LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino is encouraged by Tottenham's development in the past year but says his young squad must "carry on improving every day" ahead of the club's return to the Champions League.
Pochettino had the youngest squad in the top-flight last season but Spurs mounted a surprise title challenge, before collapsing in their final three games to finish third -- a record-high finish for the club in the Premier League.
On Saturday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will return to Tottenham for the first time since his bow in English football -- a 0-0 draw in mid-October of last year.
Our @ChampionsLeague Group E fixtures and dates! #UCLdraw #COYS pic.twitter.com/Ccw3znp0el
- Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 25, 2016
Klopp's side have earned plaudits for their progress under the German, and Pochettino feels his side have also improved since their last meeting at White Hart Lane.
"We have learned a lot and improved a lot but in football, you need to carry on improving every day," Pochettino told a news conference. "It is never enough. If you run 12 kilometres during the game, you can go further in the next game. You can always play better and do better. Football is good because it is a dynamic sport. You can always do things to improve.
"I'm happy with the way we have grown up but I'm still concerned that we can improve more.
"It's true that last season people had big expectations or a big question mark about how we would develop our squad, our team. I think it was very hard work to improve and develop our style of play, because it wasn't only collective, it was individual," he added.
"For a lot of players it was their first season -- like Dele Alli. For Eric Dier it was his first complete season as a holding midfielder, a new position for him ... different things like that. It's because of that I think that sometimes people don't realise how important last season was. And to be involved in trying to win the Premier League, many things happened. We learned a lot and improved a lot and it's true that it will be tougher this season to try to succeed again."
Tottenham were handed a kind group along with CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen and AS Monaco in Thursday's Champions League group stage draw.
Pochettino said: "We are very excited because it will be my first opportunity to play Champions League football as a manger. This will be exciting for me and for the players too.
"For a lot of players it is their first time to play in Champions League. To play at Wembley is another exciting possibility to play in front of 90,000 people will be a great moment for us, a great moment for Tottenham and our supporters too."
Meanwhile, the manager was not impressed by Erik Lamela's nutmeg on former Spurs player Andros Townsend in last weekend's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane.
The trick was greeted with a huge cheer by the home crowd and has been widely shared on social media, and Pochettino said he understood the supporters' reaction to the nutmeg, but insisted it "did not create any emotion" in him.
Asked if he would stop Lamela from doing tricks in the future, Pochettino said: "No, it is not like that. For me, it is part of football but I enjoy it more when my players score goals than do this sort of action.
"I understand Lamela's game," he explained. "He is always trying things like this in training sessions. But for me, it is important to show respect to the opponent. I understand it is a part of the game but for me it is nothing to comment on or celebrate. I don't like it when you try to humiliate your opponent. Lamela never tries to humiliate opponents -- it's just the way he plays -- but it is nothing to celebrate.
"One day, if we win a trophy or the Premier League, it will be time to celebrate. Or when we score a goal or win a game. Not for this type of action. That's just my point of view. I accept it as a behaviour, though. People tried to nutmeg me when I was player, but they did it knowing that afterwards I would kill them!"