Spurs midfielder Dele Alli says he didn’t expect his celebration to become an internet sensation.
LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has said he hopes Dele Alli and Danny Rose will be fit to face Manchester City on Oct. 29 as his injury list shortens following the international break.
Spurs were without six players against Cardiff earlier this month, while Rose limped off with a groin problem.
But Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele, Serge Aurier and Michel Vorm are back in training and available to travel to West Ham on Saturday, leaving only Alli, Rose and Jan Vertonghen in the treatment room.
“It [the break] was a good time for us because we are going to recover a few players, like Christian and Mousa Dembele,” Pochettino told a news conference.
“It’s still maybe 10 days more for Dele Alli, and Danny Rose is the same — one week more. Jan Vertonghen is a little bit longer. But the most important thing is that we start to recover players.
“It will be a tough month of competition for us. There are a lot of games ahead, and it’s so important to have nearly all the squad fit to compete and play and to give options.”
Spurs’ injury problems have prompted renewed questions about the club’s decision not to sign players during the summer — an issue chairman Daniel Levy addressed during a meeting with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust.
Levy said Pochettino did not want to sign anyone for the sake of it and felt he had sufficient numbers.
Asked about those comments, the manager said: “From day one I told you I am never going to judge the words of my boss. He is my boss, he is the owner of the club.
“It was difficult to achieve the players we needed. That was impossible. I was happy and am happy with the squad that I have, 25 players. We have no regrets, we are happy.
“When we started the season with three games that we won, and we were at the top of the table, people were talking in a different way: ‘Oh how clever Tottenham are, because they keep all the squad from last season.’
“After we lost some games, all the alarms started to make a big impact in the perception. But I need to remind everyone that it is our [joint] best start after eight games — it is the best start in the Premier League for Tottenham.”
In contrast to Spurs’ quiet summer, London rivals West Ham spent £100 million on nine players.
“I am not surprised,” Pochettino said. “In England you have teams like Fulham who spend more than West Ham. Different types of club have the possibility to sign because it is so healthy, the financial [situation] in the Premier League.”
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