Tottenham ‘have a lot of problems’ admits Nuno after Chelsea defeat

Nuno Espírito Santo conceded “there were a lot of things that went wrong” as his Tottenham side sustained an ultimately chastening 3-0 home defeat against Chelsea which leaves Thomas Tuchel’s team joint top of the Premier League with Liverpool.

Although Spurs held their own in the opening half, second-half goals from the excellent Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kanté and Antonio Rüdiger left Tuchel’s visitors unbeaten in their opening five league games.

The first half impasse ended shortly after Chelsea’s manager replaced Mason Mount with Kanté at the interval. “In N’Golo you have something everyone’s looking for in a midfield player,” said Tuchel. “It’s hard to believe how good he is. He’s a unique guy and can change any momentum. He is a top player. With N’Golo you have everything you need in midfield. He’s fantastic.”

Nuno was left to acknowledge his side remain a work in progress after another anonymous performance from his England striker Harry Kane. “It was disappointing the way we conceded and it was really hard to get back into the game,” conceded Tottenham’s manager. “But Chelsea are a very good team and it was a very good first half from us. We have a lot of things to improve on but the first half was really good; that’s the one positive.

“We need more time to work together, we have a lot of problems to solve and, mainly, we need to improve. We need to find solutions but I’m really positive and confident we’ll get there.”

Tuchel admitted there were “stern words’ in the visiting dressing room at half-time. “It was a very aggressive and very emotional Tottenham side in the beginning and I was absolutely not happy with the first 45 minutes,” said the German. “We lacked energy and we spoke about it clearly. Second half was a much better performance, we found an excellent answer. It was a very good reaction and I’m very happy.”