season they add more quality. So it’s normal that Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea are building to win and be real contenders.’
‘Try to reconnect’
Pochettino continued:
‘We’re disappointed with the way we competed in the last few games. There was a disconnection before Burnley. The team couldn’t find the right way to fight for the same objective.’
‘We were a little bit distracted. I hope these three weeks that we didn’t play made us think a little bit. We must try again to reconnect and start performing like we need to perform if we want to be real contenders for the Champions League and the Premier League.’
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