LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino was happy with Tottenham Hotspur's much-improved second-half performance as they earned a hard-fought point in an entertaining 1-1 draw with Liverpool at White Hart Lane.
Danny Rose levelled proceedings in North London on Saturday afternoon with his well-taken finish in the 72nd minute after James Milner put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot just before the break.
Pochettino's team had to withstand a great deal of pressure from Liverpool for large periods of the first half, with Kyle Walker coming off early on due to illness and affecting the host's game plan. However, Pochettino said that taking "risks" following the restart paid dividends.
"We started very well and it's true that we wanted play a little bit more long," the Argentine told his postmatch news conference. "We started to make some mistakes and we knew that Liverpool is a team that likes to run if you give them space, with [Sadio] Mane, [Roberto] Firmino, [Philippe] Coutinho, [Adam] Lallana or [Georginio] Wijnaldum who can damage you.
"I think that was little bit of a problem when the problem happened with Walker, but in the second half we had to take risks. They had some chances but not too much. I think we played much better.
"I am very pleased with the performance and the effort. It wasn't easy. We played a team that played perfect counter-attack and the draw is a fair result."
He added: "After 15 minutes we had a problem with Walker, he was sick, and we needed to change our plan. We started to play with two strikers and the plan for playing against Liverpool changed. In the second half we increased our level, our performance.
"I am very pleased and I am very happy for definite. It was a fantastic game for the neutral people to see today."
The Spurs boss is also not concerned about the performance levels of striker Harry Kane, who continued to struggle and has failed to hit the back of the net so far this season.
Kane looked sluggish against Liverpool and was replaced by Josh Onomah in the 83rd minute, but Pochettino joked: "I think it's a good sign that he didn't score yet, because last season he didn't score until game 10 and was the top scorer in the league!"
Meanwhile, Pochettino said he has "no information" on the fitness of Walker ahead of the international break, with the full-back is expected to be a part of Sam Allardyce's first England squad.