Tottenham 1 Southampton 2: Mauricio Pochettino tells Spurs to stop obsessing about Arsenal after home defeat

Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham must stop obsessing about finishing above Arsenal and focus on themselves after they signed off their White Hart Lane season with a 2-1 defeat to his former club Southampton.

Spurs are two points ahead of the Gunners following the latter's point at Manchester City and can finish above their rivals for the first time since 1995 when they play Newcastle next weekend. The Toon could already be down if Sunderland win in midweek or still scrapping while Arsenal host long-relegated Aston Villa.

“I don’t care about Arsenal,” the Tottenham manager said. “I want to win the league and be on the top. Sure I want to be above them. The supporters and players feel the same but to try to improve and be bigger we need to look at us and not care what happens with our neighbours

“I understand the fans’ feelings,” he added. “It’s normal. For us the same. [But we need to] create and keep our way, build our own philosophy and ideas and the consequence [if we get it right] is to be above all our opponents, not just Arsenal. We need to spend our energy to win games like today. I don’t care about opponents.”

Pochettino felt his side were the better team against the Saints but admitted you don’t always get what you deserve in football. “It was our last game at home - you want to win - so I am disappointed for our supporters,” he said. “We were better than Southampton but conceded two soft goals. We have 70 per cent possession but it’s only data. In football you never know. We created more but we need to be more clinical in front of goal.

open image in gallery

“If we want to fight to really win the league we need to improve. We need to be more aggressive and kill the game before but we are young. We need to be critical with ourselves to improve next season. We are clear where we need to improve and how. It doesn’t mean we need to add players. The ones we have need to improve.”

Ronald Koeman was delighted with the win that means his Southampton side have now completed the full set of victories against all Premier League opponents during his time in charge but admitted they had to cope with an early Spurs onslaught.

“They were the better team at the start,” he said. “They started at a furious pace. But we gave a good reaction in the game. We were dangerous. They had good chances but we showed the belief and controlled the midfield in the second half. We were dangerous, we know how to defend, have a good goalkeeper and after we went 2-1 up we were a bit lucky - but you need that. It was a great win, a big, big achievement. I’m very proud.”

He also praised Steven Davis, scorer of both goals, that give his side a chance of qualifying for the Europa League. “Today he made the difference,” Koeman said. “He played very well and showed good composure on the ball. Now we need one more win. It was a special season last season, this one can be even more special.”