Mauricio Pochettino has outlined Tottenham Hotspur’s ‘real level’ after his side surrendered a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 against Southampton on Saturday.
Pochettino returned to his old stomping ground but late goals from Yan Valery and James Ward-Prowse condemned the club to a third consecutive away league defeat.
What is Tottenham’s ‘real level’? Five key things to know…
- After beating Leicester City 3-1 last month, Spurs were just five points behind leaders Man City in the title race – with a game in hand.
- Since then they have lost three of their last four league meetings, drawing the other.
- Pochettino’s side are now 13 points behind City and a top four finish is in serious jeopardy.
- Former manager Harry Redknapp recently accused the club of going backwards.
- And Pochettino has now revealed Spurs’ ‘real level’ is to fight for a top four finish rather than the title.
It was not a happy return for Pochettino on the south coast, with the Argentine forced to watch the match from the stands after picking up a two-match touchline ban.
His side are effectively out of the Premier League title race having clung to the coattails of City and Liverpool for the majority of the campaign, but the 47-year-old believes the supposed title pursuit his side were in was a ‘perception’ rather than reality.
“Yes, but it’s good,” Pochettino responded when asked whether Spurs are in a fight for top four. “It’s good because a lot of people now are going to realise our real level and maybe start to stop talking about the perception.
“It’s important now to know that we need to fight a lot until the end of the season. We are in the Champions League but of course the Champions League can disappear quickly and the Premier League is going to give the access next season to play again if you are in the top four.
“Of course I’m going to say what I said before. I am a little bit worried, this change too much from the first half to the second half is only one reason, it’s mental. It’s about complacency. It’s about arrogance in a bad way.”
Spurs now have a three-week break until their next game due to their FA Cup exit and the international break, facing Liverpool at Anfield on March 31.
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Pochettino content with league position
Given the lack of investment, Pochettino has conceded he would have been more than satisfied with the current league standing were he asked back in August.
The Argentine sat behind Daniel Levy at the St Mary’s Stadium and added that a top four finish is the club’s current ‘limit’ but that ‘decisions’ will need to be made if the north London club have serious aspirations of making progress.
“The position that we are is a very good position,” he said. “Of course disappointed in the last few Premier League games, we didn’t win. But still we are in a position that everyone should sign for in the beginning of the season.
“To be in a very good position at the end of the season, maybe we need to understand that it is our limit to be there. If it is our limit we need to take some decisions in the future.”
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