Mauricio Pochettino Disappointed as Complacent Spurs Allow Remarkable Irons' Comeback

Mauricio Pochettino must be wondering what he has done to upset the footballing gods after this setback in the league cup. The Argentine's side were so dominate and in control of the first half of their Carabao Cup tie against West Ham United that progress to the quarter finals looked inevitable at half time. 

However, once the Hammers got their first goal back after Andre' Ayew had followed up a Edimilson Fernandes strike, which Spurs' custodian Michel Vorm had spilled, the ascendancy of the match shifted. That confidence and arrogance the Spurs team had simply disintegrated and the first forty five minutes soon became a distant memory. 

Speaking on Sky Sports and reflecting on his own side's disappointing second-half  performance Pochettino said: "We scored two goals and it looked like the game was over but we showed a lack of aggression and concede three in 15 minutes. That can't happen.

"When you are not on the same mental level it is difficult. The opponent had nothing to lose, they started to believe and we started to suffer. Maybe we thought the job was done. The second half was not the same and it is difficult to accept.

"After Real Madrid and Liverpool it was difficult to keep the motivation and concentration. We must be more mature at 2-0 up, that is disappointing. It is not good to lose, always. I am not happy."

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Since his appointment the Argentine has gradually built a 'big' club mentality at Spurs and overcoming setbacks is part of that learning process. They could not have wished for a better game to get their minds refocused. 

The prospect of facing Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League is a mouth watering fixture; even more so this season with so much at stake. 

Now the responsibility is firmly on the players to back their own manager's faith in them and finally prove they can deliver on one of the biggest stages of world football.