Cristian Stellini
Where did it go wrong today?
My assessment is that today we played two different games. We played a good game until we scored and after we conceded the second goal. What is in the middle is not the mindset we have to use because we started the game well. When we scored we dropped. We dropped again. We have to change this type of mindset. We have said many times that we need to continue to go strong and try to keep the ball in their half of the pitch. We did this only when we were 2-1 down.
What tactics were you using in the end? There were a lot of attacking players out there.
In that moment we used Harry in the midfield line. We dropped Harry to have more ball and the possibility to play and we used four players to try to attack. That was the formation. We have all the quality we can have to try to score. That was the intention.
Davinson Sanchez was booed and Hugo Lloris said he’d never heard anything like it in his career, what did you make of it?
Yeah, I understand it’s a tough moment for everyone and we have to analyse this moment, everyone needs to analyse how important is to support the player. I take the responsibility for the decision we made. I thought it was early in the game to use a striker more because it was the first half and we were one up, so I didn’t think it was the moment to change with a striker. After, when we were 2-1 down I thought it was the moment. Davinson has to know it was only a tactical decision but we need to support him because it’s a tough moment for him and also for all the team. So we have to create unity in our dressing room and in between us, and we will do.
Have you spoken to him?
No chance to speak personally, only with all the team not personally with Davinson. It’s rare this happens but it can happen, it’s not so rare if you have to recover the game and need more strikers. You have to take a decision.
Would you still play Davinson Sanchez against Manchester United in the next home game?
If we need, yes. He’s a professional player. We need to go strong for the team. But I repeat, if the team pushed more when we scored the first goal, we are here to speak about a different situation. It’s the mindset that needs to change, not only Davinson, it’s the whole team that can help, every player that came onto the pitch.
Why do Spurs always drop back?
It’s a habit we have, it’s not the first time, it’s a long time that we do this. But we have to be perfect in the defensive situation. Today we were not so perfect because we allowed them to score with two mistakes. This is a problem, it’s not a tactical problem, it’s an individual problem, a mistake.
