Nuno takes responsibility for Tottenham capitulation in north London derby

Tottenham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo took responsibility for his side’s damaging 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby.

Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka dismantled Spurs in a thrilling first-half display from Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Son Heung-min pulled back a late consolation, but Spurs have now lost their last three league games by an aggregate score of 9-1. Tottenham are only the second team in Premier League history to win their first three games of a season and then lose the next three, after Everton in 1993-94, who went on to finish 17th.

Nuno’s team were top of the table at the end of August, but they will head into October below Arsenal in the standings for the first time in almost 12 months.

“The performance was not good. The game plan was not good. The decisions were not good. So it was not a good day for us. Definitely not a good day,” Nuno told Sky Sports.

“I’m going to be honest. When you have a game plan, you have to make the right decisions in terms of who you want to put on the pitch to develop that game plan.

“I take responsibility because the decisions were not right according to the game plan. I won’t name individuals but the game plan was not right according to the players who were on the pitch.

“We were not aggressive enough to control the dynamic of Arsenal in midfield. We suffered when we wanted to go in front and we allowed Arsenal to always come to us. By saying that, bad decisions.”

3 – Spurs have conceded 3+ goals in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since September 2003. Disastrous. pic.twitter.com/s6lb9g69dS

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 2021

Nuno started with a three in midfield but took Dele Alli off at half-time. Alli completed the five passes he attempted in Arsenal’s half, but only managed 24 touches in total as he failed to have a shot or create a chance, while Tanguy Ndombele was similarly ineffective going forward.

Harry Kane struggled again, though his tally of five attempts more than doubled the total amount he had managed across his other four Premier League appearances so far this season.

Kane was partly at fault for Arsenal’s third goal, conceding possession and then failing to prevent Saka making progress in the area with an attempted slide tackle, though Spurs were aggrieved that referee Craig Pawson did not blow up for a foul on the England captain in the build-up to Aubameyang’s strike.

However, Nuno did not look to make any excuses.

“I didn’t see the images. The referee and VAR are there to judge. My head is more now focused on what I have to do now,” the Spurs boss said.

“We prepared the game, we had a good meeting, but then we were not able to do it. We were not strong enough.”

Asked if a breakdown in communication was the main problem, Nuno said: “That’s another issue. I would not say they are not doing what I tell them to do. They were not able to do it. Credit to our opponent, they were better than us.”

Spurs have now conceded three goals in their last three league games for the first time since September 2003.