Former Chelsea and Republic of Ireland striker Tony Cascarino has claimed that Mauricio Pochettino got his team selection and tactics wrong for the Champions League final against Liverpool.
Tottenham were disappointing in their 2-0 defeat to their Premier League rivals which ended their hopes of being crowned as champions of Europe for the first time in their history.
Pochettino decided to recall Harry Kane after nearly two months out with an ankle injury at the expense of semi-final hat-trick hero Lucas Moura while there was also a start for Harry Winks in midfield following his groin operation.
Cascarino feels that the decision to play Harry Winks was the wrong decision due to the fact that they offered a lot more in attack when the England international was replaced by Lucas Moura in the 66th minute at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
It seems odd that the football pundit singled out Winks, who was relatively steady in his performance yet there was no mention of Harry Kane’s hugely anonymous display.
Cascarino wrote in The Times, the Game, 03/06/2019, page 11: “Nobody would pretend that Mauricio Pochettino is not a brilliant manager but he had a bad day. He got all of the big calls wrong.
“He put Harry Winks in the team, which allowed Christian Eriksen to play further forward. Winks did OK but it was the wrong call because Spurs became much more dangerous when he went off.”
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