Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is not fearing the sack after his side’s crisis deepened with a 3-0 loss at Brighton.
Spurs put in one of the worst displays of Pochettino’s spell in charge as they fell to Neal Maupay’s opener and Aaron Connolly’s double, coming hot on the heels of Tuesday night’s Champions League humiliation to Bayern Munich.
There is a sense that the rot has set in for this current group, evidenced by the fact they have taken just 22 points from their last 20 Premier League games and a host of players’ futures remain uncertain.
Pochettino has already had to outline his commitment to the job twice this season, but says the thought of being fired by Spurs does not concern him.
Neal Maupay celebrates his goal, which came from a Hugo Lloris mistake (Gareth Fuller/PA)
“No I am not worried, what worries me is life, not football,” he said. “I don’t want you to take it the wrong way, what scares me is life, not football.
“Football is a game that sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The problem for us – it was win, win, win and it was praise for everyone.
“Now in the last two games it was a tough situation to accept. But I don’t want to be a philosopher or talk in a way that is not good.
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“What scares me is life, not football. Football is to be strong and be brave and take decisions and to show your face when things are not good.
“That is what we are going to do, face the negative things and try to work hard to change this dynamic. In my position I need to accept all the criticism. The same when you praise me or the team.
“I’m going to accept it in the same way and it’s not going to change my vision, from you or the pundit because you’re criticising me or describing a situation differently to what you expect.”
Spurs endured a nightmare start as another Hugo Lloris error, where he dropped the ball on the goal line, allowed Maupay an easy tap-in.
To make matters worse, Lloris suffered a serious arm injury that saw him leave the pitch with gas and air and screaming in pain.
Hugo Lloris left the field on a stretcher (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Connolly, still only 19, then celebrated his first Premier League start in style with two goals to make it a Red Letter Day for Brighton.
It was certainly the best day of Graham Potter’s time at the club and he was thrilled.
“Overall I was really, really happy with the performance, great personality on the pitch, we attacked well, defended well,” Potter said.
“When we made mistakes we recovered, we created chances and played on the front foot as much as we could.
“I am delighted for the players, we have worked really hard and haven’t got the results we could have got but that is life in the Premier League, the margins are small.”
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