Chadli says superior fitness will be difference for Spurs in crunch period

Nacer Chadli believes the Tottenham squad's high fitness level will prove pivotal during a crucial few weeks for Mauricio Pochettino's side.

Spurs play La Viola at White Hart Lane in the Europa League this evening in the first leg of their European double-header, with a league match against West Ham in between before they face Chelsea in the League Cup final.

They will play six matches in the next 17 days but Pochettino was unfazed, confident his side have adapted to the exertions of Thursday-Sunday matches.

Chadli said his fitness was the best it has ever been thanks to GPS tracking that the Spurs coaching staff use to assess the players.

“They [the coaching staff] don’t kill us but they want to make us better and better,” he said. “If you want to be better you have to work; if you don’t work your fitness level goes down. They know what to do to get it up.”

Intensity

Asked if it was the fittest squad he had worked with, the Belgium international said: “Yes, for sure. You have everything. We work in the gym, we run outside and train always with intensity . . . They are looking at players if they get tired, they can see it on the GPS. The amount we run, they can check everything. You cannot cheat. Or you put the GPS on a cat; I’ve tried that.”

Fiorentina, whose squad includes the on-loan Manchester City defender Micah Richards, sit fourth in Serie A and are unbeaten in 11 games despite the recent sale of Juan Cuadrado to Chelsea.

“I think we share the same philosophy, Tottenham and Fiorentina,” said Pochettino. “Maybe we play in different ways, the system is different. Fiorentina use different systems during different games but we play 4-2-3-1. But a lot of the philosophy, yes [it is similar].” Guardian Service