In the wake of Fulham’s 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, coach Marco Silva has come to the defense of Nigerian defender Calvin Bassey, who was criticized for his performance in the match.
Bassey, playing in an unfamiliar right center-back position, was at fault for both of Tottenham’s goals.
The center-back had a challenging game, leading to two goals conceded by the Whites, Footballrover reports
Bassey made defensive mistakes, which Tottenham took advantage of to win easily and retake first place in the Premier League.
Heung-min Son capitalized on Bassey’s lapse, scoring the opening goal past Fulham’s goalkeeper Bernd Leno. James Maddison extended their lead after another costly mistake by Bassey.
However, Silva has absolved the young defender of any blame, instead pointing to tactical issues as the root cause of the errors.
“Tottenham pressed really strong and more on Calvin. They knew that we were playing a left-footed central defender on the right-hand side, and we were punished for the mistake,” Silva explained.
Silva went on to say that the team had discussed the issue at halftime and that the solution was to provide Bassey with more support from the midfield.
“We spoke at half-time that the solution for Bassey has to be completely different, the position of our midfield has to be completely different for him to have a solution,” Silva said.
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