Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Nuno struggles for answers to Tottenham question; Lloris echoes manager’s bemusement

Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo during their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United

Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo gave vague answers when asked how he’ll turn their fortunes around, while both he and Hugo Lloris addressed the loud boos heard around the stadium.

Tottenham fell to a woeful 3-0 home defeat as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s beleaguered Manchester United bounced back in style. A cagey first half appeared on course to produce no goals until Cristiano Ronaldo produced a moment of magic at Ben Davies’ expense.

Son Heung-min looked the liveliest of Tottenham’s forwards, though even he was wasteful when blazing a golden chance over the bar.

Loud boos greeted Nuno’s decision to replace Lucas Moura with Steven Bergwijn, and the discontent could be heard late into the contest after United scored their third.

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Speaking to Sky Sports, Nuno said: “Poor performance. Not too many words. We didn’t play good. United were stronger than us.

“We conceded in poor ways, lost balls, allowed counter-attacks. We couldn’t break them. They were organised.

“The last pass was never there, the finish was never there. Bad performance.”

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When asked how they can turn things around, Nuno said: “Trying, supporting players, finding solutions. No other way. We have to work harder.

“We have to take the best of all our players. Not focusing on Harry [Kane]. We have to support them, help them, try to make them believe they’re better than today.”

On the loud boos that echoed around the stadium at multiple points, Nuno admitted: “We are not on the right track.

“This season is part of football. The fans suffer when you’re not performing well. They have showed they’re not happy. We keep on trying.”


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Lloris admits Tottenham is a rollercoaster

Tottenham captain Lloris also spoke to the press, saying: “I think it was quite OK until we conceded the first goal. In the second half there were too many mistakes with the ball.

“With two or three passes [Manchester United] created chances and they scored two more goals. At points we were too naive in the second half. We expect more. We expect more belief. More pride.

“This is not the first time [we have played this poorly], even at home. We expected more against Chelsea. The next target is Thursday. We need to reanalyse and find some good.

“It’s not a good moment at all. We concede too much, we don’t score enough, we don’t create enough. But I want to believe in the club and myself and my teammates.

“We’ve only played 10 games in the league, but there’s too much up and down. In one game we go through so many emotions. We seem to always go down. Confidence is key also.”

On the supporters’ discontent, Lloris added: “When you’re a professional you expect critics. The fans expect more from us, but this is not the moment to give up, this is the moment to stick together.

“But also we need to find the solution to move on.”

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