Tottenham drama: Pochettino isn’t overjoyed with Lucas Moura

By Rucker Haringey | Feb 4, 2018

NEWPORT, WALES - JANUARY 27: Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur waves prior to The Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Newport County and Tottenham Hotspur at Rodney Parade on January 27, 2018 in Newport, Wales. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /

Lucas Moura needs to fight to win over Pochettino

The signing of Lucas Moura on Deadline Day certainly did a lot to excite the Tottenham fan base. However, it’s pretty clear his acquisition didn’t bowl over manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Instead, the Argentine gaffer has been keen to stay very measured in his praise of the fleet-footed Brazilian. While many Spurs fans want to see him in the lineup today at Anfield, Pochettino has made it clear he isn’t anywhere close to match fitness. Furthermore, he’s warned Lucas that he’ll need to fight hard to earn any playing time at all.

Some Tottenham fans will chalk this up to Pochettino attempting to take pressure off Lucas. The former PSG man has arrived with massive expectations so it would be logical for the manager to try to cool things down a bit. It does seem like there’s more negativity behind Pochettino’s words though.

In some ways, we should have expected this. While all reports claimed Pochettino was in support of inking Lucas, he clearly wasn’t his first target. Malcom was certainly the manager’s preferred Brazilian signing. That deal is likely to be revisited in the summer, but Pochettino should have some disappointment it couldn’t come off in the January window.

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There’s also the distinct possibility that Lucas didn’t arrive in North London in the shape that Pochettino would have liked. The Spurs boss specifically mentioned that Lucas’ lack of game time at PSG has made it impossible for the player to be immediately ready for first team football. That’s certainly a logical statement, but again, there just seemed to be a bit of edge in Pochettino’s voice when he made these comments.

Fortunately for everyone involved, it’s not as if Tottenham need to rush Lucas into the fray. The club are coming off arguably their best Premier League performance of the season during Wednesday’s 2-0 domination of Manchester United. Spurs could have easily hammered Jose Mourinho’s troops by a wider margin.

Spurs also enter the match at Liverpool in the best health they’ve enjoyed all season. Several Spurs stars won’t feature at Anfield because they lack match sharpness, but all of Pochettino’s troops have returned to first team training. That is terrific news for the club given the challenging nature of their February fixture list. Dealing with a tense Premier League race and Champions League competition will require complicated squad juggling from Pochettino.

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The realistic hope here is that Lucas can work his way into his manager’s good graces on the training round. Pochettino has established a culture of absolute meritocracy during his time at Tottenham. If Lucas can get up to speed quickly, he’ll have every chance of breaking into Pochettino’s match day squad sooner, rather than later. If he doesn’t, it may be quite some time before he makes his first appearance at his new club.

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