With Harry Kane taking his tally to eight goals in five games, Tottenham’s win has lifted them to fifth in the Premier League and, after going unbeaten since the opening day of the season, they are now only five points off the top.
Asked if Spurs could qualify for the Champions League next season, Pochettino said: “After the games we’ve played, we have quality enough, but football is about mental state and there a lot of components you need to manage.” The only real blemish on Sunday was a needless booking to England midfielder Dele Alli that will now rule him out of the Premier League match against Chelsea next Sunday.
Harry Kane scored twice for Spurs Photo: REUTERS
Alli got himself involved in a second-half dispute between Mark Noble and Harry Kane, with Pochettino then quickly substituting him before he got himself in any further trouble. It was his fifth booking of the season and he must now serve a one-match suspension.
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Asked if Alli had been immature, Pochettino said: “He’s young, he’s 19, last week he’s starting with the national team. There’s a lot of things in his head. We need to stay calm. He has a strong character and every fight he is inside. It was 3-0 when he got this yellow card, but he’s young. Football is to live the experience and be sure that next time he’s more relaxed.”
Kyle Walker grabbed the fourth
Pochettino felt that it had been one of Tottenham’s best performances of the season but was adamant that it is much too early to be contemplating whether they could actually compete to win the Premier League. “Maybe it was the best of the season,” he said. “The best way to describe my feelings is very proud. You can feel how the players believe in the way we play. The players believe in our philosophy. It’s too early to speak about the end of the season. Too far. We are a young squad, we need to develop our way, be consistent. We have been consistent but to win the title maybe we need more. It’s difficult to know what will happen in four or five months.”
Asked what more Tottenham needed to win the league, he said: “In football we cannot stop, never. Now we are happy but we need to improve. It’s never easy to improve but we are in a very good way. Our mentality is to go step by step.”
Toby Alderweireld headed home Spurs' second Photo: Frank Augstein/AP
Slaven Bilic, the West Ham manager, said that his team had fully deserved the 4-1 scoreline.
“It was a bad day,” he said. “At 2-0, I said we were still in the game. The third goal is the one that killed us. We are a good team when totally focussed and playing as a team. They were quicker than us, physically stronger. It was a shock. We deserved to be beaten and to lose 4-1.”
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