Mauricio Pochettino: Tottenham manager says club must 'operate in different way'

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says the club should "operate in a different way" in order to win trophies.

Pochettino has guided Spurs to fifth, third, second and third in his four completed league seasons as manager.

This season Spurs are in contention for the league title and are through to the Champions League last 16, Carabao Cup semi-finals and FA Cup fourth round.

"At the moment it is fantastic, but we will see if it is enough to challenge in the next five years," he said.

Spurs made no signings in the summer, becoming the first Premier League club to do so since the current transfer window system was adopted in 2003.

They were due to move into their new 62,062-seat stadium at the start of this season but there is still no date for the official opening.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has said the construction of the stadium "won't directly impact" on the club's transfer policy.

"After nearly five years the club is at a different level, but how we operate in five years didn't change," Pochettino added on Monday.

"If we want to win titles we need to operate in a different way. At the moment we operate in the same way as five years ago when we arrived. Maybe we can win some titles but it is going to be a tough job to do because in that situation every club in the last five years was improving a lot.

"I saw a stat that in the last 10 years we were bottom of the spending list in Europe. We are doing a fantastic job but if we want to be real contenders we need to operate in a different way in the future."

Tottenham host Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday, seeking their first trophy since winning the same competition in 2008.

"The most important thing is I accepted the challenge when Daniel Levy called me to offer me a contract," Pochettino said. "He was clear, him and [owner] Joe Lewis, they said to me 'In the first season at the new stadium we need a team to finish in the top four the season after.' We are in advance. Sometimes I laugh when people say we need to win a trophy. Yes (we do), but we are in advance.

"We are in an amazing position, the club is finishing one of the best stadiums in the world, the team is so competitive."

Pochettino believes his players need to adopt a strong mental toughness to add to their fluent passing football.

"In the last four of five years we play so well, the people enjoy a lot watching us but we need in some moments to be, I don't know if the word is naughty, but smart in how you compete and that we still miss. But we have the opportunity in the next few months to show we are capable to be more competitive," he said.

The Argentine feels his team have progressed considerably from the May 2016 league game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in which they lost a 2-0 lead and drew 2-2, which handed the 2015-16 title to Leicester.

"We were nice kids playing football, now we are more mature, more competitive," he said. "We will see if that is enough to win titles. We grow a lot in the last five years and I think this game was important to learn a lot."

Asked about potentially signing players in this month's transfer window, Pochettino said: "We know summer is difficult, but winter is worse and it is going to be difficult. I do not expect to add players but we are going to try."