‘Naive’ Nuno slammed for making terrible Tottenham situation worse
Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo showed poor decision-making as he tried to get his side back into their clash with West Ham, one pundit has claimed.
Spurs’ recent slide back down in form continued following a 1-0 defeat to their London rivals on Sunday. In fact, that was the club’s second loss in as many games after a run of three wins in a row.
The first half ended goalless, but both sides had chances to score. For the visitors, Harry Kane had a header saved by West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
In the second half, Michail Antonio netted the winner from a corner, with Kane involved again. Indeed, the England captain faced criticism for not getting tight enough to his fellow striker.
Tottenham boss Nuno brought Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil on for Tanguy Ndombele and Sergio Reguilon after 84 minutes, 14 after Antonio’s opener.
He also introduced Steven Bergwijn in stoppage time and Nuno defended the timing of his substitutions. However, pundit Paul Robinson has questioned those comments, insisting that Spurs’ second half was going “terribly”.
“You have to question his decision,” former Spurs goalkeeper Robinson told Football Insider.
“The second half was going terribly. They hadn’t had a shot.
“Why leave it to six minutes until the end to bring two creative players on and then wait a further seven minutes to bring Bergwijn on. Spurs were chasing the game. It just shows naivety to me.
“There was no reason why he shouldn’t have changed it a lot earlier. It made no sense to me.”
Tottenham will look to address their recent slide on Saturday in their next Premier League game against Manchester United, who are also under pressure.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is clinging onto his job following the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool, also on Sunday.
Lloris insists Tottenham have belief
Nuno’s long-term plan at Spurs has faced criticism. However, their recent run of wins is fuelling goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris’ belief in his coach.
The France international said: “We know that there are a lot of expectations, same as every season, on our shoulders and the players have a responsibility to do their best.
“And when I see all the players I think they are trying to do their best. But sometimes it does not work but that is not the moment to give up. We need to carry on with a good energy and positiveness.
“We cannot give up – there are many games ahead of us and we are going to try to improve individually and collectively.”
Spurs face Burnley at Turf Moor in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday ahead of their match with Man Utd.
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