London: Tottenham Hotspur will find it tough to claim the game’s major honours under their current business model but have made fantastic progress over the past five years despite not winning a trophy, manager Mauricio Pochettino said Friday.
Third-placed Spurs have seen a 10-point lead over Arsenal cut to four ahead of Saturday’s London derby after their title bid all but disappeared with defeats in their last two games but the Argentine said they should be judged on resources.
“If you compare Tottenham with Arsenal and the capacity to sign (players) you could say Tottenham cannot be at the same level as Arsenal…,” he said, with Spurs having not spent any money on players in the last two transfer windows.
Pochettino has built a young Tottenham side without splashing out in the transfer market and they have several times been title contenders only to fade away towards the end of the season. Nonetheless, they are established top-four regulars.
“Maybe if (chairman) Daniel (Levy) said to me, ‘Next season we need a title, we need to win the Champions League and we need to win the Premier League’, I would say maybe you need to find another magic guy who can do this,” said Pochettino.
Despite the difficulties, they still have a five-point cushion over fifth-placed Manchester United in the race to qualify for a place in Europe’s elite club competition again next season and only lost to Chelsea on penalties in the League Cup semi-finals.
“To be in the top four to play in the Champions League that was the dream five years ago. Arrive in the new stadium in a very good condition,” Pochettino said. “I think it’s more than winning a cup… We’re talking about bigger things than winning a trophy.”
“(I hear people say) Pochettino came for five years and didn’t win (a trophy) but, for me, what we’re doing here is more than winning a title,” he added.
Agencies