Mauricio Pochettino says Spurs’ lack of fight has scuppered their title bid

Mauricio Pochettino fears it could be 10 years before Tottenham develop the winning mentality needed to become champions. The manager takes his team to Chelsea on Wednesday night but he remains haunted by Saturday’s defeat at Burnley, a result he felt ended their title hopes and reminded him of the similarly damaging reverse at Watford in September.

Spurs had approached both games on winning streaks and with Pochettino repeatedly warning his players that they had to treat their lower-ranking opponents with focus and respect. He said the matches were akin to cup finals.

Yet on both occasions, Spurs lacked fight and intensity, they slipped to 2-1 defeats and Pochettino was left to find a target for his anger. After losing to Watford he hammered his players in the press conference while after Burnley he confronted the referee, Mike Dean, incurring an improper conduct charge from the FA.

Pochettino did not mention it but Spurs’s 3-1 home defeat by Wolves on 29 December fitted the same pattern. Had Spurs won that day they would have moved, for a few hours at least, to within three points of the leaders, Liverpool. They are currently six points off Liverpool’s pace.

“I am only so surprised that we cannot build the feeling that the game is going to be the most important game,” Pochettino said. “Is that what is holding us back? Yes, exactly. My worry is what happened [against Watford and Burnley] and to change that is not only five years’ work, maybe it is 10 years’ work to change that thing that happened here.”

Pochettino said he had a full and frank discussion with his players after the Burnley game and, listening to him on Tuesday, it was not difficult to imagine what he told them.

“It’s easy to go to Chelsea and be motivated or to play against Arsenal [on Saturday] or Dortmund [next Tuesday],” he said. “You don’t need a manager that tells you: ‘Oh, you need to be motivated.’ But you play for the Premier League in games like Burnley.

“The pitch is dry? It’s normal because the weather is dry. The changing room is not so big like Wembley? Of course it’s not. But come on. You need to respect and the way you need to respect is to go there and show more ambition, attitude and capacity to fight. We are not. If we don’t have the will to show that, we don’t deserve more.

The three-way gallop to the line

Liverpool 

27 Feb Watford (h)
3 Mar
Everton (a)
10 Mar Burnley (h)
17 Mar Fulham (a)
31 Mar Tottenham (h)
6 Apr Southampton (a)
13 Apr Chelsea (h)
20 Apr Cardiff (a)
27 Apr Huddersfield (h)
4 May Newcastle (a)
12 May Wolves (h)

Manchester City 

27 Feb West Ham (h)
2 Mar Bournemouth (a) 
9 Mar Watford (h) 
16 Mar Man Utd (a)
30 Mar Fulham (a) 
6 Apr Cardiff (h) 
13 Apr Crystal Palace (a) 
20 Apr Tottenham (h) 
27 Apr Burnley (a) 
4 May Leicester (h) 
12 May Brighton (a)

Tottenham

27 Feb Chelsea (a)
2 Mar
Arsenal (h)
9 Mar Southampton (a)
17 Mar Crystal Palace (h)
31 Mar
Liverpool (a)
6 Apr Brighton (h)
13 Apr Huddersfield (h)
20 Apr Man City (a)
27 Apr West Ham (h)
4 May Bournemouth (a)
12 May Everton (h)

“I am so frustrated because we didn’t show more attitude than Burnley or energy or ambition, and we were fighting for the Premier League. We showed we are a good team, with good quality, but it’s not enough. To be a real contender, this type of game is must-win. It’s unacceptable to lose.”

Pochettino has apologised to Dean and will not contest the FA charge, which, because it is non-standard, will be heard by an independent commission. Spurs have until 6pm on Thursday to officially respond and the suspicion is they will wait until the last moment as they do not want to risk the punishment being processed before the visit of Arsenal. There is no set sanction, meaning Pochettino could be given a touchline ban.

source: theguardian.com