Tottenham news: Mauricio Pochettino knows that life in the fast lane is far from plain sailing

The Argentine compared Spurs to a McLaren eating the dust of the Mercedes of Manchester City and Liverpool

With Harry Kane and Dele Alli still some way short of fitness and no new signings during the transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has compared his club to a McLaren eating the dust of the Mercedes of Manchester City and Liverpool.

Kane posted an encouraging clip of himself on social media working his way back from injury in the Bahamas – especially welcome for the fans struggling under London’s leaden skies – but Pochettino was reluctant to commit himself to a date for the England striker’s return to action. The cold comfort he offered was the return to the club’s 25-man squad of the previously out-of-favour Vincent Janssen, who benefits from the departures of Moussa Dembele and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou and the consequent availability of places.

Janssen, though, is nowhere near fit enough for consideration to face Newcastle United at Wembley, and hardly an adequate Kane replacement in any case. Michy Batshauyi might have been more like it, but Chelsea preferred to loan him to Crystal Palace instead. “We were waiting for different situations that maybe happen or don’t like every transfer window,” Pochettino said. “I wanted to strengthen the squad but if we cannot sign, I need to stick with the project of the club. If you see the [Premier League] table, we are there, a lot can happen.”

But Pochettino’s Formula One analogy suggests that he considers any improvement on their present league position unlikely. “When you work in football, it's because you want to win,” he said. “It's easy to be passionate and shout 'I am a winner' but if you don't have to tools to win, it's difficult. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are the best drivers in Formula One. But if you put Hamilton in McLaren last season and Alonso in Mercedes, it’s the same story, Hamilton on the bottom and Alonso on the top. That’s the reality. I follow Formula One. I love McLaren. But it wasn’t competitive last season. That’s the reality, no? But do you think that’s a problem with Alonso or a problem with the car?”

Why does he love McLaren? “McLaren lent Daniel [Levy, the chairman] two cars for a week and Daniel gave me one to try. So I used it once from my house to the training ground and it was so dangerous I gave it back. It was a good lesson.”

So, no McLaren, no Kane or Alli just yet and no Batshuayi at all with the season approaching the sharp end. That leaves Fernando Llorente as the team’s spearhead, but at least he scored a goal against Watford on Wednesday to boost what must have been increasingly fragile self-belief.

“The goal helped get the victory and change the negative dynamic of the last week,” Pochettino said. “It was such an important goal, and I was so happy for him because it's not easy to be behind a player like Harry Kane waiting for your opportunity. And then when you get the opportunity everyone is expecting you to score three goals every game and in every single action you will be right and successful. It's not fair sometimes how we judge players who do not play too much and don't feel that confidence. He is building his confidence all the time and this is a massive boost for him.”