That was a big win for you
In general, I am very satisfied with the result. It’s a deserved victory.
In the first half we were very, very good, very dominant, very strong on the ball, very good at counter-pressing and we did not allow counter-attacks against one of the most dangerous teams, perhaps in Europe, for counter-attacks.
That was very, very strong. We lacked a little precision in the serenity box to score 2-0 and score more goals to decide the game.
It was a bit more difficult in the second half because we had some slight loss of the ball and we lost a bit of possession and confidence, but we never lost the intensity and we never lost the structure to defend and we never lost the intensity to push up high and have the courage to defend high and forward.
I’m very, very happy with that. It is normal. When you play a dominant game like this and fail to score the second, there are times when a few minutes will land where you are going to suffer and we were perfectly prepared mentally and physically and I am very pleased with the effort.
We defended superbly. We had half the chances, great chances in counter attacks, okay, we couldn’t finish them. We only gave one chance and then Tottenham risked a lot and that’s why I’m happy.
Maybe you need to create more chances and kill games?
We need to create clearer opportunities. This is the goal and this is the job for me and I am not blaming anyone. This is the job for me and I don’t blame anyone because I never met in my second and third division career.
It is the hardest, or one of the hardest, in football to score a goal and be calm. But we have confidence in our players and we will work to create even more chances, create clearer chances and be more effective. But it’s hard to get the boys to do it. No, in general everyone wants to score a goal with every half chance and chance we have. It’s not like that in the Premier League, so don’t worry.
Injury for Thiago Silva?
It will be very tight for Sunday. It’s only in two days but it’s difficult to diagnose because I just saw him very quickly in the locker room with a large strap around his muscle. We have to wait until tomorrow so we can confirm but I think he’s a big doubt for Sunday and I don’t think he can play.
Jorginho missed three penalties. Did you talk to him about it and why did you choose him?
The guys have received some penalties in the last nine days after training and we have Willy Caballero and the guys who press the penalty have to be serious and if you are not you don’t score.
So you get a good picture of who is capable, and today it was Mason and Jorginho. We put the two names in and I said to Jorginho just before the game if he was sure he would score a penalty and he clearly said yes. So we trusted him, but I didn’t argue with him how to take it.
Three games in which you dominated against almost no ambition – do you think English football is like that?
Well, it’s also our quality, we played very well in the build-up with the last three who play with confidence, don’t forget Edou today [Mendy] It was great to open up situations for us when we were under pressure. He made an excellent game.
As I said, the last three, even with Andreas in a difficult situation, were incredible. The two sixes between Kovacic and Jorginho played very well together.
It was also difficult to get up high because we had the quality and the confidence, so this is the goal. If we have the quality to bring the game into the opposing half, to attack deeply and to be encouraged and structured enough to have short distances to counter-press because mistakes always happen, that is the goal.
The better we do it, the more difficult it is to defend and we defended with intensity today against Bergwijn, Son, Lamela and Sissoko and all their boys.
It is a great effort, it is never easy, I can fully assure you. I’ve now seen three intense games in three games and I’ve seen high intensity for us with the ball and that is important to me.
I have no expectations of other teams and we still have to improve.
