Marco Silva has heaped praise on Tottenham Hotspur and Ange Postecoglou – insisting Monday night’s televised London derby will offer an indication of where Fulham are after the international break.
Spurs top the table after an outstanding start to the new campaign with Postecoglou poised to pick up his second manager of the month award since being appointed as Antonio Conte’s permanent successor in the summer. The Fulham head coach is relishing the opportunity of taking his side to north London, telling his pre-match press conference at Motspur Park this afternoon:
“We look forward to the match, with trust and belief in ourselves, [while] respecting Tottenham. Tottenham is doing an amazing start to the season. They are at the top of the table and it’s clear why. Not just because of the results, of course they had to achieve results to be there, but the way they have been achieving the results has been really good, and we have to give credit to them.”
Silva said that Fulham’s penalty shoot-out victory over Spurs in the League Cup earlier this season will have little bearing on how the forthcoming league fixture plays out.
“They have had one bad result, if I can say that, and it was against us in the Carabao Cup at the Cottage. Different scenario, different competition, they made some changes, we did as well. That was a good evening for us, but it’s going to be tough playing them there, they are in a very good moment, the way they have been playing, the connection between them is growing as well, and it’s going to be a great challenge for us. It’s going to demand really hard work from ourselves and very good organisation and, after, the belief and the courage to play our way.”
The Portuguese head coach was asked whether he had been surprised by Postecoglou’s start with Spurs – and his answer was straightforward.
“To be honest, no. If you look at his last two seasons at Celtic, I know that is a different competition, but in this country normally we follow that league, too, and you can see many, many similar things that he was doing there that he’s trying to do again in Tottenham.
Of course, different competition, different players as well. The quality is different, of course. Some of the players, for sure, have been enjoying. You can see it, as well, the approach and the way he tries to set up his players on the pitch. It’s not a surprise for us. The quality was there and he’s helping the players to improve, which is always the job of the manager.”
