Mauricio Pochettino has praised the partnership between Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama as key to Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-0 demolishing of West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
The two midfielders have found form alongside each other this season after Wanyama completed an £11m move from Southampton in the summer.
Previously Dembele took up the position in the double pivot along side Eric Dier, who has since dropped into a back three alongside defenders Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.
The win against West Brom was Tottenham’s sixth consecutive Premier League win and also means that Spurs are still unbeaten at White Hart Lane in all competitions this season. A Harry Kane hat-trick and Gareth McAuley own goal shot them up to second in the table, where they remain after Liverpool only managed a 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
Despite a well-rounded, dominant team performance, it is Dembele and Wanyama who heard the managers praise.
They provide balance
Mauricio Pochettino backed up his claims that the midfield partnership was key by commenting that the two “provide very good balance to the team” both “in possession and out of possession”, before commenting “it was a great performance from both” and that “I think it was key today”.
He continued to explain that “It’s always important in transition when you play a team that always tries to play counter attack” like West Brom do. Pochettino sung the praise of the two players as he also commented that “they’re always in a very good possession without the ball but in position and knowing what they need to do. They were key in that dynamic”.
Wanyama is the only player to have featured in all of Spurs’ 21 Premier League games, whilst Dembele struggled with an injury after returning from his six game retrospective ban after scratching Diego Costa’s eye in last season's 'Battle of the Bridge'.