Mauricio Pochettino sets sights on Champions League challenge

Mauricio Pochettino has targeted Champions
League glory with Tottenham Hotspur, and says he is
already thinking of ways to make next season better
than this one.
Pochettino's Spurs can close the gap to league leaders
Chelsea to one point and guarantee Champions League
football for a second consecutive season with a 10th
straight win at West Ham on Friday.
Spurs have already achieved their maximum Premier
League points total and, even if they do not overhaul
Chelsea in the remaining four games, Pochettino hopes
they will have learnt from the experience of this season.
"We hope that all the experiences we can use in the
future to try to be better because our objective is always
to try to improve, improve, improve. If we are capable
now of trying to win the league after four [more] games,
our challenge will be to try to win the Champions
League," he said.
"It is always important to have dreams in your mind and
be clever in how you develop to try to get that dream.
We are thinking a lot now about what we need to
improve next season to perform better than this season
-- the changes, the shape, the methodology -- always
thinking about helping the team and the players to be
better."
Key to Tottenham's improvement will be keeping their
best players in the summer and recruiting well in the
transfer market, where they exist in a "different financial
reality" to their top-six rivals, according to Pochettino.
While Spurs cannot currently match the wages offered by
the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea, their success
under Pochettino could convince some players top opt
for football over finance.
Pochettino, however, refused to be drawn on that
possibility, saying: "Some players, agents and football
people look at Tottenham and think of them as an
unbelievable club to develop the quality of your football.
"Others will look at it that Tottenham pay less so it is
better to go to a different club with more money and a
better contract. That is an individual decision and
difficult to explain."
Meanwhile, Tottenham midfielder Victor Wanyama says
Pochettino's relentless desire for improvement was part
of the reason he joined the club from Southampton in
the summer.
"I want to play for him because he loves the game, he
has the passion for the game," Wanyama told Sky
Sports. "He always wants to take everything and
improve. That is good for players.
"As a player sometimes you don't see the small details
but he spots them well. That's why you want to go out
there and fight for him, because he really improves
players and you can see it.
"I feel he is always improving as well. At Southampton
he was another level and here again another level
higher. I was quite happy to join him. He just told me,
'You know how I work and I want you to come here and
be part of it, to try and work hard to achieve some
trophies'.
"I couldn't resist and I jumped on the boat quickly."