A few days ago, Tottenham held an outside chance in the Premier League title race. However, all seems to be over after that loss to Burnley which has left them six points adrift from the top.
Next up is a trip to Chelsea and should Spurs lose and the likes of Arsenal and Man United win their respective games, Pochettino's men will be five points shy of dropping out of the top four. This awful turn of events has led the Argentine launching a scathing attack on his players.
Pochettino, who is yet to win silverware despite receiving tons of praise for turning the north London club into a deadly side, could not hide his disappointment at seeing him player bottle it at Turf Moor. The Argentine was not happy with the 2-1 defeat and has thus blasted his men for lacking the mentally and desire of true champions.
“My worry is what happened - and to change that is not only five years work, maybe it is 10 years work to change that thing that happened," the Man United target confessed (as per the Sun).
“To be a real contender, playing well or not playing well, it is a must-win game. And it is unacceptable to lose.
“You need to show like a team that you are fighting for big things and to be honest, I am so frustrated because we didn’t show more attitude than Burnley.
“We didn’t show more energy than Burnley, we didn’t show more ambition than them, fighting for the Premier League. That is what worried me.”
Harry Kane and Co. have beaten Chelsea twice this season and are capable of overcoming any of their top-six rivals. However, their inability to replicate that hunger and desire against lesser opponents -- in this case, Burnley -- is what has the gaffer fuming.
“Of course it’s easy to go to Chelsea and be motivated to play, and play again Arsenal or Dortmund," the former Espanyol man added.
“You don’t need a manager that tells you ‘oh, you need to be motivated, excited to play’, no because that’s normal.
“But you play for the Premier League for the big game like Burnley. It’s dry the pitch? It’s dry, it’s normal.
“The changing room or the dressing room is not so big like at 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, show more attitude, show more capacity to fight and we did not.
“If we don’t have the will to show that then we don’t deserve more. In the last 10 or 12 games, you must be strong and you have to dominate and show you are a real contender.
“We showed Saturday that we are a good team yes, we have good quality, yes, but it’s not enough to win a title like the Premier League and that is the reality.”
Defeat at Stamford Bridge will put their Champions League spot under pressure and will bring Pochettino's future at the club under the spotlight. While the 46-year-old is revered by the club, he has been linked with several top managing jobs, including Real Madrid and the Red Devils one.
Victory over Sarri's men could turn things around though, proving the importance of Wednesday's London Derby. Do not miss this showdown!
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