Tottenham Hotspur manager Martin Ho said that his team were not at the same level as London City Lionesses, a "world class squad that is physically very powerful."
He said: "If you want to compete at that level you need more, in terms of higher quality, higher output, higher energy."
"[London City] will be up there with the other teams competing for that title, 100 percent, we're just not at that level yet."
Two-time Ballon D'or winner Alexia Putellas bagged two goals in the first half, and the 6-1 result at full time was a ruthless end to Spurs' unbeaten streak in the WSL.
Ho said: "The reality is there's an expectation to win, but you also need to understand the level. You're playing against ballon d'or winner and world class players who have won everything. There's a gap between the quality in the teams and we have to accept that."
How does the Tottenham manager expect to close that gap?
"Recruiting bigger players and ballon d'or winners, but you have to get to that point. London City have financially thrown at it, we want to do it more sustainably and I think we're going to build a very good team."
Ho was disappointed with his team's physicality, decision-making and accuracy with the ball.
"I thought at times we possessed the ball well and we got into good positions but we lacked that personality and confidence in front of goal," he said. "Defensively we didn't do enough, and you don't deserve to win if you don't do enough in those situations."
"We showed no character with the ball or personality in the first half. We didn't want to play forward, we didn't want to be brave, we didn't take the initiative."
Tottenham pulled one back in the second half as Victoria Pelova found Julie Blakstad's ball in the box and sent it bulging in the corner of the net.
"Really pleased to get a goal but it doesn't make a difference today," said Ho.
"We had some moments, but you have to be ruthless when you get those chances and we weren't," he added.
He praised Signe Gaupset for being good on the ball and having the courage to take the initiative to pull the game with her, but he said positive moments from individuals could not make up for the collective.
"You can't rely on a young player to take you through a game in the WSL."
Spurs face Arsenal and Chelsea in the WSL after the international break.
Ho said: "We need to forget this game quickly because when we come back we're going to have two very big ones."
"It's a big learning curve for us because you want to compete at the top level against these teams. They'll push the league and we have to make sure that we show a better side than we did today."