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LONDON, England – Mauricio Pochettino said that the absence of Juan Foyth on the Tottenham Champions League list highlighted the club's mistakes during the summer transfer and the need to recruit local talent.
The teams are limited to 17 locally untrained players in the competition and the Spurs have 20 in their first team. Foyth, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Vincent Janssen were therefore unavailable throughout the group stage.
Foyth's ineligibility for Wednesday's clash with Inter Milan is particularly frustrating for Pochettino as the young central defender has started the last three Premier League games, although Jan Vertonghen is ready to return after an injury in the thigh.
"It's so painful," Pochettino said at a press conference. "It is a mistake we made at this level of football that we can not repeat, for various reasons we have to find solutions before the start of the season.
"I think we talked [before] and if you find my speech since the beginning of the season, I was so disappointed because the team was so big.
"When people say" you're the only club that has not hired any players, "hiring another player means excluding another player from the Champions League list, I told you we needed English players . impossible.
"Of course, that's the problem and it's so painful to have players off the list, so we'll finish now. [the group stage] We hope then to be able to establish a new list in March and include it in the list for the Champions League.
"I am so disappointed with this situation, I am happy with him, of his evolution, he will play of course and he has shown great quality, but I am disappointed not to be able to accompany him in the Champions League."
Tottenham, who is three points behind Inter Milan, second in Group B, must beat the Italians at Wembley for a chance to reach the round of 16.
Although their task remains difficult, the Spurs were very impressive Saturday's 3-1 win over Chelsea – and Pochettino was particularly pleased that his players avoided the outrageous comments that followed their previous win over their top-six rival in August.
"I was so disappointed after the Manchester United win at Old Trafford," he said. "I remember a lot of players had talked about winning the title, and it was only at the beginning and three points, like the others.
"I'm happy because learning to stay humble is the most important thing.Now we have to show tomorrow that we are in a very good way and that we use Chelsea's performance as an example." the most important is to talk on the ground and the attitude we are showing. "
Dele Alli has once again shown his impact habit in Saturday's biggest matches, scoring his sixth goal in five games against Chelsea, and Pochettino hopes the 22-year-old will be equally decisive against Inter Milan. .
"You know Dele, he loves challenges – every game – and great things," said Pochettino. "He is a winner, his mentality is that he gets bored quickly when he does not feel the pressure and the challenge.
"We laugh a lot with Jesus [Perez]. When he is alone with the ball in front of goal, he is bored. We say: "Oh, that's Dele Alli." But when he is with opposition and pressure, he is incredible.
"He's a competitor, he loves this type of game. He likes to compete in a difficult situation."
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