Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino admits he questioned himself after Champions League defeat

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Sam Long16 September 2016

Mauricio Pochettino has admitted he "didn't know" how to motivate Tottenham before their Champions League opener against Monaco on Wednesday night.

Hopes were high going into the game and over 85,000 fans turned out to see Spurs in action at England's national stadium.

However, despite a bright start, Pochettino's side fell behind - against the run of play - when Bernardo Silva capitalised on Erik Lamela's error.

The Ligue 1 club doubled their advantage through Thomas Lemar on the half hour mark and although Toby Alderweireld's header briefly threatened to turn the tide, Spurs failed to mount a second-half comeback.

The disappointing result has left Spurs bottom of Group E and Pochettino is adamant he deserves to take a proportion of the blame for his players' lacklustre performance on their return to the grandest stage of all.

"I didn't know how to get the motivation to play on Wednesday night," he told the Daily Mail.

"Maybe I put myself in question too. We share responsibility but we cannot repeat.

"You can lose, not play well but never concede two goals how we conceded."

Individual errors cost Spurs dearly against their streetwise opponents but Pochettino is adamant his side's problems were collective and has urged his players to be more aggressive in the future.

"It was a collective problem, not an individual problem. I was the first guilty in this situation. I don't put out responsibility on myself.

"We need to learn from that, be more aggressive, to play more in the way we usually play, to try to fix this image," he added.

Tottenham's Champions League learning curve is set to be a steep one and they will have an opportunity to get back on track when they host Sunderland at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Danny Rose has been ruled out with a hamstring problem but Mousa Dembele is available to be selected in a domestic fixture for first time this season.

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