Tottenham boss Nuno defiant after Chelsea loss as Arsenal derby clash looms: ‘Things are going to improve’

Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP21 September 2021

A defiant Nuno Espirito Santo says his Tottenham side will improve after admitting supporters deserved better than Sunday’s defeat to Chelsea.

Spurs went down 3-0 to a London rival for the second consecutive League match and Nuno will be under mounting pressure if they lose again at Arsenal this weekend.

Nuno’s side began the campaign with three straight 1-0 wins but injury and absences over the international break have left the manager with problems to solve across the pitch.

Speaking ahead of the visit to his former club Wolves in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday, Nuno promised his side were working hard to turn around their stuttering form.

“We started the season with a lot of [difficult] situations and we built a way,” Nuno said.

“We built how we wanted to do things and we did quite well in the first matches of the season. I recall the atmosphere was huge.

“Of course when things happen and we have problems and results don’t appear and performances don’t appear, the momentum goes.

“The good feeling goes away but this is what we have to realise and we have to find a way to go back again.

“Our fans deserve much, much better than what we did on Sunday. I was really pleased and I think our fans were as well with the first half – there were a lot of positives – but the second half was not good.

“So we lost that chance to recover the good feeling among us, but what I can tell and my message is clear: we are working hard, we are working very hard and the players are committed to it.

“We are positive. It’s about trying to build during the competition, we don’t have too much time on the training ground. It’s during the matches.

“The players are committed. Things are going to gel and we are going to play better and things are going to improve because this is what we realise.

“Our reaction to our problems is hard work, it’s helping each other. It’s how I work, with everybody involved. This is the right path for us.”

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy promised at the end of last season that he would appoint a manager to play “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” football but Nuno’s side have scored just once from open play in five League games and have the lowest expected goals (xG) of any side in the top-flight.

Asked if his side would eventually add goals to their hard work, Nuno said: “We have to find the balance.

“We have to find the balance in our game. If you want me to talk about the game against Chelsea, all the positives happened in the first half and we can share a lot of things that were okay and for sure the fans were happy.

“In the second half we didn’t do things. We opened ourselves. One concern we have is when we concede first we are not able to react. The team is not strong enough to go and give a good response.

“A lot of things that we have to improve on, but what we saw is what is moving us forward in the first half, this attitude, this willingness to go and play really nice football.

“With the talented and quality players we have, when they start to gel I’m positive it’s going to be good.”

The Spurs manager will again be without Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn at Molineux, with the latter in a protective boot after suffering a sprained ankle in the European match at Rennes last week.

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