It was almost a throwaway line from Antonio Conte but one that cut to the core of why Tottenham lost to Brighton.
"I think that Brighton was very good to close the space, and we were not so good to close the space," said the Tottenham head coach in the aftermath of the defeat to Graham Potter's side. "In the difficulty, we have to try and find the solution with a single player. We can do much better."
Those big 'single' players have stepped up with pieces of magic for Spurs in recent weeks as they have surged into the Premier League's top four. Alongside the workers in the Tottenham team, all of Conte's stars have shone together - Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Cristian Romero, Rodrigo Bentancur and rising star Dejan Kulusevski.
READ MORE: What actually happened with Harry Kane's USA trip and what Conte told Spurs stars after Brighton
Between them in this run they have contributed goals and assists galore for Conte, as well as tackles, interceptions and plenty of fight.
Yet on Saturday all of them struggled to make much of a combined impact against the Seagulls with lethargic performances lacking in movement and the ability to move the ball quickly to one another.
Kane was starved of the space he drops into and had a pass success rate of just 57.1 per cent, touching the ball just 27 times. He lost the ball four times with bad touches and was dispossessed twice. His two moments of quality came from a throw to Son in the second half and a flicked-on header in added time that was then fluffed by substitute Steven Bergwijn.
Kulusevski touched the ball less than any other player in a Spurs shirt, having it just 18 times in his possession. He had a 90 per cent pass success rate but that was because most of his 10 passes were safe, predictable choices and for a player who has been driving at defences in recent games, he did not attempt a single dribble, fire off even one shot or play a key pass.
That was surprising from a player who has been in such fine form and thriving in the Premier League. On Saturday he lost the ball three times through bad touches and was dispossessed once. He just did not get involved in the match.
Son at least tried to make things happen with a couple of shots on goal and he slung five crosses into the box. He had a 100 per cent success rate from his 11 passes but again, few were creative balls to team-mates.
Bentancur has been an important cog in Tottenham's machine since his arrival in January but the pace of his distribution on Saturday was slow and his passing accuracy from his 43 passes was just 81.4 percent.
Romero was strangely reticent to drive forward as he often does and the long diagonal passes that have brought plenty of success previously were lacking in quality, with just two accurate ones from the 10 long balls he played.
The Argentine made one key interception and six tackles, one short of the total of the rest of the starting XI combined, although he did get himself in a tangle in the build-up to Brighton's goal before Leandro Trossard ensured Eric Dier was caught turning slower than a cruise liner.
Then there were the wing-backs, so pivotal to an Antonio Conte system. Neither looked fit for purpose for the job at hand on Saturday with both delivering uninspiring displays.
Conte was furious with the Matty Cash challenge last weekend that robbed him of the services of Matt Doherty for the rest of the season and the reason is because the Irishman, when confident and back in form, was exactly what he needed in the role.
Emerson Royal is a solid right-back but he proves that a full-back does not mean a wing-back and the best case scenario when the Brazilian gets forward still remains a corner for Tottenham. He still has just one assist to his name from 38 appearances this season.
He did not put a single cross into the box against Brighton and did not make a single attempt to dribble the ball forward.
On the other flank, Sergio Reguilon had a lower passing success rate than anyone in the Spurs starting line-up barring Kane, with just 61.5 of his 26 passes finding their mark and his one attempted cross was off target.
He was pretty much non-existent as an attacking force in the match. Conte appeared to be favouring Ryan Sessegnon before the 21-year-old's injury because of his greater attacking intentions and the Spurs head coach could well be toying with the idea of restoring Sessegnon for next Saturday's trip to Brentford.
Conte's subs did not cover themselves in glory either. Lucas Moura came off the bench, ran about a bit but offered nothing, a trend that has led to him losing his place to Kulusevski.
The Swede already has almost half of the 15 assists Lucas has recorded during more than four years in the Premier League. The difference is that Kulusevski has done that in 12 appearances, while Lucas has played 132 times in the competition.
Harry Winks was meant to bring fresh impetus to Tottenham's midfield on Saturday. He didn't. Even Steven Bergwijn, who had rediscovered his scoring touch for club and country, horribly sliced wide what should have been the equaliser just seconds after Brighton's goal.
It was a day when just too many players had a poor day at the office at the same time.
One or two can be covered by the others but Conte needs his stars to step up as 'single' players to produce that bit of magic when others need to be inspired and now is that time.
