Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel says that he expects the club to play in an attacking style under the new manager Mauricio Pochettino. The former Southampton man was appointed as the replacement for Tim Sherwood, was sacked at the end of last season. Friedel may no longer be first choice at Tottenham due to their impressive form of Hugo Lloris, but the former Blackburn goalkeeper will be providing a good reserve option for the manager. Pochettino comes to Tottenham on the reputation of one season at Southampton. The team started the last campaign extremely well and it laid the foundations to a top 10 finish.
The fact that Southampton struggled in the second half of the season has largely been overlooked. Pochettino has no major experience of managing top clubs, but Friedel says that the manager has been extremely promising in training. He is also trying to keep up with Tottenham’s reputation of playing attractive football. At the start of last season, former manager Andre Villas-Boas was heavily criticised for the difference in style. Tottenham were largely winning matches by the odd goal and keeping clean sheets.
Tottenham have been involved in the pre-season tour of the United States. They completed the tour with a 2-0 win over MLS club Chicago Fire.
"The [tour] was a success and on the training pitch it was a big success. We trained twice a day most days; he's a very demanding manager but also very enjoyable [to work with]. The style of play changes whenever a manager changes. I think you'll see a lot of pressing, a lot of attacking football, I think you'll see us try to play from the back. You've seen a glimpse here of what we'll try to do," said Friedel. Spurs start the new season at London rivals West Ham.