Pochettino backs Kane to fire Spurs’ title bid

by Steven GRIFFITHS

Kane struck twice as Pochettino’s side closed the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea to seven points with a 3-2 win over Everton at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Having taken his goal tally for the season to 24 in 28 appearances, Kane expressed disappointment he hadn’t managed a fourth hat-trick in his last 10 games.

Kane’s ruthless attitude mirrors Pochettino’s own steely desire for success, so it was no surprise to hear the Spurs boss outline his plan for overhauling Chelsea.

“I’m a little disappointed with the way we finished, but we dominated for a long time against a team with very good players,” he said.

“The most important thing is to show on the pitch that we believe. Today we showed that. It’s better than talking about it.

“We need to be there. It’s not up to us of course, but if we keep going in this way maybe we will achieve our goal in the end if Chelsea fail.

“It’s true it’s not easy for teams to come here with the way we are playing at the moment.

“We feel very confident. It’s a special moment. The feeling is very good. For us it’s important to keep that for the future.”

With Kane in such unstoppable form, Pochettino has every right to dream of catching Chelsea, who must win at West Ham on Monday to restore their 10-point advantage.

Kane’s hot streak underlines why Pochettino ranks him alongside the world’s best strikers and the Argentine gave a revealing insight into the England international’s work ethic.

– Fantastic asset –
“He makes a lot of double sessions, he is professional, takes care of himself and because of that he is fresh,” said Pochettino, whose side have won a club record nine successive home league games.

“It is about the consistency of his training. To be fresh you need to work hard everyday. If you just eat and sleep maybe you are like me, you are fat!

“He had a big chance for a hat-trick. He was a little bit upset. When you have the chance to kill the opponent you have to score. “

“He is in a very good level but not only now, if you watch him from when he started to play regularly in the Premier League, his stats are unbelievable. He is a fantastic asset to have. He has showed he’s one of the best strikers.”

Everton manager Ronald Koeman was frustrated his team made sloppy mistakes for Kane’s second goal and Dele Alli’s late third.

And while he conceded Tottenham were worthy winners, he doesn’t believe the north Londoners will pip Chelsea to the title.

“Overall Tottenham were the better team. You know if you make the mistakes we did for the second and third goals you won’t get a point,” he said.

“This is the third season of Pochettino at Tottenham. You can see a lot of his daily training work in the team. If we get that time at Everton we can do the same.

“Tottenham is really strong and have a difficult system to play against.

“But it will be very difficult because of the distance in points. I think Chelsea is too strong for the rest.”