Nuno Espirito Santo’s decision to leave the entire starting XI out from Sunday’s 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Premier League came back to haunt him as Tottenham were defeated 1-0 by Pacos de Ferreira in their European Conference League qualifier.
Spurs failed to have a single shot on target in the 90 minutes, and unless they get a win in the return leg in north London next Thursday, they will be heading out of the competition before the start of the group stages.
Espirito Santo started three of his summer signings in Cristian Romero, Bryan Gil and goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini, while teenagers Nile John and Dane Scarlett also made their first competitive starts for the club.
Youth players J’Neil Bennett and Maksim Paskotsi also came on for their Spurs debuts.
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Although this Tottenham side was a significantly weaker one than that of Sunday, Spurs fans still expected the club to get the job done against a side they clearly felt the north Londoners really should be beating.
Some were even pretty disappointed in Espirito Santo’s team selection, while others questioned some of the first-team players.
Here’s a selection of what was said on Twitter.
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@D1V1D3DxFLASH1 said: “That will teach Nuno too not such reliance on youth players when we should of [sic] easily put this game to bed, Poor from him and the players.”
@PhilWill86 said: “That is very embarrassing for Spurs.
@KevSpurs1983 said: “Be embarrassing if we go out at this stage but that team we put out does look like we don’t even wanna [sic] be in it.”
The second leg of the qualifier takes place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next Thursday.
Before that, Spurs face Espirito Santo’s old team Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Sunday, and the Portuguese head coach will be hoping for a much better and more convincing performance on his first return to his old club.
https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/tottenham-fans-europa-conference-league-21356783
