Harry Kane’s form has dipped after England high, says Mauricio Pochettino

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/18/harry-kane-england-pochettino-tottenham-newcastle

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Tottenham have paid a price for the England exploits of Harry Kane and Ryan Mason, says Mauricio Pochettino, who argues that the pair have struggled to refocus on domestic matters after their senior international bows last month.

Kane scored with his third touch for England in the Euro 2016 qualifying win over Lithuania while Mason was brought on for his debut in the friendly against Italy. The Italy game finished with four Spurs players on the field – Kane, Mason, Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend, who scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw.

Tottenham, though, have been flat since the resumption of the Premier League, with the 0-0 draw at Burnley being followed by a 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa. Pochettino gave Kane the captaincy on both occasions – in the absence of the injured Hugo Lloris – but the striker was unable to make anything happen while Mason was also quiet.

It has to be said that they have not been the only off-colour Tottenham players and, although Pochettino says that the season has to be considered one of transition, there is the danger of it fizzling out. The Tottenham manager is determined to see a response at Newcastle on Sunday.

“One thing people need to know is that when players get their first call-up you try to impress the national manager and, because you are over-motivated, you expend a lot of energy,” Pochettino said. “When you come back to your club, it is normal that you are a little bit down. For two or three weeks, you are a little bit down.

“Our experience was the same when we were at Southampton with the first call for Jay Rodriguez, Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw. It was very difficult.

“I remember that we were third in the table and we went to play against Arsenal [in November 2013]. If we won, we’d have been first in the table. The performance wasn’t good and we lost. Why? Because we’d spent a lot of energy and it was difficult to keep our focus on normal life.

“It’s psychological and physical. If you can run 10 metres, you try to run 11 and this is the consequence.”

Pochettino has been there himself. He smiles broadly when he remembers his debut for Argentina against Holland in 1999 and he played alongside Javier Zanetti, Fernando Redondo, Juan Sebastián Verón and Gabriel Batistuta.

“I was up on cloud nine for one month,” Pochettino said. “When I got back to my club, Espanyol, it was difficult. I came back and I said: ‘Oh, but now I play with Redondo, Batistuta.’ You feel like a superstar and then you have to go back to Espanyol. My players are balanced, mature and humble but it’s just that this is the reality.”

Tottenham sit seventh in the table, with Champions League qualification hanging by a thread, but Pochettino suggested that the top four was always going to be a long shot this season. It will be next time out, he said, that the club will be expected to finish in the Champions League places. This season – Pochettino’s first at White Hart Lane – has been about restructuring behind the scenes, changing the style and blooding young players.

“Everybody must know that this season has been one of transition,” he said. “Next season, we need to build a team or a squad to fight, realistically, for the top four.

“We are ambitious but maybe this season, it wasn’t realistic to fight for the top four.”

Pochettino has placed a heavy emphasis on youth in his transfer business, with Eric Dier and Ben Davies signed last summer, DeAndre Yedlin and Dele Alli added in January (all four are aged 21 or under) and further young players under consideration for the summer. The club have agreed a £4.3m deal for Cologne’s 22-year-old centre-half, Kevin Wimmer.

Pochettino, though, warned that he still needed established stars. “It is one thing to sign young players for the future, like Yedlin and Alli, but the other is that you need consistent players to get the results straight away,” he said.