Ruben Amorim has admitted painfully that his side’s inability to finish chances that they created cost them the three points in their trip to North London in the Premier League 2024/25 season match week 25.
The Portuguese manager travelled with a thin squad to face Tottenham Hotspur and still managed to limit the Lilywhites to a 1 – 0 scoreline courtesy of a James Maddison goal. However, his side’s performance in the game was a thing of concern for him, and he did not fail to express those concerns when speaking to the media.
“It was the biggest difference of the game, they [Tottenham] scored and we didn’t,” Amorim said. “We had the opportunities to score, then in the first half we pushed a little bit harder. We suffered in some transitions trying to get a result, but in the end they scored and we didn’t.
“We need to put the ball in the net because we had some chances, we created some chances which is the hardest part. In some games we are there near the box but we don’t create chances. Today we created the chances but we need to score to win games.”
A thing of note was how he switched up his formation for the game. Many fans have blamed the switch for the ineffectiveness of his side in the game, but the former Benfica midfielder has claimed that while injuries are what led to the switch, his beliefs remain the same.
He said: “You start with one idea. We were asking about a long week for so long. And we worked our principles but day after day, you lose players that change your approach to the game.
“I could not play the same way with Joshua [Zirkzee] as I can with Amad. Sometimes you want {statorium_player pid=5249 sid=343 text=”Bruno [Fernandes]”} to reach the ball in the build-up because he’s really good switching the play. But then you want Bruno also to press and it’s really hard. And when you are changing all the time to get the players to react to the base, it’s really hard.
“4-4-2 in the low block is harder to play against this team than what we did today, that’s my opinion. They are so open and stretch the team. What you see guys and what you discuss every week, I also see. I have a lot of problems, my job is so, so hard here. But I stick with my beliefs.”
Then he added: “I think the best thing is to forget the past. Don’t focus on the schedule, don’t focus on the moment, don’t focus on the context. It’s just work during the week and prepare the game. Then is the next game and we will try to win the game.”
