The Spurs defender believes the frustration at the club’s group-stage exit shows how far they have come.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has suggested, as reported by the London Evening Standard, that the disappointment at the club’s early exit from the Champions League shows how far the club has come.
Spurs have already crashed out of Europe’s top competition with one group stage game still to play, against CSKA Moscow at Wembley on Wednesday night.
Instead of fighting for top spot in their group, as had been the hope before the start of the season, Vertonghen’s side are now faced with the challenge of needing to avoid defeat against the Russian side to even hold onto a Europa League knockout spot.
There had been high hopes before they got their European campaign underway, with former boss Harry Redknapp even tipping the current crop to go one step further than his 2010-11 quarter-finalists and reach the last four.
However, the group-stage campiagn has been a crushing disappointment, with only one win from five games – away at CSKA two-and-a-half months ago – and two defeats in front of their own fans at Wembley.
Despite that failure, Vertonghen is looking on the bright side by insisting that the disappointment in reaction to their exit shows how high a level the club has reached.
The Belgian said, via the Standard: “As a club, we have raised our standards and that’s why we are all here. Since Mauricio Pochettino took over in 2014, we created a new mentality, and there are a lot of different things going on at the club that are very positive. The fact we are disappointed to be out of the Champions League is very positive, as that is where we want to play and where we belong as well.
“A lot has changed since I came here in 2012, and only in a positive way. We have the new training ground, in two years we move to a new stadium and my family are very happy here. We have shown we can compete with the biggest clubs in the league.
“That is why so many players have signed new deals in recent months. They all believe in the club and what is happening at Tottenham. It is the total picture.”
It is certainly bitterly disappointing for both club and supporters, who had hoped to see the team truly launch an argument to become one of Europe’s elite sides.
Instead, they will likely return to the second-tier Europa League, although they may feel as though that competition could offer a serious chance of a first piece of silverware in nine years.
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