Tottenham vs Leicester: Mauricio Pochettino calls for more aggression from his midfield men

Spurs were held to a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane, despite enjoying the greater number of chances in front of goal

Danny Simpson grabs the shirt of Son Heung-min (Getty)

After his Tottenham side were held to a 1-1 draw by Leicester City on Saturday, Mauricio Pochettino called on his midfield to be aggressive and help out his centre-forward as his team continues to struggle for goals.

Spurs have now drawn three on the bounce in the league, scoring just twice in those fixtures. “I am disappointed because we dominated the game,” the Spurs manager said. “We created more chances. We dominated. It was a good performance but it was important for us to score more.

“We need to be more clinical. It is evident that we need to score more. I have no worries about it. They only had one shot – but that is football. It’s true that today and in the last few games we have problems to score.

“We lack a bit of determination from the second line. They need to be aggressive, more direct, shoot, have belief. It is important not to give all the pressure to [Vincent Janssen]. It is not only our striker that has to get goals it is also our second line.

“We are good in possession, our build up is good but in the last third we need to be more clinical, more aggressive, show more determination.”

Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son were Tottenham’s second line behind striker Vincent Janssen who scored Spurs’ goal from the penalty spot. It was the Dutchman’s third goal of the season – all spot-kicks – but Son has not scored since late September, Alli has three goals this season and Eriksen is yet to score.

“Eriksen needs to improve,” Pochettino said. “He needs to be more determined to score. It’s belief. It happens in football. We are in a difficult period since the international break. Against Manchester City we were very, very good. We were unlucky that the international break came. We lost lots of players. But we are unbeaten with two important games coming up: Leverkusen and and Arsenal.

Son and Fuchs race for the ball (Getty)

“It is not so bad - after 10 games we have five victories, five draws. But we need more if we want to fight for the big things.

Pochettino was pleased with Janssen’s performance. “He had the personality to take the penalty,” he said. “He showed big character to take the ball and score. For me it is one goal, for him it is huge pressure.”

However, it is clear Tottenham need Harry Kane back to lift the burden on Janssen. He is 50-50 to feature against Leverkusen in the Champions League in midweek. “Harry is our main striker. We are very happy with Vincent but we want him to share the striking duties with Harry,” Pochettino said. “

Claudio Ranieri was disappointed with the penalty decision that went against his Leicester team but was pleased with the performance. Robert Huth was penalised for pulling down Janssen in the area although the contact looked minimal.

“When the free-kick started there was a foul on Huth which was more strong than Huth made on Janssen. Jansen is a strong [man] but in that moment – he goes down,” the Italian said shrugging. “But I said it doesn’t matter, no excuse, keep going.

“Against Manchester United we played very well for the first 20 minutes, conceded and then collapsed. Today, much better.

“I am very pleased [with the performance]. Today I saw the old spirit – that of last season. Last time Spurs played at home they beat City. I am very pleased with all players. The fight, the spirit, the team play. It was fantastic.”

Ranieri also claimed not to be worried about Jamie Vardy who has now gone 10 games without a goal but who did set up Ahmed Musa for Leicester’s equaliser. “He is OK,” the Italian said, “sooner or later he starts to score. It is not important. He put over a great cross – two great crosses because he did it too against Copenhagen [in the Champions League].”

Islam Slimani did not play as he felt a slight problem with his groin but Ranieri was confident his £30m striker would be fit for European action in midweek.