Tottenham Could Be 10 Years Away from Title Challenge, Says Mauricio Pochettino

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino feels his side could still be years away from winning the Premier League title. 

Spurs' slim title hopes may have come to an end on Saturday with a 2-1 defeat at Burnley, where a victory could have put them two points behind Liverpool ahead of their 0-0 draw with Manchester United.

Pochettino was unhappy with his side's mentality given how important the match was, per ESPN FC's Ben Pearce:

"To be a real contender in this type of game, playing well or not playing well, it's a must-win game, and it's unacceptable to lose. If you lose you cannot say after: 'No, we are a real contender.'

"Come on. In the last 10 or 12 games you must be strong. You have to dominate and show you are a real contender. We showed on Saturday that we are a good team, yes, and we have good quality, yes. But it's still not enough to win a title like the Premier League, and that's the reality. I think you, the players and everyone thinks the same.

"To be honest, I'm so disappointed and frustrated because we didn't show more attitude, more energy than Burnley. We didn't show more ambition than them, fighting for the Premier League. That's what worried me."

Spurs face Chelsea on Wednesday before taking on Arsenal on Saturday, but while Pochettino feels it is "easy" for players to get themselves up for such matches, against Burnley they needed to "show more ambition, show more attitude, show more capacity to fight, and if we are not—if we don't have the will to show that—we don't deserve more."

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The Argentinian is concerned that lack of a winning mentality when it comes to such games are endemic to the club and will take time to resolve.

Reflecting on a point earlier in the season, when Spurs failed to capitalise on a 3-0 win over Manchester United by losing 2-1 to Watford from a winning position in the following match, he added:

"That is my worry, what happened, and to change that is not only five-year work. Maybe it's 10-year work to change that thing that happened here.

"The reality today is it's going to be tough, the possibility to win the Premier League, because of us—not because Liverpool are much better, or another is much better. That's the most important thing."

Pochettino is in his fifth year as Spurs boss, and his work in that time has been excellent. Of the Premier League's six biggest clubs, Tottenham enter each season as the outsiders, but he has guided them to top-three finishes in each of the last three campaigns.

In the 2016-17 campaign, Spurs finished second with 86 points, a tally that would have won the Premier League title on nine occasions outright and matched the winning total twice. 

Following their defeat to Burnley, Soccer Laduma's David Kappel felt it was an example of Spurs' tendency to capitulate under pressure:

Football journalist Harry Sherlock disagreed with such an assessment:

The match nevertheless served as a reminder of how far Spurs still need to go to cast off their reputation as also-rans on the biggest stage, which requires both time and the right investment.

Tottenham's relative lack of resources hinders their ability to do the latter, so they'll have to continue punching above their weight as they work to close the gap on their rivals.