Mauricio Pochettino Discusses Tottenham Champions League Exit After Monaco Loss

Mauricio Pochettino admitted that Tottenham Hotspur need to bring in added quality and depth if they are to compete in the UEFA Champions League following their exit from the tournament on Tuesday. 

A 2-1 defeat to Monaco—their third loss in five group matches in the 2016-17 tournament—at the Stade Louis II has left Spurs fighting for third place in Group E and a place in the UEFA Europa League.

Following the clash in France, Pochettino conceded that, if Spurs are to be able to compete both for the Premier League and Champions League, they need to improve their squad, per Dan Kilpatrick of ESPN FC:

"

It was a good challenge for us to compete in the Champions League and to show our real level. That is important. After two-and-a-half years we reduced the gap at the top of the Premier League but to be competitive in Premier League and Champions League we need to show more.

Maybe we need to add more quality in the squad. We have quality, yes. To compete in Premier League, yes, but today you could say we struggled a little bit. When you have problems, injuries, it is difficult to be competitive.

I am disappointed but I am calm because our project is not finished today. The objective was to be in the Champions League regularly. At the moment to compete in Champions League and Premier League, we struggle a little bit. It is important to be calm in our analysis.

"

Following an early 1-1 draw between group rivals CSKA Moscow and Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham knew before kick-off in Monaco that a draw would at least keep their last-16 hopes alive until the final matchday.

However, they were largely outclassed by the Ligue 1 side, with Harry Kane's second-half penalty cancelling out Djibril Sidibe's 48th-minute header only for Thomas Lemar to find the winner less than a minute later.

Per BT Sport's Ian Darke, Pochettino was arguably at fault for setting his side up in the way he did:

The Argentinian started with Jan Vertonghen, Moussa Sissoko, Kyle Walker and Christian Eriksen on the bench, with Eric Dier alongside Kevin Wimmer at centre-back and 20-year-old Harry Winks behind striker Kane.

Some of Pochettino's selection decisions were likely informed by a tough upcoming fixture against Premier League leaders Chelsea on Saturday.

Team	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	GD	Points
AS Monaco	5	3	2	0	9	4	5	11
Bayer Leverkusen	5	1	4	0	5	4	1	7
Tottenham Hotspur	5	1	1	3	3	5	-2	4
CSKA Moscow	5	0	3	2	4	8	-4	3

Hence the manager admitting that his squad needs further strength, as Spurs seemingly do not currently have the personnel to be able to tackle two huge games in the space of a week.

However, Spurs should not have been in a position where they needed to get a point away at in-form Monaco to stay alive in the Champions League.

Home defeats—playing at Wembley—to Monaco and Bayer proved the biggest blows in the end, as Kane admitted after Tuesday's clash, per BT Sport Football:

After 12 games of the 2016-17 Premier League, Tottenham are very much in the battle for the top four and a chance to return to the Champions League next season.

However, after Tuesday's defeat, they now face a final group-stage match with CSKA on Dec. 12 to decide which side will drop into the Europa League in the new year and which will drop out of European competition altogether.

Given Pochettino's latest comments, there may be a few connected with Tottenham who will feel the latter option is preferable if Spurs are to make a genuine tilt at the Premier League title in 2016-17.