Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham are so close to next level

Mauricio Pochettino defended his comments that Tottenham do not need a trophy to reach the next level, saying that building a different mindset takes time.

Speaking after Tottenham's FA Cup defeat at Crystal Palace on Sunday, Pochettino said trophies build egos, but he clarified those remarks on Tuesday.

The Argentine explained in detail how close his side are to being on a par with Real Madrid in terms of ambition and described Tottenham as being so close to the next level.

"We are so close. We need to try to keep working. The fans who are not happy are going to appreciate the job that everyone is doing at this football club in the future.

"Patience is difficult in football, like in life. We see something and we want it straight away.

"Football is about building, believing and working hard to develop the project. It's easy to destroy but so difficult to build.

"To build the new stadium the club is working for 18 years and to destroy the old White Hart Lane was easy: it took one afternoon."

To justify his stance, Pochettino turned to the example of Real Madrid and how the ingrained mindset at the Bernabeu is to win and nothing else, a far cry from the task that lay ahead of him when he arrived at White Hart Lane.

The Spurs manager explained how everything behind the scenes is almost in place to allow the club's sole focus to be on trophies.

"If you are in Real Madrid, you are only thinking about winning trophies," Pochettino said. "In Tottenham, when we arrived here it was a completely different challenge and to build that philosophy is tough.

"The bigger picture is that we are going to have an amazing stadium, one of the best in the world.

"If you want to be one of the best teams in the world you need one of the best stadiums in the world, the best facilities to work in, the best training ground - we have one of the best training grounds.

"It is an unbelievable effort to build all that. And in the moment you get all this ready, that can no longer be an excuse."

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Ahead of Wednesday evening's game against Watford, the first of three home game for Spurs, Pochettino set the record straight over his desire to win trophies.

"It's tough for me because after three or four seasons we are talking always in a similar way about the cups, about the cups, about the cups," Pochettino said.

"Of course I want to win. I want to create and build my CV, winning titles.

"We've played four cup semi-finals, one final - we tried, we were there, we were close.

"In the last three seasons, we are consistently playing Champions League, being in the top four.

"If you say to me, how can we help get the club to get to the next level? It's about improving every season, improving our structure, improving our way to operate, improving our squad, improving our facilities and I think if you made a list, you can tick nearly all the boxes."

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