Former Tottenham striker Peter Crouch has told manager Antonio Conte that he needs further reinforcements if they want to threaten the top four again.
Spurs led twice against Southampton on Wednesday night but still lost 2-1 in north London, leaving them in seventh place and four points outside the Champions League places.
An own goal from Jan Bednarek gave the hosts the lead before Armando Broja equalised before half-time. Heung-Min Son coolly converted Lucas Moura's cross to retake the lead in the second half.
But twice Spurs allowed James Ward-Prowse time to cross and twice he punished them, assisting Mohamed Elyounoussi and Che Adams to take all three points back to the south coast.
After the game, Conte could not hide his disappointment with the result.
"For sure we have to be disappointed because after our first half where we struggled a lot and I think they were good but I think we made many, many mistakes, many mistakes, especially with the ball," Conte told his post-match press conference.
"We have to try to avoid these defeats because today I felt we could have avoided this defeat, especially when you go 2-1 up and there are 15-20 minutes to play.
"We have to try to manage the situation in a better way but it happened and we have to take experience from this game and try to improve."
The January transfer window saw Spurs bring in two new players in the shape of midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur and winger Dejan Kulisevski, both of whom started on the bench against the Saints.
But Crouch believes that further reinforcements will be essential to the club regaining their place in the top four, with new midfielders, defenders and wingers required.
"I still think they are maybe a top central midfielder short, and defensively they could do better," he said during BT Sport's coverage of the match.
"On the wings, I think they could improve there.
"If they want to be a top four side, competing with Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea, there's still a rebuilding job, but I think give him the time and money, he is the man for it."
