Pochettino stresses the importance of rotation ahead of Liverpool cup clash

Mauricio Pochettino has emphasised the importance of rotating his squad ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's EFL Cup fourth round clash with Liverpool on Tuesday night.

As English clubs head into a heavily congested part of the season the Argentine has empathized with his players commenting that “they are not machines”.

The next few weeks which await Tottenham hold some of their most difficult test as they face Leicester, Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal after the clash with Jürgen Klopp’s men.

In his pre-match press conference Pochettino stressed that it is times like this where the club need to utilise all their players, despite criticising Spurs’ strength in depth on the weekend.

Players need a rest, says Argentine

Pochettino has commented that his players have no time to rest after demanding games. He said that “it’s very difficult to cope with the pressure in every game because every game is important” before continuing that “it’s for that reason we rotate” and will do in the next few games.

Pochettino also added that rotating players is crucial in keeping the squad balanced and happy as “all the squad feel they have a chance to play and show their quality.”

The Tottenham boss continued to explain that “football is a collective sport” and that “we assess the team and take the best solution to try and play in every game with freshness”.

Hugo Lloris will miss out, Vorm to come in

After discussing the values of rotating players Pochettino revealed that Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris will be rested against Liverpool.

The goalkeeper, who Pochettino labelled as “one of the best in the world”, was recently announced as one of the 30 players nominated for the prestigious Ballon D’Or prize.

Despite this Pochettino announced that Michel Vorm will start in goal as it “is a very good opportunity” for him as “he deserves to play.”

He added that “Hugo is not a machine, he’s one of the best, but not a machine” before elaborating that “in October he played a lot of games, two games more on international duty and then into November with no time to rest.”