Mauricio Pochettino reveals he has not laid into Spurs flops as ‘players aren’t helped by telling them they are s***’ amid chaos on and off pitch
MAURICIO POCHETTINO says there is no point tearing into his Tottenham flops - because telling them they are "s**t* won't solve anything.
Pochettino has watched his side lurch into crisis after a dismal start to the campaign which has effectively ruled them out of winning two trophies within two months.
Spurs are miles adrift in the Premier League, been dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Colchester and humiliated 7-2 in the Champions League by Bayern Munich.
Saturday's inept display in their 3-0 thrashing at Brighton leaves the club down in ninth in the table amid suggestions scores of Tottenham players do not want to be there.
But Pochettino said: "The team has lost confidence. We have to work to win that trust again.
"We talk to the players. We tell them that we have lost by mistakes, but we must try to forget them.
"The best way to help the player is not telling him that he has done s***.
"You can't hide. You have to share the responsibility."
Speaking at a conference in Qatar where he is spending two days during the international break, Pochettino added: "We at Tottenham work as a team.
"After two big defeats like the ones we have suffered, we have to think about the future.
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"You have to recover the emotional level. When you are on the top, you feel you must respond to dignity.
"Football is born in the heart. Our responsibility is to be guardians of this, make sure you don't forget.
"You have to help the players to motivate themselves. But how can you motivate yourself after the Champions League? I say: 'Are we professionals? Or not?'"