Pochettino misses another chance to end Tottenham trophy drought

Less than four months on from losing the Champions League final, Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham saw another chance at a trophy disappear on Tuesday evening in the more humble surroundings of Colchester United as the fourth-tier side progressed to the last 16 of the League Cup on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

Despite resting Harry Kane, Pochettino had every reason to believe a team that ended the game with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela and Son Heung-min on the field should have enough firepower to break down a side that sits 10th in League Two, 70 places below Spurs in the English football ladder.

Now into his sixth season at Spurs, Pochettino is still yet to win a trophy in his managerial career and there are growing signs that the huge progress made under his stewardship has stalled.

Tottenham have now won just four of their past 17 games in all competitions and are already 10 points off Premier League leaders Liverpool just six games into the new campaign.

After the difficulties of playing at a temporary home in Wembley with a stretched squad for most of the past two years, this season was meant to signal a fresh start.

The club's sparkling new stadium opened in April and Pochettino has been able to add to his squad for the first time in 18 months with the signings of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon.

However, all three have struggled with injuries and the Argentine believes there is a hangover from a summer of uncertainty over the futures of a host of first-team regulars.

- 'Different agendas' -
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