Mauricio Pochettino admits he may never be able to make Tottenham mentally tough enough to beat the biggest teams on a regular basis.
Spurs have taken only two points from a possible 15 in away games against the rest of the top six this season and only nine points from 24 against those sides overall.
It is a record that has proven particularly damaging to their Premier League title chances, __with Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against Liverpool leaving Tottenham 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.
Pochettino signed a new five-year contract last summer and has always placed great emphasis on his players’ resilience in pressure moments.
The Argentinian accepts, however, he may never be able to completely transform the mindset of the club.
“I hear that it’s not so good, our record away from home against the top five. But that is wrong,” Pochettino said.
“Because if you look at history, and compare it __with the last six seasons, you can maybe see that the last two years we’ve improved a lot competing against the top five or six in the Premier League.
“You cannot change that mentality, that problem, in one and a half years. That is a process to change. Maybe I will have time to improve that and change it. Maybe not. That is football.”