Joe Cole believes Tottenham stars Harry Kane and Dele Alli could leave after Mauricio Pochettino admitted it could take the club ten years to win a Premier League title.
The Spurs manager’s comments came before his side’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday night, a result which leaves them nine points behind leaders Liverpool.
After his side slipped to a shock defeat againats Burnley, Pochettino said: “If you want to be a real contender, playing well or not, it’s a must-win.
“You need to show you are fighting for big things and I am frustrated because we didn’t show the same energy as Burnley, the same attitude as Burnley, the same ambition as Burnley.
“We have to look at ourselves and maybe assess ourselves in different ways – we are not looking for excuses.
“It is holding us back and it might take five years’ work, 10 years’ work to change that.”
And Cole, who won three Premier League titles with Chelsea between 2003 and 2010, thinks Pochettino’s remarks would not have gone down well with the club’s top stars.
He told BT Sport: “If I am Harry Kane or Dele Alli and my manager says we’re five, ten years away from winning a trophy, I’m on the phone to my agent.
“He [Pochettino] has made an improvement but I don’t see him making a change in the mentality at Spurs, because you’re still seeing the same problems where you expect things like they’ll lose to Burnley at the weekend.
“All your quality English players, like your (Harry) Winks and your Kanes and your Allis, have their sights set on winning Premier League titles.
“I’d personally think, ‘He thinks we’re, you know’”.
Pochettino conceded the Premier League title is out of Tottenham’s reach following successive defeats to Burnley and Chelsea in the space of four days.
He said: “The competition will put us in our place. It’s a 10-month competition, not just three or four months. We are disappointed now.
“After Burnley I said it was difficult, and tonight makes it impossible to fight Man City and Liverpool.
“Only they can win the league – we must fight to win games and to be fair.”