Winks admits Spurs have not been able to handle “bigger target” status
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks has admitted the club have not been able to deal with being a bigger scalp this season.
Spurs are without a win in their last five Premier League games, since beating Southampton 2-1 at the end of September, and questions have been raised about Mauricio Pochettino’s future.
Why have Spurs been struggling? Five things to know…
- Tottenham Hotspur currently sit 14th in the Premier League after 12 games.
- The club are without a win in the Premier League since the end of September.
- Spurs were held to a 1-1 draw by Sheffield United at the weekend.
- And Harry Winks believes Spurs have been unable to deal with being a bigger target.
- Spurs have dropped 12 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other club.
This comes less than six months after Spurs contested in the Champions League final for the first time in the club’s history, having looked out of the competition on several occasions.
Although Spurs lost 2-0 to Liverpool, many expected the club to build on their season especially after signing key players in the summer.
But Winks believes Spurs have failed to deal with the added pressure and expectation, though he is not giving up on the club turning their season around.
“We are a bigger target now, we know that,” he told the Evening Standard.
“We came into the season knowing there’d be more pressure and expectation on us, and it’s about how we deal with that. We haven’t dealt with it well enough but there’s a long season ahead still.”
Spurs’ most recent result saw them lose a lead to draw 1-1 with Sheffield United at home, with the north London side having dropped 12 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other club.
And Winks feels Spurs have become a team others want to beat, especially at their new stadium.
“Every time a team comes here it’s their cup final, they want to beat us,” he added.
“It’s a nice stadium to come to, it’s an opportunity to put one on one of the big teams. Every team wants to beat us.
“It’s important that we fight, first and foremost, for the right to play and to create chances, win. That’s our first priority.
“It’s not going the way we want but our fallback is always to go out there and fight.”
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Winks: Spurs not looking at the table
Pochettino’s men go into the final international break of 2019 14th in the Premier League having won just three of their opening 12 games. The north London club are closer in points to bottom club Norwich City than they are to Man City in fourth.
But Winks insists it’s important for Spurs to not look at the table, instead focusing on preparing for their games to turn their form around.
“It’s important to avoid looking at the table,” he said.
“We’ve got to take it game by game, get these wins back and start trying to climb the table. We can’t look too far into the future, the games have happened, we’ve just to build up and get ready for the next game.
“It’s frustrating. Sheffield United have a lot of energy but ultimately we’ve got to win and we’ve got to take our chances when we make them.”
