Mauricio Pochettino claimed that Tottenham have to show more respect to their Premier League opponents in the wake of our loss to Watford.

Spurs had gone into the game with three wins from three but two second-half goals from the Hornets saw us lose 2-1 at Vicarage Road.

It was a below-par performance from Spurs, especially after our excellent showing against Manchester United a week ago and Pochettino was quoted by the Daily Star as saying:

“We need to show more respect to this competition. You need to compete much, much better.

“The Premier League is so, so tough, that’s why after the third game, because you beat Manchester United in that super style, I think we need to be more cautious.

“To pay and feel the pain, sure it’s going to help us for the future and to be better.”

The manager added that conceding goals so easily is not what title contenders do. Pochettino further claimed that our playing style changed once we had taken the lead after an Abdoulaye Doucoure own goal.

“When you score, you keep going, play in the same way.

“But we started to change and start to play long ball and then we concede two goals.”

The Argentine had a go at the side by claiming that our first-half performance resembled that of a friendly game. The manager wanted us to be more aggressive from the start and go at opponents like a “lion”.

The loss comes at an interesting time, with the international break up next. Tottenham won’t play a game until we take on Liverpool on 15th September.

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The Reds lead the Premier League with four wins from four games and it will be an important clash for both sides.