Fulham manager blames tactical changes for Bassey’s errors that led to two Tottenham goals
Fulham manager Marco Silva admitted his side were “punished” by Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey’s individual mistakes as they were beaten 2-0 at Tottenham.
Bassey played inaccurate passes to the opposition which led to Son Heung-min and James Maddison scoring the game’s only goals. It was an all-round woeful display from the Nigerian, who was making only his second Premier League start for Fulham.
The defeat left Fulham 13th in the league, while victory for Spurs catapulted them two points clear at the top of the table.
“We were punished by the mistakes that we made”, Silva said.
“We didn’t want to give the space behind for them to score. We knew that they are in a very good moment. Some dangerous moments for them, but I think until the first goal we controlled them well.
“When you play against teams like Tottenham that are pressing really strongly, you have to use your more forward players well.
“Tottenham pressed really strong on Calvin, knowing that we were playing with a left-footed centre back [on the right]. We conceded a similar goal at the beginning of the second game. We were punished for the same type of goal.”
Substitutes Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez squandered opportunities late on and Silva was clear as to why his side were unable to capitalise on the many counter-attacks Spurs afforded them throughout.
Asked why those breakaways didn’t bring a goal, he replied: “Because our decisions were to rush, in some moments, and try to do everything at once.
"We have to be more calm. Sometimes we tried to do everything so quickly that
we missed something in the counter-attack. We rushed many, many times. The decisions need to be calmer to have end-product.”
