Stalteri shares Jol's winning mentality

He's been a Tottenham player for only two days but Paul Stalteri is already on the same wavelength as the head coach.

In his first interview since signing on a free transfer from Werder Bremen, the 27-year-old borrowed Martin Jol's "winning mentality" catchphrase to explain his appeal to the club.

Stalteri played at full-back for the Bremen side that won a surprise German league and cup double last year. He is now looking forward to a new challenge at Spurs and can see the parallels with his unfashionable former club.

The versatile Canada player said: "Spurs have a great history, but have not fulfilled the needs and wants of the fans. In a way, they're in a similar position to Bremen two or three years ago.

"We had a bright young team, but we needed to sign a few players to really push us forward. It worked for us and we won the Bundesliga."

After eight years in Germany, Stalteri was keen to move on when his contract expired this month. Several Premiership clubs were interested, but he claims it was easy to opt for Spurs.