Chris Sutton says Mauricio Pochettino got it wrong in Tottenham defeat to Ajax

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Chris Sutton has admitted it’s hard to criticise Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino after the defeat to Ajax, but states that it was a mistake lining up with a back three.

Spurs suffered a setback in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Ajax due to Donny van de Beek’s 15th minute goal inside the penalty area.

The Dutch outfit carved through Spurs several times in the first-half alongside the goal and were dominating the play.

Pochettino’s side found much more joy when they switched to a back four and had an extra body in the midfield helping out, with substitute Moussa Sissoko playing an important role.

BT pundit Sutton was reluctant to criticise Pochettino given his impact on the North London club, but highlighted a potential error.

“It was only after 27 minutes that Mauricio Pochettino admitted defeat and changed his side from a back three to a back four,” Sutton wrote in the Daily Mail.

“That was an admittance from Pochettino that he’d got his tactics wrong. It was a Poch botch for that opening half-hour.

“It’s hard to be critical of Pochettino, considering what he has done in his time in charge of Spurs.

“But we knew the way Ajax would play and the home side just couldn’t get near the visitors from Amsterdam for most of that first half.”

TBR’s View:

Pochettino with hindsight will see that perhaps a three-man defence wasn’t the best of plans and they were punished by a dazzling Ajax outfit.

But the sign of a top manager was adapting during the contest and his team are still firmly in the hunt to reach the Champions League final in the second leg.

It’s worth noting that the Argentinian boss is working wonders with a squad that has had no new signings in the last two transfer windows and was missing key individuals Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane in the defeat to Ajax.

Son will return to the side from suspension next week in the second leg and Pochettino will have learned a lot from Tuesday night.