Mauricio Pochettino was behind “literally one of the best team talks I have been involved in,” according to Danny Rose.
Tottenham came from one goal down at half-time to draw 1-1 with Arsenal on Saturday to maintain their grip on third place in the Premier League.
Spurs fell behind to Aaron Ramsey’s 16th-minute opener and had to wait until the 74th minute for Harry Kane to equalise from a contentious penalty.
Tottenham were much-improved in the second half – you can read all about it in 16 Conclusions – and Rose puts much of that down to the divine intervention of manager Pochettino.
“The manager said some things at half-time and that was the turning point because he is usually really calm and collected,” Rose said.
“He normally talks to us at half-time and this time it was like he was really sending us to war.
“That was one of the best things I have witnessed in football, his half-time team talk, and we kept going and that was the attitude he wanted to see in the second half.
“He normally talks, he’s really calm as you have all seen. But this time he was really passionate.
“I felt as if I was literally going into war after the team talk that he gave. It’s literally one of the best team talks I have been involved in since I have been playing football.
“We are not used to losing two games in a row. Something needs to change somewhere. Whether we need a rocket up our backsides, I think he just tried a different approach. But I liked what he did at half-time, it really got me firing.
“As usual, it made me want to fight for him, fight for my team-mates and fight for my club. Some people can either take to that or go the other way and I love seeing things like that.”