Mauricio Pochettino defends high risk Tottenham team selection.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino gestures
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has defended his decision to play Heung-Min Son out of position against Chelsea.
Son lined up in an unfamiliar left wing back role against the Blues, and was involved in one of the games’ most controversial moments when he went to ground to tackle Victor Moses and conceded a penalty.
Pochettino’s decision was influenced by Danny Rose’s injury, overlooking Ben Davies who remained on the bench.
Son was substituted off after 68 minutes with the score at 2-2. Chelsea went onto win 4-2.
Tottenham’s Son Heung-min fouls Chelsea’s Victor Moses for a penalty
Pochettino stood up for his call to play the South Korean in the role, telling The Telegraph he felt Son did well and should take no blame.
He said: “It is only me who makes the decision and I think the plan was good. The first goal we conceded there was no tactical problem to do with Sonny’s position.
“The second goal was unlucky because for me it was not a penalty. How many times did you see Moses arrive in the final third? One and that ended with the penalty. That was unlucky. They found time to score four and they had only one corner. We had 11. If you see the stats, it was a completely unfair result. But that is football.
“Sure, when you don’t win you allow people – fans, the media – to say that it was not a good selection. I understand that. When you win, you are a genius, when you lose, you are a disaster.”
Most Tottenham fans will agree that Son was unfortunate for the penalty, but in selecting him in a more defensive role, the South Korean’s attacking abilities were limited.
He had scored six goals in Tottenham’s FA Cup run to the semi-final. Against Chelsea he did not get to attempt a single shot.
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