“And now we are in the Champions league we need to enjoy it, we need to perform well and we need to get great team performances”.
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Pochettino couldn’t hide his frustration at Tottenham’s below-par performance and the Argentine coach questioned his players’ desire, as well as lambasting their sloppy defensive efforts. Today was a fantastic day to share with our fans but I feel very disappointed.
‘We didn’t help ourselves in the first half, ‘ Alli said. “We need to be more aggressive in front of goal”. That is how we spoke in the changing room. “We put a lot of energy in but we couldn’t force it”. The feeling is why didn’t we do more? We need to finish strongly, as well.
“With the right attitude you need to show more than we showed in the first half”, said the France worldwide.
Former Gunners defender Martin Keown has regrets ” Visiting teams often struggled to cope with the tight pitch and the fans being so close in, and the talent in our squad was such that I think we could have gone deep into the competition had we played there instead of Wembley”. “Football is on the pitch, the grass”, he told a press conference.
“We need to make sure we keep improving and win the next game”.
Monaco left Wembley with a vital three points. “We were better than Monaco, but they were more effective in both areas”. “It’s hard to accept”.
In their first Champions League encounter in five years, Tottenham failed to light up Wembley and suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Ligue 1 outfit Monaco.
“When I was at MK Dons I played all the games in centre midfield so it’s not like it’s new to me”, added Alli.
“It is true that we created more chances, more corners, more shots, more possession, more everything”.
Wembley has a larger pitch than White Hart Lane, leading Jardim to claim the wide-open spaces had negated Tottenham’s usual high-tempo pressing game. Jardim has praised his side for not being overawed by the atmosphere and believes it suited them.
Thomas Lemar struck shortly after and, although Toby Alderweireld’s header halved the deficit shortly before half-time, Monaco’s organised defence withstood the hosts’ second-half pressure, allowing few real chances.
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“You can’t always judge a forward on the goals he could have scored”, Jardim said of his 30-year-old striker, who was the subject of prematch scrutiny upon his return to England after disappointing back-to-back loan spells with Manchester United and Chelsea.
