Ben Davies urges Tottenham to ‘get back to basics’ after third consecutive defeat
When Davies was asked about the defeat afterwards he said that Spurs would have to work much harder to find a solution
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Your support makes all the difference.Ben Davies has told Tottenham that they need to go “back to basics” as they try to fix their defensive woes.
Spurs have lost three games in a row 2-1, their struggles from set pieces and balls into the box especially evident. Tottenham conceded two headers from set pieces at Watford, one header from a corner against Liverpool and then a late header in added time at Inter on Tuesday night. Davies admitted on Tuesday night these persistent problems were “frustrating” for the team.
The result is that what was once the best defence in the country no longer looks half as secure, even as Pochettino continues to tinker with it. He left Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld at home for the trip to Inter, making three defensive changes, but the result was the same.
Ben Davies was one of the players to come into the Spurs defence, replacing Danny Rose, and when he was asked about the defeat afterwards he said that Spurs would have to work much harder to find a solution. And focus on what made them so resolute in the first place.
“It’s just about working hard,” Davies said. “We have to go back to the training pitch, look at what we could have done better, and try to improve for next game.”
Asked whether Spurs had a plan to solve their defensive struggles, Davies admitted that the team accepts that this is a particular area where they had to improve. “It’s a tough one,” he said. “We obviously recognise that’s where the majority of goals are coming from. That’s frustrating. It’s difficult to put our fingers on it. We have to go back to basics and work on that.”
Davies described the Spurs dressing room as “very down” after the defeat, and Erik Lamela said it was “bad, bad”. But Lamela took some confidence, saying that Spurs actually played better at Inter than they did losing 2-1 at Watford before the international break.
“Against Watford we didn't create too many chances like today,” he said, “and we didn't manage the game like today. We have to move on, change the page.”
Lamela insisted there was no loss of confidence even after three straight defeats. “I don't think we're losing our confidence,” Lamela said.
“We believe in each other in this team, that's why we always fight until the end of the season. Of course, now you're thinking like this. But inside the dressing room, I can tell you it's not like this. We believe in this team. It's time to win again. This will help a lot, but we have confidence in ourselves.”
Harry Kane missed a good chance in the first half when the score was 0-0 but Lamela followed Mauricio Pochettino and Christian Eriksen in jumping to Kane’s defence, saying that he could not do everything by himself and needed help.
“Harry is not a machine,” Lamela said. “He scores a lot. Today, he didn't and for two or three games he didn't. But he will score again. It's not like Harry needs to score every single game.”
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