Spurs 1-2 Stoke - Mauricio's verdict

Mauricio Pochettino reflected on Sunday's 2-1 loss against Stoke City and stated: "We need to improve."

We came into the Premier League encounter on the back of three-successive victories in all competitions but found ourselves 1-0 down after just five minutes when Bojan Krkic fired home from 25 yards.

Mauricio conceded we ‘played badly’ in the first half and Stoke doubled their lead when Jonathan Walters tapped home Mame Diouf’s cross on 33 minutes.

The Head Coach made two changes at half-time - Mousa Dembele and Erik Lamela on for Christian Eriksen and Andros Townsend - as we tried to haul ourselves back in the game.

Asmir Begovic saved brilliantly from Erik’s free-kick before Nacer Chadli thundered home a volley to give us hope at 2-1 on 77 minutes.

That goal injected renewed energy into the team but it lasted only eight minutes as Kyle Naughton was dismissed as last man for tripping Victor Moses as he broke through on goal.

We had one more chance as Emmanuel Adebayor headed just wide in added time.

“I’m disappointed and frustrated especially as we’re at home in front of our supporters,” said Mauricio.

“At the start of the game we created a clear chance for Harry Kane but after that we conceded the first goal. The team started to make rash decisions, we conceded a second goal and made some mistakes. We need to change this.”

Mauricio agreed there was belief we could get back into the game after Nacer’s goal.

“Yes, we believed we could and the reaction was good but at the beginning, in the first haf, we played badly and that’s the reality, the truth. We need to improve and find the solution.”