Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen has insisted that current Spurs team is close to being the finished product under Mauricio Pochettino and that it deserves a trophy.
Spurs beat Fulham 3-0 to progress to the next round of the FA Cup yesterday putting an end to two successive defeats against Liverpool and Gent. Vertonghen who won the Dutch domestic league with Ajax in 2011 and ’12 believes the current team has improved enough to launch a frontal attack on the FA Cup and Europa league.
Vertonghen said: “We played the final against Chelsea at Wembley a couple of years ago, and we want more of that. I won silverware at Ajax and it’s the best thing there is in football. This team deserves a trophy.
“We improved a lot since the Chelsea final. That’s only a year-and-a-half, two years ago, but we’ve improved a lot as a team. We’re stronger, the gaffer’s had his time to work with us, we understand the way he wants us to play. We’re a lot stronger than two years ago and we’ve shown that the last couple of years.
Vertonghen believes Pochettino was right to field a strong side against Fulham following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the Premier League and a 1-0 to Gent in the Europa League.
“I think he understands the importance of the Europa League and the FA Cup as well. It’s good that we take very seriously: we want to win both and compete in the league as well, and our team is fit enough to cope with these things.
“I can only talk for myself, but I like to play as many games as possible. It’s good to rotate a couple of players, like Kyle Walker and Eric Dyer, but next time maybe two or three others.”
Spurs are still fighting on three fronts and are currently third in the Premier League, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea.
