At Tottenham Hotspur, they talk of the incentive of disappointment and their head coach was so jubilant that he paused to capture post-match pictures on the Loftus Road pitch on Saturday.
Mauricio Pochettino had his mobile phone ready to snap his family, nestled among triumphant Tottenham fans celebrating a victory that they believe puts them firmly back in the race for a top-four place. Clinging on to claim consecutive wins over Swansea City and Queens Park Rangers in the space of four days has changed the complexion of the gloomy picture of a week earlier when they exited Europe and lost in the Capital One Cup final.
The fluctuating emotions are par for the course for being a Tottenham fan and something that Javier Pochettino, who is six years older than his brother, Mauricio, will be better accustomed to appreciating when he returns to Argentina. Javier was present for the defeat by Chelsea at Wembley and sat with Mauricio’s children, Sebastiano and Maurizio, in the top tier of the School End on Saturday. “I took the pictures as a souvenir,” Pochettino said. “It was a fantastic moment for me and for them. It was the first time I’ve done it in my career. Javier enjoyed the final, but I don’t give him the chance to give me his opinion. He is very honest — sometimes too much. He works on the farm we grew up on and he watches every game live on television.”
The family were well versed in the songs, especially of Harry Kane being one of their own. “They preferred to sing the songs with the fans, instead of taking up the chance to go to the executive box or be in a better area,” Pochettino said.
Encountering the intimidating atmosphere at Loftus Road will be very different to that at Old Trafford on Sunday, where Tottenham have a chance to leapfrog Manchester United, possibly into fourth place if other results go their way. Tottenham also meet Manchester City next month but they believe that their run-in is favourable. Pochettino has staked his reputation on his players’ fitness and stamina, which may prove important with Arsenal, United and Liverpool involved in the FA Cup. “We’ve played 47 games, more than Arsenal, more than Manchester United, more than Liverpool,” he said. “We have a very good mentality. We prepare for United and the reality is you need points in every game to stay high in the table.”
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Tottenham were fluent only for a short spell after the interval but, as against Chelsea a week earlier, their defence looked vulnerable to aerial balls. They can take pride that they did not buckle after Sandro reduced the deficit, although they were fortunate not to concede a penalty when Charlie Austin hooked a shot that struck the raised hands of Nabil Bentaleb, one of two home appeals turned down by Craig Pawson, the referee.
“The most important thing I get from the team is that they believe in our way of doing things,” Pochettino said. “We’ve proved that the team has a strong mentality and we’ve improved in this area.”
Pochettino was irked when asked about selecting Emmanuel Adebayor over Kane in the autumn and the whereabouts now of the Togo striker, his vice-captain. Kane glanced home a header when he cleverly spotted that Robert Green was slow to rush off his line to meet a free kick and later rounded the goalkeeper in front of the watching Roy Hodgson, who plans to pick the striker in his England squad this month.
Hodgson would also have noted Ryan Mason’s tireless running. “This is Ryan’s first full season, but he has potential to improve more and, like Harry, he is progressing in a very good way,” Pochettino said.
QPR were willing yet limited and had Austin not picked power over placement when it was goalless, they may have gone on to claim a point.
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Ratings
Queens Park Rangers (4-4-2): R Green 5 — N Onuoha 6, R Ferdinand 4, S Caulker 6, Yun Suk Young 6 — M Isla 6 (sub: D Hoilett, 71min), Sandro 6 (sub: S Wright-Phillips, 90), K Henry 5 (sub: R Grego-Cox, 88), M Phillips 5 — C Austin 7, R Zamora 6. Substitutes not used: A McCarthy, C Hill, N Kranjcar, B Comley. Booked: Henry.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): H Lloris 7 — K Walker 5, E Dier 5, J Vertonghen 5, B Davies 4 — R Mason 6, N Bentaleb 6 — A Townsend 5 (sub: M Dembélé, 65 6), C Eriksen 6 (sub: B Stambouli, 88), N Chadli 5 (sub: E Lamela, 79) — H Kane 7. Substitutes not used: M Vorm, D Rose, R Soldado, F Fazio. Booked: Bentaleb, Mason.
Referee: C Pawson.
Attendance: 17,992.