Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino says sorry to Manchester United

Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino admits he was worried about the aggressive tackling in their 1-2 defeat to Manchester United. Moussa Sissoko appeared to stamp on Daniel James yet avoided a red card and was not even booked for the challenge, in the first half, while in the second half, Eric Bailly was carried off with an apparent knee injury but no contact was involved with a Spurs player. “I was a little bit annoyed about some situations,” Pochettino said. “I was not happy. It was a friendly game and in some situations of course when you are tired when it’s so hot you are not right with the tempo to arrive at the actions, sometimes you arrive late and something can happen. “I apologise on behalf of our players to Manchester United, I think in the second-half they made it to us, but then it’s football. It wasn’t their intention, but sometimes when you are tired you arrive late and some things can happen and I was worried because in this period of preparation it is sometimes you need to be aggressive and you need to play with passion but sometimes the focus is to build your fitness and develop the way you want to play. “Of course I was worried. Manchester United, Eric Bailly got injured and I am sorry for that but he was alone and always when the players start to build their fitness and start to fight for their place in the team, when something happens in the pre-season it’s always tough. And I was a little bit worried but in the second-half, the game was a bit more relaxed.”

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