Pochettino Tells Domestic Rivals to Expect a Stronger Spurs Side in the Second Half of the Season

Mauricio Pochettino has told his club's rivals that they can expect better football from Spurs from here on out.

The manager saw his side make a huge push in the Premier League around this time of year last season, stringing seven straight wins together between mid-December and mid-January. But they find themselves 18 points adrift of leaders Manchester City at the moment.

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Having recently welcomed Victor Wanyama back to training, and with Erik Lamela to make his first start for the club since 2016 on Wednesday night, the Argentinian reckons the Londoners will be more competitive going into 2018.

“For different reasons, like injuries, we’ve missed this feeling of competition in the squad,” Pochettino to the Evening Standard.

“If we can recover everyone – now Lamela is nearly 100 percent or Victor Wanyama - it’s very good news for the team. 

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“The second half of the season, with all the squad fit and all together, we will be more competitive. We are going to have the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League and we need to be competitive and strong."

The manager also believes that the busy period will help further acclimate summer signings Fernando Llorente, Serge Aurier, Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth.

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“It will be key for us to work with the new players, to introduce things we need to improve the team,” he continued.

“It’s important for the new players to be more comfortable here, to know everything, to adapt their quality to the team.

“The first six months can be difficult because we don’t have much time to work. Sometimes we work only through video because we can’t do anything on the pitch.”