Tottenham Hotspur dropped the first leg 1-0 of their playoff round matchup against Portuguese side Paços de Ferreira in Europa Conference League qualifying.
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Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo was recently in a state of supreme delight, following a 1-0 triumph against Premier League giants Manchester City. However, the same has certainly changed following a shock defeat against Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira in the first-leg playoff of the UEFA Conference League. Nuno’s side suffered a 1-0 defeat against a team they would have been expected to defeat 9 times out of 10.
“It was a tough game, but we didn’t play well. We moved the ball well in the first half but lost too many passes. Let’s look at that and start to improve it. No excuses. The boys are working well and hard, many are getting back and trying to get the right performance level that competition in all football requires. We’ll get there. Let’s analyse the match, because there were things we did well, but many things that we didn’t do so well,” said the former Wolves manager following the conclusion of the encounter.
There has been a lot of speculation over the future of star attacker Harry Kane, with the player linked to Manchester City. Nuno stated that the 28-year-old was training well and expected to join the rest of the players soon.
“He (Kane) trained today. Trained with the group of players that stayed in England. He trained well and he is going to train tomorrow and when we return he will join all the players and work as the group and Harry in it.”
In case of a scenario where Kane leaves the club, 17-year-old striker Dane Scarlett is the man expected to take over the responsibilities. Scarlett was handed his first competitive start for Tottenham against Pacos, making his presence felt.
“He’s young. He’s very young. He has talent. As a team we should have made more chances for him, we didn’t finish the actions, we didn’t make too many offensive situations for him to be able to even shoot on goal. That’s our responsibility. For Dane, it was good. The point when he realises he’s playing and he has to leave the game, he has to be faster on his decisions and his movement. With tough centre-halves on his back, it’s difficult,” said Nuno.
“So there’s things we have to improve and we’ll work on it. We honestly believe there’s a lot of potential there and we have to develop and improve it,” he added.
Big-money signing Cristian Romero made an unconvincing debut at the Capital do Móvel Municipal Stadium. However, Nuno urged the fans to adopt a patient approach with the former Atalanta defender.
“We need to be patient with all the players because of the Premier League. When a player changes country we need to realise that we need to support him. But honestly I think with the quality and talent that Romero has his adaptation will be very fast,” he concluded.
