Mauricio Pochettino insists resting Ben Davies and Mousa Dembele is to blame for Tottenham's draw, not Wembley
He had previously said the win against Dortmund meant they had conquered their Wembley curse
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Your support makes all the difference.Mauricio Pochettino's prickly post-match mood spoke volumes of Tottenham Hotspur 's latest frustrations. Frustrations that they somehow failed to beat Swansea, but also that their Wembley woes continue.
The draw only meant that the Tottenham manager had to field further questions of whether the curse has been lifted at their new temporary new home, after claiming they had conquered the hoodoo following their midweek Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund.
They have already dropped more league points than they did in the whole of last season at White Hart Lane and while losing to champions Chelsea is one thing, dropping key points against Burnley and to Swansea here is another.
Two points out of nine is certainly not title contention form and Pochettino knows that given he was in spiky mood after the surprise stalemate.
“Three days ago we were saying how fantastic the team was after a fantastic victory against Dortmund,” said Pochettino.
“Now we draw after not conceding one single shot on target from our opponents and people are saying we were disappointing and need to improve.
“If you don't play well, if you don’t create chances, if you concede a lot of chances and drop two points then maybe you can criticise me for not playing Ben Davies and Mousa Dembele.
“We didn’t win because I didn’t select them. I don't know who is panicking over this.
“I don’t think about whether we are playing at Wembley or White Hart Lane, the most important thing is to win.”
Just how Spurs failed to win here was anyone's guess.
A combination of Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianksi, near misses, the crossbar and two strong penalty appeals waved away all added up to the sense of what should have been.
It all meant that Spurs had failed to break a club record of scoring in 30 successive Premier League games at home.
“It’s nothing to do with Wembley,” insisted defender Kieran Trippier.
“Every game we have played here we have looked comfortable, but it’s about having that clinical edge in front of goal.
“We are frustrated because we had a lot of opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net.
“But we have to move on and try to get as many points as possible until the end of the season."
Swansea quite rightly celebrated at the final whistle, with their backs-to-the-wall display earning what will turn out to be a precious point.
Paul Clement's summer saw him sell Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente, but he is now stamping his own mark on his Swansea side.
“It was key for us, when you lose key players like Gylfi, Jack Cork and Fernando, you’ve got to replace them with good players," said manager Clement.
“And I think we’ve done that. A couple of them need some time to get up to speed – one is Renato Sanches, another is Roque Mesa but they’re working hard at it.
“It would be right to judge them over a fully season, not one or two games.”
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