Nuno Espirito Santo has told football.london that he is considering a change of formation to get Tottenham Hotspur back playing the system and style that he always intended for.
The Portuguese is weighing up a change of tack after Arsenal dealt Spurs their third-straight Premier League loss on Sunday. Mikel Arteta’s side took command of the game early on in the north London derby and easily overpowered their rivals.
First-half goals from Emil Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka dealt the damage, before Heung-Min Son pulled one back. The South Korean’s late strike was only a consolation, however, with Spurs often shambolic in their attacking and defending.
Harry Kane stumbled in attack before Arsenal snatched possession and charged through to score their third. Kane tried to track back and atone for his mistake, but mistimed his tackle twice for Saka to net. Rounding off the Gunners’ emphatic first-half and Spurs’ troubles.
Nuno considering Tottenham formation change
Part of the problem for Tottenham in the north London derby was their lack of control in the middle-third. Nuno started Dele Alli in his central three, but the midfielder offered no impact before coming off at the break.
Kane rarely saw the ball, either, with the 28-year-old taking just one touch more than Alli, despite playing 45-minutes more. Nuno is now considering whether to make changes to his set-up ahead of Tottenham hosting Mura and Aston Villa.
“Maybe, first of all we have to recover mentally and physically for the next one,” he said. “Then we have to make better decisions, work harder and find the right decision. We started very well with a clear idea, we lost it. We must assume and realise we lost it.
“It is taking us too much time to go back to the things we want to do and the things we want to become as a team. We want to be a team that is fast, stronger, solid, dominant. We are not being that team.
“This is how me and my coaching staff work. First, recover the players mentally and physically, [and] help them find the right solutions for them to develop better the way we want to play football.”
Should Spurs change their set-up?
Nuno will be loath to see Tottenham endure a fourth-straight league defeat when they host Aston Villa on Sunday. An international break follows the weekend’s affair, and the Portuguese will desperately want his players leaving with a positive mindset.
But with a Europa Conference League clash with Mura on Thursday, Nuno may not have time to make any changes. The Spurs boss states he wants to focus on players recovering their fitness – both physically and mentally. So, will have little turnaround for real change.
The international break, if anything, then, falls at a bad time for Tottenham and Nuno. It will give them a chance to reset if results against Mura and Aston Villa are not as hoped for. But it will also stop Nuno from working with his players in training if they are representing their countries. Delaying his aims to establish a style that Spurs have moved away from.
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