Fulham were ‘punished’ but won’t change style – Silva

Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted his side were “punished” for their mistakes in a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham. 

Goals from Heung-min Son and James Maddison clinched a comfortable derby win for Spurs and took them to the top of the Premier League table.

Misplaced passes by defender Calvin Bassey, one in each half, led to both goals.

“Until the first goal I feel we controlled them well, but what disappointed me was that in the counter-attacks we made poor decisions. We have to decide much better, we cannot arrive in dangerous areas and make decisions like we did,” said Silva.

“What disappointed me more was the second goal. We spoke at half-time what we should have done completely different for the first goal – and we went and conceded a similar goal in the beginning of the second half.

“Unfortunately, we were punished again for the same sort of mistake, but even so I thought our reaction was good and the players never gave up.”

Silva insisted he would continue to encourage his team to play out from the back.

He said: “It’s our way to play. The process is what we believe we should be doing. It is the way we will continue to play and to try and improve.

“We have to be pragmatic and effective, like clearing the second ball. Not only was the decision for the second goal by Calvin wrong, but the player who should be there to help avoid the mistake was not in the position he should be.

“It’s much more of a process, and that’s more than just one player.”