KampusbeT ~ " Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino happy to be title-race pantomime villain who denies Leicester's fairytale a happy ending "
Agen Bola TerperCaya EURO 2016 ~ Mauricio Pochettino reckons his Tottenham players will deserve to be immortalised with statues, if they wreck the fairytale the football world is desperate to see.
Time is running out, but Spurs refuse to give up on catching league leaders Leicester while it is mathematically still possible.
They are eight points behind the Foxes with five games left – starting on Monday at Stoke – one more than Claudio Ranieri’s men who, as things stand, need eight more points to clinch a first-ever top-flight title.
Leicester’s
transformation from a team that looked like relegation certainties to
one on the brink of an incredible Premier League title in just 12 months
has captured the imagination of the public.
And they now have neutrals, not just in England but across the globe, willing them on and backing their bid to cross the finish line first.
Pochettino
laughed off suggestions Spurs would be unpopular champions — akin to
the deer hunter who shoots Bambi’s mother in the classic Disney film —
if they manage to deny Leicester the trophy.
“Ah! Bambi! Come
on!” Pochettino smiled when the comparison was put to him. “If we won
the title, I think every player would deserve a statue.
“The
challenge is big because eight points is a big gap. But to keep fighting
in the way we have fought, and in the end win the title, all the people
would recognise our value. And we would be happy, too.”
Asked if it was difficult being involved in a title race
where the other team has so much public support, the Argentine said: “I
think it’s good. They deserve to have that support.
But we cannot fight
against all that happens around Leicester.
“We need to fight
them, and and it’s a very good challenge. We know that all the people
want Leicester to be champions, but we need to believe that we can
change the story.”
Nonton Bioskop Film Semi ~ Stoke
skipper Ryan Shawcross openly admitted he has extra motivation to beat
Spurs — he wants to help his ex-Potters team-mate and now Leicester
defender Robert Huth win the league.
And Pochettino said: “Of
course, I want the team that plays against Leicester to win the game,
too. That is healthy competition and is perfectly normal.
“It (Shawcross’ comment) is not a worry for me. In football, you only need to fight with the opponent and yourself.
“Nobody
'helps' Leicester. They are where they are because they deserve to be. I
am a very positive person in my life, I always believe that things can
happen, good things for us.
“I never wish for bad things for them
but I want them to drop points in the next few games, and we win, so we
can reduce the distance to them.
“Anything can happen. One thing
can change everything. We are in love with football because it is not
predictable, and now we need to believe something can happen for us and
then we need to do our job.”
And Tottenham’s impressive win over
Manchester United has given them vital belief they will be ready to
pounce if the Foxes drop more points, following Sunday’s 2-2 draw with West Ham.
They piled the pressure on Spurs by beating Sunderland to go 10
points clear in last Sunday's early game. But Spurs responded in the
late kick-off by thrashing United 3-0.
Pochettino added: “It was very important. The game being delayed [because United were stuck in North London traffic] changed our habits and it was difficult to start the game, a bit slow.
“Everyone
was disappointed [after the Leicester result] – our players, the
supporters, too – but they were fantastic in the end. The 3-0 win gave
us great belief and helped us prepare for Stoke.”
