Friday 6 December 2019 14:29, UK
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho admits his side have an "obvious" problem in conceding too many goals, but insists he has not had the time to correct the issues.
Spurs have played four games since the Portuguese was hired on November 20, conceding two goals in each of those games, including Wednesday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
Mourinho says they need to stop conceding "cheap goals" but asked for patience as he has not yet had enough time to exert his influence on the training pitch due to fixture congestion.
"We have to sort out the defence without losing what we have in attack. We conceded two goals in each one of my four matches but we scored in all of them," he said.
"We could score even more than what we did. But we are conceding too much of what I call 'cheap goals'. We have to try to stop it.
"The best way to do this is to work. We have no time to work. After the United game, yesterday was a complete day of recovery. The conditions to work on the pitch are not there.
"More work, more analysis, more meetings and more talks. I'm not a meetings coach, I'm a 'on-the-pitch' coach - that's where we can accelerate the process.
"Let's wait a little bit until next week, when we face Bayern. That is a game I am going to rest some players so I will work with the players that are not going to be involved.
"Let's also wait for the weekend of December 23, on the (training) pitch is where we can improve things.
"It's obvious we have problems, but we need to have time to work. But we have players with quality and a great dressing room."
When asked if Spurs would look to strengthen their in the January transfer window, Mourinho was quick to point out that it is not just the defenders who are responsible for the goals conceded.
"It's not just the defence, it's the defensive process - which is a difficult thing", he said.
"When we speak about the defence we talk about the goalkeeper, the centre-backs, the mistakes at the back - that's not how I look to things.
"I don't look to the individuals. The process belongs to all 11 players. It is with our organisation that we have to resolve the problems. It is not one signing."
According to newspaper reports, Manchester United still hope to persuade Christian Eriksen to join them after he rejected them in the summer.
But Mourinho refused to comment on the speculation as the Denmark midfielder enters the final seven months of his contract.
"My feelings are that until I have something official, rather than hypothetical things and speculation, there is not much to comment," he said.
"The thing that is very objective is that the player will be at the end of the season a free agent. We know that from a pragmatic point of view, apart from that I cannot comment.
"Of course I've had a conversation with him, but I'm not sharing anything, from respect with the player."
After his first defeat as Spurs boss on Wednesday at Old Trafford, Mourinho said he was disappointed to see his players 'sad'. He wants his players to react with "rage and anger" instead.
"I saw a sad dressing room, a sad bus and a sad plane, and that's not what I like after a defeat," he said.
"I think after a defeat you can't be sad. You have to be more than that. You have to be raging and angry. Being sad is not going to resolve your problems."
