Pochettino calls for Tottenham to show killer instinct
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, September 15, 2014
Mauricio Pochettino conceded Tottenham need to discover a killer instinct after they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw despite a dominant display against Sunderland.
Pochettino's side twice squandered the lead at the Stadium of Light on Saturday as they paid the price for missing a string of chances to allow the hosts back into the contest.
A late own goal from Harry Kane denied Tottenham a fifth successive win against the Black Cats and boss Pochettino confessed his disappointment at his players' costly wastefulness in front of goal.
"We needed to kill the game off. We scored two goals away from home, but we had to be more solid," said Pochettino, whose side have won two of their first four league matches.
"If you concede goals like we did today after going ahead twice then it shows we need to be smarter.
"It was too easy for Sunderland to score and it's something I will analyse.
"When you don't win, it's always difficult to praise the players too much.
"We did enough to win the game but in the end it's finished 2-2 and at the moment we're disappointed by that."
England Under-21 forward Kane had been on the field for just three minutes as a substitute when he diverted a Jordi Gomez free-kick into his own net with eight minutes left to cap a battling Sunderland comeback.
"Of course Harry is disappointed with his own goal, but that's football and he will learn from it," Pochettino added.
"The most important thing is to create the chances, which is what we're doing and we did again in this game.
"But it was disappointing with the goals we gave away, especially allowing Sunderland to equalise so soon after our first goal."
Outstanding performer
Tottenham scored early in each half through Nacer Chadli's third goal in four games and Christian Eriksen, the game's outstanding performer.
Adam Johnson levelled immediately for Sunderland, but the hosts rode their luck as Mousa Dembele and Erik Lamela struck the bar.
Sunderland remain without a league victory this season, but manager Gus Poyet, the former Tottenham midfielder, professed himself more than satisfied with a point from a third draw in four games.
"We're happy with that point and I'm sure Mauricio is disappointed that Tottenham didn't win," Poyet said.
"They're the best team we've played against by far this season, and it's a good point which we had to work really hard for."
Poyet gave a first Sunderland start to Ricardo Alvarez, the Argentinian midfielder loaned from Inter Milan for the season, and Poyet believes the experience will help his new signing understand what is required to shine in the Premier League.
"It was a tough game for Ricky to make his debut in, but he did well," Poyet added.
"As a team, we stuck at it, showed our character and fought and tackled for each other.
"We got better as the game went on to claim what was an important point in the end."
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