Following an exit from the Europa League Round of 32 in Florence, their defeat in the Capital One Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday means once again the side will merely have to be judged on whether or not they can steal one of the top four Premier League places and qualify for the Champions League.
“I would be lying if I said no but it is clear now we just have the Premier league to focus on,” said midfielder Nabil Bentaleb. “There will be a good race for the top four.”
For once, it is one that the manager feels under no pressure to win.
Club sources have fed out the mantra all season that the failure to land on the Champions League gravy train that cost Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas and possibly even Tim Sherwood their positions is no longer one of Mauricio Pochettino’s key performance measures.
For once in Tottenham’s recent past they are ready to follow a longer-term strategy to build success.
The average age of their outfield players in the starting line-up at Wembley was just 23, with Jan Vertonghen and Nacer Chadli the only two to have celebrated their 25th birthdays.
Striker Harry Kane, still 21, spelled out the pain of Sunday’s defeat.
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When you see Chelsea lifting that trophy it makes the fire in your belly burn
Harry Kane
“When you see Chelsea lifting that trophy it makes the fire in your belly burn,” he said. “You want to be back and you want to be lifting that trophy and that’s what we’ve got to do with the squad we have.
“It’s our first season, we’ve got a very young team and a new coaching staff and we gave a good account of ourselves. A lot of us were playing in our first final and it’s an experience and we’ve got to learn from it.
“We’ve got to move on as quickly as we can because we’ve got another game on Wednesday and I’ll be looking to get on the scoresheet there and get back to scoring ways. It’s a disappointing day but we hope to be back in the seasons to come.”
Spurs have not won in any competition since they beat Arsenal six games ago but England international Kyle Walker feels that is just a temporary blip.
“It’s been not the best of weeks, going out of the Europa League and then going to Wembley and losing to Chelsea, but we have to be mature about it,” he said. “We have to just get on with it. We are professionals, we have a job to do from now until the end of the season and hopefully we will be where we want to be then.”
Andros Townsend added: “The fact we’re so disappointed just shows how ambitious we are and how good we are as a team. We’ll only get better. We’re on the beginning of our journey and hopefully we can lift a trophy in a few years’ time.”
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