Pochettino will juggle Tottenham line-up and if it backfires ‘I accept the criticism’

Mauricio Pochettino is happy to take the blame if his Tottenham Hotspur side are knocked out of the League Cup on Wednesday night.

Newcastle United are the visitors to White Hart Lane as both sides look to make it into the semi-finals and move one step closer to a March final at Wembley.

Tottenham overcame Brighton in the last round despite making 10 changes from their previous Premier League fixture, and Pochettino had a similar rotation philosophy during his time at Southampton.

Although he would not be drawn on who would feature against Alan Pardew’s men other than to confirm Emmanuel Adebayor’s absence, Pochettino insists any team he picks will be good enough to get the job done.

“For me, it was a lack of respect for my players,” Pochettino said, when asked about being criticised for making changes.

“I always defend my players. If we have players in the squad, it is because we believe in them. If not, why are the players in the squad?

“But always when you lose, people take something to criticise you. For me, it’s a lack of respect, not for me but for the players who played in the game.

“I accept the criticism, but I can’t accept criticism for the players.”

A packed early-season schedule in the Premier League, Europa League and this competition means Pochettino would be ready to freshen up his side on Wednesday – and would face the consequences if the decision backfired.

When asked if there would be changes, he said: “Maybe. At the beginning of the season, we played a lot of games, 26 official games.

“For tomorrow, maybe one player is tired and not fresh, and if another teammate is in better condition then why not?

“But I am a manager and I need to make a decision. You cannot pick a team to guarantee that we go to the semi-final.

“In football it is easy to talk after the game. But the important thing is taking the decision before. When you are the coach, you have all the information and if you win, you are the best and if you don’t, you are [the one] who made the wrong decision. This is true.”

One player who will not be considered is Adebayor, with Pochettino insisting it is “impossible” for the 30-year-old to play a part.

Adebayor was granted compassionate leave last week as he flew to Ghana for “personal reasons” and his future at White Hart Lane remains unclear.

Pochettino said: “He was back yesterday, but play tomorrow? No.

“He began training after one week yesterday so it would be impossible for him to be ready tomorrow.”

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know

Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young