Spurs not ready to be contenders for any trophies, says Pochettino

● ‘We must be more competitive’, says boss after blow of back-to-back league defeats

0 Tottenham players, from left, Lucas Moura, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Mousa Dembele and Danny Rose train at the San Siro.

and be more competitive and improve. The last two defeats are so good but it is a wake-up call and we have to try to improve and we have time. It is only the start of the season.

“We have to show our best and show we deserve to be a contender. We need to be consistent to be a contender.

“It is important for them to see the reality if they are going to improve. And if we are going to be a contender then we need to improve a lot. A lot.

“If not we will be a good team, we will win some and lose some, but a contender is different.

“In my mind if you want to be a contender you need to show

MAURICIO POCHETTINO much, much more. We won three games in a row and after we went to Watford and Liverpool and were not capable to

win, it is difficult to be considered a contender.”

Spurs travelled to Milan without injured trio Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli and Moussa Sissoko, while Pochettino, pictured, has also chosen to surprisingly leave Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld in London.

On the pair’s omission, the Argentinian said: “It’s a technical decision. What does it mean? It’s a technical decision. You can look it up, find it in the dictionary. A technical decision. Tactical is on the pitch.

“Yeah, maybe tactical is outside of the pitch, too. But it’s technical decision, tactical decision, it’s a decision in the

end. You cannot bring 25 players. You can only play 11 players with seven on the bench. That is the reason.

“You are clever enough to try to understand. This is my fifth season, I never punish players because you win or lose.

“It’s the plan. The plan is keep them (in London) and use different players to play tomorrow. “There’s nothing behind the decision. It’s only that we’re going to play with different players tomorrow.

“Like when you play with Toby or Kieran, it’s another player out. The best position is to play with different players.”

“I explained after Old Trafford it was difficult to keep the feet on the grass and believe that the job was done. But we need to work harder”