Pochettino quiet on Schneiderlin

14 August 2014 14:46

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino believes he has an "unbelievable squad", but refused to be drawn on any attempt to recruit Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton.

French midfielder Schneiderlin is determined to join his former Saints manager at White Hart Lane, yet new St Mary's boss Ronald Koeman insists the 24-year-old is not for sale.

It remains to be seen whether the £15million-rated Frenchman will eventually be able to leave ahead of the closing of the transfer window.

Pochettino has already brought in the likes of goalkeeper Michael Vorm and defenders Ben Davies and Eric Dier - signings the Argentinian feels can help the north London club in their quest to break back into the Barclays Premier League's top four.

"It (new signings) is not my concern. I think we have an unbelievable squad," said the Tottenham manager.

"Last season the club made a big investment and they signed unbelievable players. The most important thing is to develop our players and to provide the best team to play on the pitch."

When pressed on Schneiderlin, the former Saints boss said: "No, it is not my style to speak about a player from another club, I don't like that.

"I have full respect for all of them and I have nothing to say."

Tottenham open the new campaign at West Ham, and then play a Europa League qualifier against AEL Limassol before heading across London again to tackle promoted QPR.

Pochettino sees no reason why Spurs cannot move forward in 2014-2015.

"We want to improve every time, but we need to learn," he said.

"Our style is always to (get a) feel (for) the player and after to try to get the best out of them for the team and for the club."

Pochettino, conducting his media duties in English, unlike when at Southampton, added: "At the moment our challenge is putting into practice our philosophy, our system.

"We know we need time to improve our new system, our new philosophy, but we are very happy at the moment.

"We improve quickly and the most important thing is we are ready to play and compete."

Pochettino will assess those players who returned late from international duty at the World Cup - three Belgians and Brazil's Paulinho - before naming his squad to take to Upton Park.

"We need to analyse some players because they arrived late from the World Cup and we need to improve their physical condition," he said.

"At the moment I have my ideas in my mind but I need one more day to decide the 18 players for playing against West Ham on Saturday."

England winger Andros Townsend should be in contention having missed the end of last season and the World Cup with an ankle problem.

"We need to recover a player like him because he has great potential and very good qualities," Pochettino said.

Source: PA