Former Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham defender William Gallas says the Spurs side are “too young for the Champions League” next season and believes they could struggle.

After a second-placed finish last season, Mauricio Pochettino’s side are quietly confident that they can improve upon last season’s disappointment of group stage elimination and dropping into the Europa League, picking up just seven points from a possible 18.

Gallas blames this on inexperience and feels Pochettino should add more experience into his ranks.

It was a big shame what happened to them last season but this Tottenham squad is a little too young for the Champions League,” he said, as quoted by the Daily Star.

“Against Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen in the group games, it showed that they needed more experience. The Champions League is different to the Premier League. You need experience, you need to be more clever and stay focused.”

Arsenal won’t be in the Champions League next season but they still take solace from such consistency to have always made it past the group stages under manager Arsene Wenger.

The long-serving Gunners boss has long suggested it was no mean feat to make it into the knockouts of the European competition. And given Spurs’ fall at the first hurdle last season, his comments have rung true.