Football
Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham Correspondent 7y

Tottenham 'are creating a winning mentality' - Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino has said that Tottenham lack the experience and winning mentality of Premier League leaders Chelsea but he believes they deserve more credit for their place in the table.

Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Liverpool left Spurs in second place but nine points behind the Blues, who extended their lead to 10 points with a point at Burnley on Sunday.

Six of Chelsea's starting XI at Turf Moor won the title with the club in 2014-15, while N'Golo Kante arrived as a league champion from Leicester City and David Luiz and Pedro are both Champions League winners boasting multiple European titles.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte won three consecutive Scudettos with Juventus but by contrast, none of Tottenham's squad have won the Premier League and Pochettino is without a major trophy in his career.

"We can't compare with another team," Pochettino told UK newspapers at Anfield. "Chelsea have a lot of players that know what it means to win, and we are creating a winning mentality.

"After 11 games [unbeaten], something happened. Liverpool have struggled since the beginning of the year but have a lot of good players. They know what it means to win too. I am disappointed but feel calm."

Pochettino, also said that his team deserves more recognition for competing at the top end of the Premier League with "different tools" to their rivals.

Spurs are funding a new £750 million stadium and the club's net-spend over the last five years is just £1m. Manchester City, who can move into second with a win at Bournemouth on Monday, have a net-spend of over £400m in the same period, while Manchester United's is over £350m and Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all top £120m.

"We are fighting. If you compare Tottenham with the other sides competing for the top four, maybe you should say: 'Wow, Tottenham deserve a lot of credit for where they are now,'" Pochettino added.

"We are building the project over the last two years. The club is in a special situation, building the new stadium and there are many things which are important when you analyse the team.

"We are in a different project to Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal. We are a club fighting for the Premier League with different tools in a different project.

"We will see if we can cope. If we have the squad, we will see. It is important that our project is long-term and we can see if we can cope with all the competitions now."

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