Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino claims that new signing Tanguy N'dombele only showed a fraction of his potential after the midfielder scored the equaliser in Spurs' 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
It took 73 minutes for Tottenham's record signing to find a breakthrough when his first-time strike from outside the box fired its way into the bottom corner. Harry Kane then scored a crucial brace late on to ensure Spurs started the season with a victory.
Pochettino, who previously stated that it will take time for the 22-year-old to settle into the Premier League, insists that there is much more to come from the French international.
'He has amazing potential to improve'
Talking to the Evening Standard, he said: "It was a fantastic performance. But to be honest there is a lot to improve, he only showed 30 or 40 percent of his potential. He has amazing potential to improve.
''It's one of the aspects he needs to work on (goalscoring), he didn't score too many goals at Lyon, but that is one of the areas that is a target for him to improve this season.
''It is so early, in his first game he scored. I am delighted for him, he is a player that arrived to the team from another country and it is always a difficult adaptation and it is going to help him feel happy and comfortable on the pitch with his team.''
'It was a difficult first half'
Spurs played a poor first half and ended the first 45 minutes 1-0 down, however, Pochettino admits that he was to blame rather than his players.
He said: ''It was a difficult first half, we started well and of course, we conceded in the first section that they approached our goal. After that, we didn't find a way to play in the way we wanted to play.
''We prepare and it is always the fault of the manager, my plan didn't work and we were taking rash decisions and we were never comfortable on the pitch.''
''The first 45 minutes wasn't the best, then in the second half when we found the best positions to play and moved the ball, we started to create the chances. We fully deserved the victory.''
The Argentine also praised Christian Eriksen, who undoubtedly changed the game after coming off the bench when Tottenham were behind. The Spurs maestro was not named in the starting XI as he continues to be linked with a move away from the club.
Pochettino said: ''Of course, when Christian went on to the pitch he was more fresh and had more quality, of course, he is a top player. He helped the team to win the game, I am so happy. That is the advantage of a player that cannot play 90 minutes but is on the bench and his quality can help you achieve the victory.''