‘If we want to be real contenders we need to operate in a different way’ – Poch on Tottenham spending

Since taking over five years ago, Pochettino and his team have transformed Tottenham from a team on the cusp on regular Champions League football to one that has finished in the Prem top three for three consecutive years.

The next step in the Poch project is to transform yet again from title challengers to title winners, and it is clear he feels he needs financial backing to do so.

Spurs have the players and the squad to finish well in the Prem, as well as competing across four competitions, but they need those extra few players to push them over the edge.

Pochettino has claimed that Tottenham need to operate in a different way if they are to achieve this kind of thing consistently.

Compared to the Man City’s, United’s, Liverpool’s, Arsenal’s, and Chelsea’s, Tottenham’s net transfer spending is next to nothing.

Poch should be given credit for building a team of this level, but he should also be rewarded in order to take that next crucial step.

Poch said (Football London): “I think I need to be honest. The honesty is the most important thing. Of course the pressure came from ourselves. I want to win the Premier League. The players, Jesus [Perez – his assistant], want to win the Premier League or Champions League or a trophy. It’s our own pressure or stress that we try to put in to win.

“But some clubs are in a different project. Some clubs it’s only about winning. If they sign a manager it’s about winning titles, winning the Premier League or to be in the top four.

“But for us when we arrived at Tottenham it was completely different. The objective was different. Of course now after nearly five years the club is on another level than five years ago, but how we operate in four or five years didn’t change. That is the point when sometimes people talk about winning titles. One thing is to reduce the gap with the top four, to be competitive, to create a team capable of fighting with the big sides. But if after we want to win titles we need to operate in a different way.

“At the moment we operate in the same way as we operated in five years ago when we arrived. Of course, maybe we can win some titles but it’s going to be a tough job to do because in that situation every club in the last five years was improving a lot.

“The other day I saw a stat that in the last 10 years in England and in Europe how the teams were spending money, and I think we were on the bottom, in England and Europe. Of course we’re doing a fantastic job but if we want to be real contenders we need to operate in a different way in the future. At the moment it’s fantastic, so far so good, but we’ll see if it’s enough to challenge and be consistent in the next five years operating in that way, if we’re capable to fight with the big sides in the same way that we’ve fought in the last four or five years.”

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