Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has been praised for his ‘touch of genius’ from Spurs’ defeat of Newcastle.
The Lilywhites left it late to beat Rafa Benitez’s side, with Heung-Min Son netting the only goal of the game with just seven minutes left on the clock.
It is hard to deny Tottenham deserved the win given their complete dominance of proceedings, and the late victory – their third in a row in the league – once again proved Spurs have the fight necessary to challenge for the title.
Saturday’s defeat of Newcastle appeared to be the moment the public sat up and considered Tottenham real challengers to Liverpool and Manchester City to be crowned champions of England, and Pochettino has been lauded for keeping the north Londoners competitive despite ongoing troubles apropos the club’s new stadium, a pretty severe injury crisis, and the fact Spurs haven’t signed a single player in either of the previous two transfer windows.
One man to get in on the action of praising Pochettino was Ossie Ardiles, the Tottenham legend, who identified the ‘touch of genius’ the 46-year-old had to guide Spurs’ to their win over the Magpies.
“Super super Spurs moving to 2nd place,” Ardiles wrote on Twitter. “Big congratulations to the boys @SpursOfficial and a special one to our outstanding Manager. Touch of genius to leave [Fernando] Llorente and [Danny] Rose in the bench and bring them on, fresh, when need it. COYS COYS COYS”.
Despite being regarded as a flop since joining Tottenham in summer 2017, Llorente has proven to be something of a positive influence over the past couple of weeks with Harry Kane stuck on the sidelines injured.
He scored against Chelsea as Spurs were beaten in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, and then played a valuable role in Tottenham’s two recent wins – over Watford and Newcastle.
The towering Spaniard assisted Son’s 80th minute equaliser against the Hornets before firing in the winning goal himself three minutes from time, and then, against the Magpies, he set up the South Korea international for the second time in two games, winning a knockdown which allowed Son to gain possession and fire home.
Pochettino has struggled to get the best out of Llorente throughout the latter’s time in north London, but it appears certain changes have been made which have allowed the 33-year-old to flourish – for the benefit of all those involved with Tottenham.