Spurs came up short against a streetwise Monaco side at Wembley on Wednesday night as individual errors cost Mauricio Pochettino’s side dearly.
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A crowd of 85,000 are expected to cheer Tottenham on against Monaco on Wednesday, as they look to begin their European campaign with a victory. “We need to pick ourselves up and win the next game”. We need to finish strongly as well and be a lot more clinical.
The crowd, beating the 75,038 that watched Tottenham play Sunderland at White Hart Lane in 1938, was a new record for a home fixture for a British club in the competition.
Despite Spurs’ lack of practice at Wembley, Pochettino revealed they have adapted a training pitch at Hotspur Way, their Enfield base, to mirror the national stadium’s pitch.
The English club last appeared in the Champions League in the 2010-11 season, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Real Madrid with a team that included Gareth Bale and Luka Modric – who both now play for Madrid.
“I think Wembley is an advantage”.
The England global impressed during the 2015 defeat by Chelsea but he said of the occasion: “It wasn’t a good day because we’d have liked to have won it, so I’m not sure (it was good for me)”.
“We need to make sure we learn from our mistakes and start games quicker and brighter”.
Whether the vast expanse of Wembley will inspire Tottenham any more than the opposition is the big question, however, and it has not been a particularly happy hunting ground. It was a fantastic opportunity for us.
“We’ve got some fantastic fans here at Tottenham and it’s a great club to play for and the whole team are sorry we didn’t win”.
“We all agree that it was a game that we started well and created chances”, said Pochettino.
“Our approach psychologically was to remind ourselves of how we defeated Arsenal in a stadium which is just as big”, Jardim said. “Similar surroundings, a big packed stadium and against a tough side so that is what we drew upon for this game”.
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“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.
