Mauricio Pochettino struggled to find any positives from a lacklustre Tottenham display as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Stoke City.
Tottenham mistakes gifted Charlie Adam and Steven N'Zonzi first-half goals at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, before Mame Biram Diouf completed the rout after Vlad Chiriches had been sent off.
Pochettino was not impressed with his side's efforts and knows they must show more character if they are to challenge in the higher echelons in the Premier League.
"I think we were poor from the beginning," said the Tottenham head coach. "In the second half we showed more with 10 [players] than with 11.
"We are really disappointed. The way that we lost the game showed that we need to be stronger and ready to compete. In the first half we did not compete.
"We need to play better. We made some mistakes and conceded two goals. In the second half we showed spirit but it was too late."
Defeat ended any hope Tottenham had of reaching the top four in the Premier League.
