Mauricio Pochettino has partially laid the blame for his side’s defeat over the weekend on the fact that the European transfer window is still open.
His Tottenham side suffered a shock 1 – 0 home defeat at home to Newcastle on Sunday, with a goal by Brazilian striker Joelinton in the first-half the difference between the two sides. In truth though, Tottenham were laboured and predictable, created few clear-cut chances, and made it easy for Newcastle to defend against them.
Afterwards, whilst Pochettino admitted his team had been poor, he also referred to the unrest in his squad, with Christian Eriksen, who only appeared from the bench in the second half on Sunday, Jan Vertonghen, and Toby Alderweireld, all linked with possible moves away from White Hart Lane until the window closes for European clubs on September 2nd.
The Argentine said: “we have an unsettled group for different reasons and different personal circumstances. Of course, I am going to be happier in 10 days after Arsenal when the transfer window is closed and we know we have the players until it opens again in January.”
Pochettino has previously publically called for the English transfer window to be moved back in alignment with those for clubs in Europe again.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.