“We need to live in reality” – Pochettino’s blunt assessment

Tottenham fell to a 2-1 defeat away to Southampton yesterday afternoon leaving their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season in tatters.

After Spurs thrashed Borussia Dortmund 4-0 over two legs in the Champions League round of 16, most fans were on a high. However, the defeat against the Premier League strugglers bought the team right back down to earth.

Tottenham were the better team in the first half as they ripped their opponents open at will, and created a lot of chances.

Spurs, who were boosted by the return of Dele Alli, took the lead after the midfielder played in Harry Kane, who finished with typical confidence. They went on to create several chances in the first half but failed to add to their lead.

The hosts took the game to Spurs in the second half as they increased their intensity and pressed high up the field. Tottenham had no answer to the hosts and ended up conceding two goals.

Speaking after the game, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino insisted the defeat served as a reality check to the team. He was also critical of the players’ lack of commitment during the game.

Pochettino told Football.London: “We still have a lot of work to do. That showed that we are not mature enough. That showed that to be in the last level as a club you need more effort, more quality and to increase your capacity of commitment.

“Everything, you need to increase if you want to play in the last level and be one of the best clubs in the world.

“That is why we were talking a lot in the last five years, it is not easy to build a plan or a project, a strategy to arrive and to be one of the best clubs in Europe or England and it is so easy to talk when we have in the past some good performances.

“‘We are the best team’ or we are now in the last step, on the last level or we need to win some titles to really believe in that”.

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