“The striker criticized for his body language needs to improve.”
Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the media after yesterday's victory against Preston in the FA Cup and took the opportunity to be quite critical of one of his players.
Armando Broja is set for a run of starts in the team while Nicolas Jackson is absent at the African Cup of Nations, and despite scoring yesterday, he didn't convince anyone, apparently not even Pochettino.
“It's very important for him, but I have to be honest, I think he needs to use this type of game to score a goal, feel the net and improve. Improve not only his physical fitness or work ethic ability, but also his body language. He needs to step up and move on, smile and be a little more positive.”
It's quite unusual to see a manager make such direct demands and criticisms like this so publicly, but we're okay with that. The right time to do this is after a goal and a victory, rather than compounding the bad vibes with more criticism. It also avoids the feeling that Pochettino is blaming his striker to take the pressure off.
It cannot be denied that Broja was bad for much of yesterday's game despite his goal, and let's hope that this push will get him a little more benefit.
