No panic stations for Spurs as Nuno urges united front
NUNO ESPIRITO Santo says there is no cause for alarm at Tottenham after three straight Premier League losses and dismissed suggestions his players have lost faith in his methods.
The Spurs boss, who was only appointed three months ago, is battling mounting criticism following Sunday’s 3-1 north London derby defeat at Arsenal.
After starting with three top-flight wins, Spurs’ only victory in five matches is the penalty shoot-out Carabao Cup success at Wolves last week and the nature of their latest defeat turned the spotlight on the manager.
But the Portuguese is confident his men will bounce back, starting with tonight’s Europa Conference League tie at home to Slovenia’s NS Mura.
‘We don’t panic. We don’t panic because we know or at least I know this is football,’ he said. ‘This is football. It’s how you react to the bad moments, because it’s something you can’t avoid.
‘If you go through history, unfortunately every team goes through a moment like this. The sooner we get out of it, the better. Hopefully tomorrow we get out of it.’
Nuno also claimed the squad are fully behind him. Asked if he thinks players trust in his management, he replied: ‘Yeah, totally believe. There’s no doubts about that because we work together every day, we prepare together and these moments we need to stick together.’
Some Spurs fans have questioned the cautious football played by their team and Nuno says, while he accepts that, he cannot be distracted by it.
‘I’m not worried about the judgements,’ he added. ‘What I’m worried about is how we can play better.’
Tottenham, like several clubs, have not been helped by the confusion surrounding the call-up of south American players for international duty during the pandemic.
With Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero included in Argentina’s latest squad, Nuno has called for clarity.
‘As clubs we need a decision to protect us,’ he said. ‘We want our players in national teams and want them available for us also.’