Mauricio Pochettino has accused his Tottenham Hotspur players of lacking passion after Monaco ruined their record-breaking night at Wembley with a 2-1 win in the Uefa Champions League.
Pochettino was hoping his side would mark their return to the Champions League after a five-year absence with a dominant display in front of an English club record attendance of 85,011.
But Spurs slumped to a lacklustre defeat as goals from Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar handed the points to the French league leaders in the Group E opener.
Pochettino couldn’t hide his frustration at Tottenham’s below-par performance and the Argentine manager questioned his players’ desire, as well as lambasting their sloppy defensive efforts.
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“We need to show more hunger and passion. We showed a lack of passion today a little bit because we cannot concede that first goal,” Pochettino said.
“We need to be more aggressive when we have chances to score. That is what we said in the changing room.
“It was a fantastic opportunity. We waited a long time to be in the Champions League and we fight a lot last season to be in it. The feeling is why didn’t we do more?
“We need to show more hunger on the pitch. We need to show a different image than we showed in the first half.”
Despite the record-breaking display from their fans, Tottenham never looked comfortable in their unfamiliar surroundings following the club’s decision to move their European games to Wembley while White Hart Lane is being redeveloped.
“That is to put an excuse,” Pochettino said. “Football is on the pitch. We need to improve and learn we cannot concede a goal like that first one.
“We concede a goal that you cannot concede at this level when you play for Tottenham. “Not only the first but also the second. It’s difficult to accept.”
Pochettino hauled off Son Heung-Min at half-time after he missed an early golden opportunity to put Tottenham ahead, but he said he hadn’t put all the blame on the South Korea forward because he would liked to have made more widespread changes.
“I was clear with my players but it is not basketball when you can change the whole team,” he said.
“We created more chances, more corners and had more possession than Monaco but they were more effective than us.”
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