Spurs midfielder reveals what was discussed during recent team meeting

Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways on Saturday with a comfortable 4-0 win against Crystal Palace.

All four goals came during the first half in what was a much-needed Premier League win following the recent international break.

There was certainly a noticeable difference to how Tottenham decided to play against Palace compared to their last match in N17, where they suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United.

Rather than cutely trying to play the ball out from their own penalty area with passes across the six-yard box, there was a more direct approach which helped Tottenham to catch Palace on the back foot and effectively end the game by half time.

Spurs midfielder Harry Winks has revealed that during Mauricio Pochettino’s recent meeting with his players, there was a particular emphasis on tactics as well as mentality.

Pochettino’s players certainly listened to his advice with a much improved pressing game which supporters were used to seeing every week during our last season at White Hart Lane.

Winks told iNews: “There was a little bit of tactics involved [in the meeting] and a little bit of mental refocusing as well,” he said. We were excellent, we showed our real quality.

“The first thing we spoke about was not letting a team like Palace settle and allow them to breathe in the game because they are a dangerous side and if they feel like they can get a result they can punish you.

“From the start of the game we wanted to press them, make it hard for them and we did that.”

Opinion

Tottenham need to start turning the new stadium into the fortress which White Hart Lane was. Many teams would have dreaded coming to WHL knowing the type of pressing game we would adopt and not give them a moment on the ball.

The 4-0 win against Palace is a step in the right direction, but we need to be seeing this from the players on a game by game basis.

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