Mauricio Pochettino has had a thinly veiled dig at Chelsea and Manchester United as he admitted Tottenham have a huge task in challenging for the Premier League title this season.
Manchester City have established an eight-point lead in the top flight after winning 12 of their 13 league matches in a scintillating start to the campaign.
But the Spurs boss refused to accept that the lavish spending of Pep Guardiola’s side was a critical factor as he pointed out that mega-rich duo Chelsea and United have also spent vast sums on players in recent years.
Asked whether City’s spending and dominance at the top of the table is ruining this season’s Premier League title chase, Pochettino said, as quoted by the Ham and High: “I think different clubs spend the same money as Manchester City and are below them.
“I think they’re doing very well and deserve to be there. Of course we want to win. We’re in a similar position to the last two or three seasons and of course we need to deliver our way. We cannot change because today another club is at the top with a massive gap.”
Intriguingly, Pochettino appears to hold out little hope of his Spurs side catching City after Saturday’s 1-1 draw against West Brom left them 13 points adrift in the title race.
“To assess the last three seasons, you can see it’s not easy to compete in the Premier League and in the Champions League and have the same performance,” the manager said.
“Last season I remember I told you it was difficult to cope with the pressure of playing and competing in the Premier League and Champions League, and today I think we have the same points as last season in the Premier League. Last season it was fantastic because the gap with Manchester City didn’t exist, and we were fifth or fourth, but we were out of the Champions League.
“In this season we finished first against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Apoel, and we have the same points (in the league).
“The team has improved – maybe not enough to win the Premier League so far but we are competing of course and we feel proud, because the team is building a fantastic structure, and we need time.”
OPINION
Pochettino did not name Chelsea as he pointed out that City are not the only massive spenders in the Premier League. He did not need to. The Premier League’s highest spending clubs this summer were Man City (£220.5million), Chelsea (£187.5million), Manchester United (£146million) and Everton (£145million). Spurs fans might be hugely frustrated at their team going off the boil, but few can claim they overspent, or are underachieving. Only five clubs ended up in the black on their transfer dealings in the summer: Arsenal, Burnley, Stoke City, Swansea City and Tottenham. Antonio Conte might moan about his employers’ failure to buy him new players in the summer, but the figures are clear. The 2016-17 champions only spent marginally less than City.