Football
ESPN staff 9y

Mauricio Pochettino blames size of Spurs' pitch for home woes

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has pointed the finger at the size of the White Hart Lane pitch for his side's home woes. 

Spurs have lost three out of five home league fixtures in the Premier League so far this season -- against Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United -- and Pochettino is adamant that the club's style is being hindered by a tight space to work in.

Tottenham have the third smallest pitch in the Premier League at 100 metres by 67 metres, according to the official statistics, behind QPR (100 metres by 65.85 metres) and Stoke (100 metres by 66 metres).

"Our style means we need a bigger space to play because we play a positional game," Pochettino said. "It's true that White Hart Lane is a little bit tight and it's better for the opponent when they play deep.

"On Sunday there were two shots from Newcastle -- it was unlucky for us. And they play deep. West Bromwich play deep, Liverpool the same, they play very deep and it was difficult for us. We need time to adapt to our new set-up and to understand better our position on the pitch."

Ahead of the game against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday, Pochettino also insisted that he has been working hard on the mental side of Tottenham's game.

"In football there is always big expectation," he said. "In Tottenham, in Espanyol, in Southampton, in Real Madrid and Barcelona, it's how you manage the pressure in your situation.

"We did a lot of work [on the psychological side] in groups and as individuals on the training ground, in meeting rooms and in my personal office.

"But always you need more time to change the habits. We talk about mentalities and changing habits. It is harder to work on. The mental process is always more slow than the physical or tactical. We know that our challenge is to change this mentality."

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