Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed exactly how he got over a bleak summer following the club's Champions League final defeat.

The Spurs boss admitted he was in a dark place after his side lost 2-0 to Liverpool in football's biggest match in Madrid on June 1.

Tottenham had stunned everyone with their dramatic victories against Manchester City and Ajax but after three weeks of preparation for the final, they struggled to find a way past a Liverpool side who were under-par themselves on the big day.

Pochettino wept on the pitch as Jurgen Klopp's men walked up to lift the biggest prize in club football and the Argentine admitted that his summer brought more of the same for a while.

"It was a very bad summer. It’s difficult. We had the most unbelievable time before the Champions League final," he said.

"The three weeks to prepare were unbelievable but massively disappointed in the way you lose. Then you need to go home.

Mauricio Pochettino full press conference after loss to Man United

"I took a train from Madrid to Barcelona the day after. I spent 10 days in my home and didn’t want to go out. Tough because you nearly touch the glory.

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"All the effort we make, to get to the final was unbelievable but you want to win and when you don’t it's massive because you know how tough it is to get there again next season, to start to find the energy to try to win - that is why it is difficult to recover but we spent 10 to 15 days and start to motivate yourself for next season."

Those close to Pochettino, his wife Karina and sons Sebastiano and Maurizio, tried to help him move on from the pain.

"They tried to lift me but they were in the same situation as me. I tried after a few days to go to play golf. Not to play, just to swing. That made me feel very well because I was focused with my son to try to touch the ball perfectly but it was impossible," he remembered.

"Then I started to move on. The people that appreciated our job also helped. In Spain, English fans in restaurants in Madrid, also in Ibiza, people from Liverpool, people from Tottenham, different football people said ‘oh fantastic Tottenham’.

"That started to build happiness again because people recognised our job was fantastic."

There was also his assistant manager and close confidant Jesus Perez who shared in his pain.

"I talked to Jesus every day to try to find the reason. Always you try to analyse but in the end the analysis is different," he said.

"It’s small details that make the difference. I thought we were better than Liverpool. It wasn’t a great final but small details make the difference."

This summer brought back memories for Pochettino of a similar time in 2002, having seen his World Cup dream ended prematurely with Argentina, not least by Michael Owen's dive in the group game against England.

"For me I compare with summer 2002 when we were beaten by England and drew with Sweden in the group stage at World Cup, within one week," he said.

"As a player and as a manager both are the worst moments in my career."

So what was the trigger this summer to truly move on again? It actually came when he pulled on the club's new training wear delivered to the staff and players for the coming season.

"When you start a new season, new kit, new everything. It's good because it changes," he explained.

"When you see a picture from the past it always goes quick. Now all is new, new colour and of course new motivation.

"The good thing is that winners move on quickly. Maybe 10 days like me, or 15. Ok - when it’s holidays it’s worse because it’s like every day you are thinking the same but when you start to train and run you move on and put the bad things in the past."

He added: "We are winners. We are so competitive. In your mind maybe you feel lack of energy but the fight is always there. The moment you move on the fire inside starts to appear again.

"We love to compete and to win and now the final is in the past. A lot of people were happy - I think we proved a different way to operate we achieved the final of the Champions League fighting with big clubs.

"My motivation is always high. I am professional, we love our job. I think it’s a big responsibility with a club that has confidence and trusts in you. Of course I try to fight a lot for our fans and club."

(Image: (Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images))

One of Pochettino's biggest bug bears is when Spurs are lumped in with their big spending rivals when it comes to expectations and during the pre-season tour to Asia he took exception to Harry Kane being asked if Liverpool should be an inspiration to Tottenham.

The Argentine finds it baffling that a club with a transfer net spend of £50m in the past 10 years because of the construction of their £1bn stadium complex - the most expensive in Europe - and their £30m training centre, should look to big-spending sides as inspiration.

"I don’t know who is interested to include Tottenham in this group. When you analyse from 2014 when I and my coaches arrived, the net investment," he said.

"If you compare with all the teams. It’s not like City when arrive Guardiola, or Liverpool when arrive Klopp, when arrive Conte, or when arrive Sarri, or when arrive Mourinho or now Solskjaer.

"It’s in the history - in the last 10 years - all the money they were spending to arrive now here. For us, we are far away from that. It’s not fair to compare and say Liverpool is going to be an inspiration for us.

"No. It’s the opposite. I think Tottenham is an inspiration for the rest of teams in the Premier League or in England because with less in everything you can fight. That is for me, that is my idea."

He added: "Maybe I am wrong. Maybe the people that say comparing with Liverpool or City are right. Of course we are not the best in the world but in our circumstances we try to work and never be a big team.

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"Always be brave, and play like today with a lot of young players, be brave and don’t feel that this isn’t Cristiano, isn’t Higuain, De Ligt, I don’t know.

"That is the most important. That culture, that philosophy we create altogether in the club in the last five years. Maybe in the end we can get or not get a trophy but we are very close. We are so competitive, with less we are doing a lot more than our rivals."