Adebayor: Pochettino hasn’t got ideas across
TOTTENHAM striker Emmanuel Adebayor has defended under-fire manager Mauricio Pochettino but admitted that Spurs players are still to grasp how the Argentinian wants them to play.
Defeat to Stoke on Sunday at White Hart Lane was the north Londoners’ fourth loss from their last five home Premier League fixtures and left them 12th in the table after 11 games.
Pochettino has seven points fewer than Andre Villas-Boas did at the same stage last season, and the Portuguese would only last a few more weeks before being replaced by Tim Sherwood in mid-December.
Adebayor insists Tottenham’s players must take responsibility for repeated failures, though he suggested the new coach was yet to effectively communicate his methods.
“Obviously all managers bring their own philosophies, the way they see football, the way they see games, but come on, this the third or fourth manager in two or three years, so we just have to stop it now being about the manager,” he said. “He’s a good manager and we just have to find a way so that we can try to understand what he wants to tell us and how he wants us to play and put that on the pitch.
“If every player could do what the manager wants then we would win the Champions League but at the moment we are not getting the message. To me, he is a good manager and a good man. We just have to get what he is telling us.”
Adebayor also revealed that he and some team-mates preferred playing away from home, where there is less expectation.
“At least you know I am going to be having the majority of opposition fans booing me rather than our own fans booing me,” he added. “And I am not just talking about me, I am speaking on behalf of all the players. I think it might be better to play away from home because at least we know beforehand we are guaranteed to be booed because they want their home club to win. But when you are playing at home and your own fans start booing you after a few minutes then it is harder.”
RECORDS COMPARED
First 11 Premier League games
■ Mauricio Pochettino (2014-15)
Won 4; Drawn 2; Lost 5; Points: 14
■ Tim Sherwood (Dec 2013-14)
Won 7; Drawn 2; Lost 2; Points: 23
■ Andre Villas-Boas (2012-13)
Won 5; Drawn 2; Lost 4; Points: 17