Tottenham's 4-0 thrashing of West Bromwich Albion on Saturday lifted the club to second in the table, seven points behind leaders Chelsea after 21 games, and their sixth league win in a row has shown last year's tilt was not a one-off.
"Last season was the first time for 99 percent of the players fighting to win the Premier League and the important thing is that you are clever. We are showing that we are clever and we learn a lot," Pochettino told British media.
"If you are open and your mind is open that is a good thing and we are showing this season that we are more mature, we compete better and we missed that maybe a little bit last season.
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"We are showing after 21 games that we can compete and we are in a very good position. It is true that the gap with Chelsea is still big, but there are a lot of games ahead until the end of the season."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Chelsea boss Antonio Conte have previously expressed their concern that a growing number of players could be lured by the riches on offer in the Chinese Super League and Pochettino struck a more cautious tone.
"It's crazy money, it looks like they broke the market. If it's true, it's unbelievable but we will see what happens," the Argentine added.
Tottenham travel to face fifth-placed Manchester City on Saturday.
(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru)
