He acknowledged his players were not “fresh” in Saturday’s goalless draw away to Bournemouth, which cost them the chance to top the Premier League table, especially in a sluggish opening 15 minutes.
Spurs had previously drawn 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion and 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen, costing them momentum on both the domestic front and in Europe.
“Yes, we are concerned,” Pochettino said. “It’s true we need to improve if we want to be a real contender.
It’s true after two games away at West Bromwich and Bournemouth, you must win at least one.
“But when you analyse the whole situation, we have to give value to the point because the effort was fantastic. We had some injuries. So I am happy.
“The game was very competitive and very tough. Bournemouth pushed us a lot, but we were not fresh from the beginning. Our start was very sloppy, but after 15 minutes we started to manage the game.”
His defence coped adequately without the injured Toby Alderweireld, but the continued absence of Harry Kane and his ability to create and convert chances meant that Tottenham’s goal threat was restricted largely to shots from range.
The news that Kane, who scored five goals against Bournemouth in two victories last season, is “not far away” from a full recovery from his ankle injury was encouraging, if vague.
“I’m very pleased after we played in the Champions League and before that in West Bromwich, two tough games, because the players made a very big effort,” said Pochettino.
“But we missed the freshness to be sharp in the last third. Second half we dominated, but it was more difficult to create chances to score.”
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