Pochettino: Spurs need consistency to leapfrog Chelsea

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino believes consistency will be the key to overhauling Chelsea and potentially claiming the Premier League title next term.

Chelsea wrapped up the Premier League title by beating West Brom 1-0 last Friday but Spurs pushed them all the way, and are guaranteed to finish second in the standings.

The Blues had no European competitions to split their focus this term while the North Londoners played in the Champions League group stages before dropping into the Europa League.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Despite playing well for large swathes of the season, Tottenham had a run of just one win in six league matches during October and November, and Pochettino admits he is rueing that barren run.

“Sometimes it’s about being more competitive in the season,” said Pochettino. “We had some problems in October and November when we dropped a lot of points in the Premier League and then it was difficult to catch Chelsea in the end because our performance wasn’t the best for different reasons.

“That is the point that we need to analyse, to try to provide the team with the tools to be more competitive and more consistent during the whole season.

“To compete with clubs like we are talking about, it’s always important to be competitive.

“It’s too difficult when you drop (your level) sometimes in some periods, then to catch your opponents.

“Chelsea were in a different, not level than us, but a different schedule of fixtures.

“They didn’t play in the Europa League or Champions League, no European competitions and they were capable of being consistent in the Premier League.”