Emmanuel Adebayor put in an uninspiring performance before replaced mid-way through the second-half…
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has been forced to speak out in defence of striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who was booed by a small section of the home fans during Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Sheffield United at White Hart Lane.
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Adebayor, who was handed the armband for the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg, put in a poor display before being replaced by Roberto Soldado after 65 minutes, with the Spaniard playing an important role in the game’s only goal.
It was Soldado’s extra movement that forced the visitors into a mistake, with Jay McEveley handling a pass intended for the second-half substitute and conceding the penalty which was dispatched by Andros Townsend.
Speaking after the game, Pochettino said: “He is one of the three captains, you forget [I named them] at the beginning of the season. I think it is not the moment to explain why.
“When I took a decision it was seven months ago, I took the decision that [Younes] Kaboul, [Hugo] Lloris and Adebayor were three captains, seven months ago. It is a long, long time ago that happened.
“I had no doubts [about making him captain]. I didn’t hear [any bad reaction]. I am focused on the game.”
The Argentine, who was quoted by TalkSport, also admitted that their League One opponents had given them plenty to think about ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg, saying: “I think it was a very tough game.
“If Sheffield United are in the semi-finals, it is because they deserve [to be there]. It was difficult to create chances. They played deep, had a good organisation, played aggressively and maybe we were wrong in the way we tried to arrive and create chances.
“I think we improved our performance in the second half and created chances. I think we deserved our victory. Maybe our position was wrong, I think we were wrong in our defensive position, we played very slow and had a low tempo.
“[There were] always three, four, five touches and after that we passed the ball. This made it difficult to create chances. Yes, we try to move and change the position, we tried to create problems to the back four. It was a team problem and not a one-player problem.”