LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino has accused his Tottenham Hotspur players of lacking focus in the 1-0 Europa League defeat to Gent last week, saying he knew after less than a minute that they would struggle in the match.
Tottenham must win Thursday's second leg at Wembley to progress to the round of 16 after a surprise loss in Belgium, despite Pochettino playing his near strongest XI against the mid-table Jupiler League side.
"When we started against Gent, if you watch 50 seconds, you don't need to be a genius [to know] we would struggle, there would be a problem, because we weren't focused," Pochettino told a prematch news conference.