Tottenham player admits he was previously upset under Pochettino

Arguably no Spurs player has seen as much of a positive turnaround in form since the arrival of Jose Mourinho as Serge Aurier.

The right-back admitted that he wanted to leave Spurs last summer after failing to live up to expectations in his first couple of years in North London (The Sun).

The defender was on the receiving end of some stinging criticism for some of his performances for the Lilywhites and was generally considered to be a defensive liability by some pundits (Sky Sports).

After Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs head coach towards the end of November, the Ivorian has been employed in a more advanced role down the right-hand side and it has bought the best out of him.

While he has still not completely eliminated out defensive errors from his game, he is making more of a difference for the side going forward.

The 27-year-old has now admitted that he was previously annoyed at not being used regularly by Mauricio Pochettino but insisted that he never let his emotions show to the Argentine.

In an interview with France Football, Aurier said: “Today, I am very well. I hear people saying ‘There, we found the real Serge Aurier’. No. For a player, the best is to play and chain.

“This is what happens to me so people see and say that I have regained my level. Otherwise, no. Last season, we arrived in the Champions League final where I actively participated in the epic, I played almost all the matches.

“The first year, the coach did not make me play a lot, but I never went into his office to complain, I never showed a funny face. I wasn’t playing, I was upset, but I did not show it.”

Spurs Web Opinion

There is this myth going around that Serge Aurier is defensively poor which is far from the truth. The right back is actually pretty good at defending one vs one situation as well as in blocking crosses. He just needs to cut out that impulse to fly into challenges that he’s unlikely to win.

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