Since committing his future to the club, Pochettino has had to contend with a chaotic start to the season off the pitch. Spurs did not buy or sell a single player in the summer – a Premier League first – despite nine of Pochettino’s first-team squad only returning to training five days before their opening game at Newcastle, having competed in the final week of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, club’s plans to move into their new stadium have been hit by indefinite delays, leaving them without a home, and Pochettino’s squad has suffered a spate of injuries – with Dele Alli, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose all missing for Wednesday’s Champions League group game against PSV Eindhoven.
“When I signed my contract, I expected a tough period but it’s tougher than we believed,” Pochettino said at the Philips Stadium. “It’s difficult always to play with that feeling that you always play away from home. But that is the circumstance that we need to manage.
“We are spending more time than we think [without a stadium]. To face the adversity is to be strong – mentally strong and physically strong – and be available always to work hard and minimise the impact of the adversity,” he added.
“I don’t believe the way to change that is to sign players.”
Pochettino said the game against PSV is a must-win after both clubs lost their opening two Champions League group games to Barcelona and Inter Milan.
“They’re a very good team, a very offensive team with a lot of quality players,” he said of the Eredivisie leaders. “They are doing fantastically in their domestic league. Of course, they struggle like us in the Champions League.
“It makes it a difficult game because we both need to win and it will be a tough game for both. For us it’s a game that we need to get the three points. We need to play, thinking it is so important to get the three points if we want to be alive in this competition.
“My approach is always is it’s a must-win game. I don’t believe they will feel different. I think they need to feel the same, freedom to play, enjoy the game, knowing the consequences will be different if we win or lose, but in all the games happens the same. Today playing professional football is about playing under stress and I don’t believe tomorrow will be different.”
Wednesday’s game is the first of six fixtures in 18 days before the next international break, and Pochettino added: “I think it’s a big challenge for different reasons.
“Of course I think it’s natural for us to try to put all our power and all our quality to try to manage in the best way the situations that happen in the summer with the World Cup, with a lot of players involved, with not too much holidays, rest and then you start to compete.
“The competition is completely different to training. Of course, for us it’s a massive, massive challenge because all the things that happened in the previous period, to start the season were completely different to the previous season and that makes a massive challenge for us.”