Palhinha promises 'big reaction' from Tottenham after derby hammering
Tottenham slumped to another defeat in the Premier League on Sunday, but Joao Palhinha urged his team-mates to have a big response.
Joao Palhinha apologised for Tottenham's north London derby hammering at the hands of Arsenal and vowed a "big reaction" to the defeat.
Spurs were well beaten by Arsenal at the Emirates, with Leandro Trossard's opener followed by an Eberechi Eze hat-trick, which helped secure a 4-1 victory, with the visitors’ lone goal a spectacular Richarlison strike.
Thomas Frank's side are now winless in their last four domestic outings (D1 L3) and have recorded the two lowest expected goals totals in a Premier League game this season during that run, 0.07 against Arsenal and 0.1 against Chelsea at the start of November.
In fact, after conceding the opening goal in three of their first nine league games this season (W5 D2 L2), Spurs have done so in each of their last three matches.
Next up for Spurs is a trip to Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, and Palhinha noted how important it is for them to bounce back from Sunday's loss.
"We first of all need to say sorry to our supporters," he said.
"There are not many words to be fair. It is always frustrating to lose the game with this reality against them. I think we deserve. I think it is fair, the result, and we need a big reaction.
"In the next two games, a big reaction because we have to show the team we showed in the past.
"I don't need to speak too much about this, but we need to react, analyse the game, but don't think too much about what happened."
Spurs have already faced PSG this term, losing on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup, having let a 2-0 lead slip early on to draw 2-2 in normal time.
Frank switched to a back three to combat Arsenal's attacking threat, a move which did not work, before switching to their normal formation at half-time.
"I think we just played with that formation against PSG in the Super Cup," he added.
"We tried to press them in the same way or a bit closer than we did in this [PSG] game, but yeah, after we took the decision to change on half-time, I think the team improved.
"Even after we suffered really early, the goal that we conceded after half-time. I think when we swapped, we did better, but we need to analyse.
"The ways we conceded the goals, especially playing with five at the back line, we cannot concede these goals. And being punished with four goals is not our level. We will get our level again for the next two games.
"The only thing I can promise is we will give everything to get the wins in the next games."
