Tottenham opened their Europa League campaign with a 0-0 draw against Partizan Belgrade. Even though the match witnessed a lot of high tension due to resist chants from the home supporters, it was a positive result for the club nonetheless. It was also the opinion of manager Mauricio Pochettino, who appears to be facing a tough time at the start of his Tottenham career. After starting the season with consecutive victories in the league and the League Cup, Tottenham find themselves without a win in the last three matches. The poor run of form started with the 3-0 thumping of the hands of Liverpool.
Prior to the start of the Europa League, Pochettino claimed that he wants to win the trophy, which many English clubs regard as an unwanted distraction. In previous years, Tottenham managers like Harry Redknapp and Andre Villas-Boas decided to use second string teams for the Europa league in order to protect their interests of reaching the top four in the league. Pochettino, though, says that he wants to feel the strong team in this competition, which is taken much more seriously by the likes of Spanish and Italian clubs. Despite a disappointing 0-0 draw, Pochettino said that he was happy with the performance since he could not have asked a much more from his players.
“It was difficult but we need to look at the positives. Like Fazio and Stambouli making their first starts for us. They did very well. It was a tough game and it is difficult to play well and move the ball quickly in these conditions. The pitch was difficult, that is not an excuse but it is true. I am happy with the performance. We competed, kept a clean sheet and it is important not to lose these games,” said the Tottenham boss.