Mauricio Pochettino offered a rather confusing response when asked about the impact Tanguy Ndombele had when he came on for Tottenham against Liverpool.
Harry Kane scored within 48 seconds to put Spurs ahead at Anfield, but second half strikes from Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah earned Liverpool all three points.
Pochettino opted to start Harry Winks in midfield, before £55.5million record signing Ndombele replaced the latter in the 63rd minute.
Despite Ndombele appearing to make a difference on proceedings, Pochettino did not seem impressed and defended his decision to leave the former Lyon man on the bench.
“Big difference? Doing what?” Pochettino responded when asked about the player’s influence.
When the reporter pointed out that Spurs looked better going forward, Pochettino was quick to shoot down such claims.
“Yes, but in this time the game was different no? I think be careful how we assess,” he said.
“I was talking to some of your colleagues before the game. With 29 players in the squad it’s so important to rotate and keep them all motivated to play. He played on Tuesday in the Champions League and I think Harry Winks was fresh to play.
“That’s normal and what we need from players from the bench to make an impact. But of course he’s doing good passes. He’s fresh. That’s normal. If it’s the opposite we have a problem,” he added.
Prior to Sunday’s clash, the Spurs boss warned it could take two years before Ndombele shows his best form.
“We cannot assess him enough to say he is doing well or not so well,” Pochettino said.
“For me it’s fantastic the things he adds to the team, I am so happy with him like I am so happy with different players.
“Still for me, when you sign a player, despite the amount you pay, with the profile of Tanguy Ndombele or Giovani Lo Celso or Ryan Sessegnon you need minimum one year and a half, or two years. Look at what happened with [Heung-min] Son or [Moussa] Sissoko, they started to perform in year two, year three.
“That is why when you are so young… today the market is the market, you cannot judge the player because you paid some kind of amount.
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“He played two years in Lyon and moved to England where everything is new, but the quality is there. They need time to show their real quality.”