Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo emphasised that the team is not at the level he wants them to be at just yet, despite having won the first three games of the season and sitting at the top of the Premier League as the only team left with a 100% record.
Heung-min Son’s free kick was the deciding factor as Spurs beat Watford 1-0 yesterday, and while the defence has looked solid, fans are expecting more goals to be scored than just one a game.
However, the most important thing is another three points under the team’s belt already, and Nuno expressed his delight at how his team has adapted to his style so far and applied themselves.
🇵🇹Tottenham Hotspur head coach Nuno Espírito Santo insisted that his Spurs players are yet to implement his style of play:
🗣”I want to be clear that there is much more work to do, this is not the style of play that we want now.”#THFC | #COYS | #TOTWATpic.twitter.com/E11tymYfuu
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) August 29, 2021
“I’m proud of the players because it’s them, honestly, it’s them, not only in the games, in the training sessions, they are the ones who deliver,” Nuno said following the match.
“I’m trying only to help them, to show them the way that I think is better for us. I think we are on the way, not perfect yet, but becoming solid, compact, everyone working for each other.
“You can see when we didn’t kill the game, the final minutes required different aspects and we managed that well, controlled it well defensively, put the ball in their half and didn’t allow the counter-attack.
🇰🇷 Heung-Min Son:
🏟 Games: 283
⚽️ Goals: 109
🎯 Assists: 64🥇 Player Of The Year: 2
🥇 Goal Of The Season: 1🇰🇷 Son: “I want to win the trophies with Tottenham.”
💙 Loyalty!#THFC | #COYS | #TOTWAT pic.twitter.com/NLP5kjWNu1
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) August 29, 2021
“All this is a balance of small things. So, credit to them, they are amazing.”
Yesterday was the second game in a row where Spurs had properly controlled the game and dominated the play, after comfortably beating Pacos de Ferreira on Thursday in the UEFA Conference League, and now Nuno is hoping the team can continue this momentum after the international break.
“It feels good,” continued Nuno. “I thought we played a good game, a consistent game. We didn’t allow too many things. We knew the threat of Watford, we managed it well, controlling the deep, but we should be better on second balls.
“On the offensive aspect of the game, it was very hard to find the spaces, the gaps. In the first half we didn’t have enough dynamic or mobility, but in the second half we improved much.
It's time to hear from our match-winner 😍 pic.twitter.com/TIwjv3Hvxl
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 29, 2021
“We had clear chances to kill the game and transform the result. So, with all that, I’m very happy because the players worked very, very hard.”
Spurs will have to wait until the 11th of September for their next game, as they take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park after the international break where they can get their fourth win in a row.