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Europa League trophy 'not enough' for Tottenham, says Pochettino

  /  autty

Mauricio Pochettino claims winning the Europa League is "not enough" for Tottenham, while also hinting at a possible return to his former club.

Last season, Spurs ended their 17-year wait for a trophy by beating Manchester United 1-0 in the Europa League final, which proved to be one of Ange Postecoglou’s final games in charge.

This term, under Thomas Frank, Spurs are down in 15th and are in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle as they struggle for form, going winless in their last seven in the Premier League.

Having also been knocked out of the EFL Cup and FA Cup, Spurs are still fighting in the Champions League, having secured an automatic spot in the round of 16.

But Pochettino, who led Spurs to a second-place finish and their highest points total in 2016-17, believes the club should aim higher in their ambitions.

"It's true Tottenham is a club that needs to think about winning the Premier League and the Champions League," Pochettino told The High Performance Podcast.

"The facilities are Champions League and, in the past, we didn't have that. The fans today appreciate we were challenging for Premier League and Champions League.

"To win a Europa League is good, because when you celebrate a trophy, that is good. But it's not enough. It's not enough for a club like Tottenham. It's not enough to challenge for the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup, the Europa League or the Conference League.

"The fans, what they expect is to be in the Champions League, fighting, believing you can win the Champions League and also fighting for the Premier League and believing you can win the Premier League."

Pochettino has previously hinted at a return to Spurs, whom he left in November 2019, five months after he had led the club to the Champions League final.

When asked which of his former clubs has a special place in his heart, Pochettino singled out Spurs, and expressed a desire to return to England.

"Yes [I believe I will win the Premier League]," he added. "It's really important. If you don't believe, if you don't have belief, that hunger and passion and fight, it's difficult to achieve.

"The Champions League is amazing because it's a dream, too, like the World Cup, but we really love English football; football was born here. We were so lucky to spend a lot of time at Wembley, which is an icon for us. It's an amazing stadium.

"We are going to try. Unfortunately, in which club, I don't know! Now, we are in our best moment as a coaching staff because we are still young, we have energy.

"I think I can be better because you can improve, but today I think we have the capacity and the knowledge, the balance to provide to any single club good things."