Spurs Match Zone

“No Bench To React” – Mourinho Has Mixed Emotions As Spurs Return To The Pitch

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Friday – football and maybe a few drinks? Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Manchester United to an empty White Hart Lane Stadium for our Premier League Restart earlier tonight, and for plenty of fans, it was just what the doctor ordered in terms of a distraction.

With our Champions League hopes still alive and only four points to make up after a mixed season so far, victory tonight was key to our chances of a strong end to the campaign – but the players (both sides) were always going to be a little bit rusty.

That proved to be true, but after a brighter start, we waned and United came more into it in the second period and having found the back of the net just ahead of the half hour mark through Steven Bergwijn, a Paul Pogba gained penalty allowed Fernandes to level things for them with minutes remaining on the clock.

The first game back was always going to be strange, but plenty will feel the break hasn’t solved what has been our Achilles heel all season long – but it’s a point and Champions League remains within our grasp.

Speaking to Sky Sports following the full time whistle, manager Jose Mourinho said of our return to the pitch for the first time in over three months.

“Happy with things and unhappy with others. What did I like? I liked the team attitude, organisation, control, being solid. Giving to United what they don’t like. Unhappy with the fact that the way I was reading the game I had no bench to react to it. When they became more dominant we were tired up front and could not press. It was hard to manage the game. I am not happy with the penalty and not happy with the second penalty. I am unhappy with the VAR, not the referee on the first, the referee can make a mistake but VAR is there to do the job. In the second I am unhappy with Jon Moss because he did not give the free kick leading up to it and then gave a no penalty. In this case the VAR gave the truth.”

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  • c b waters says:

    I hate to pick out a scapegoat, after what was a strange frustrating game and atmosphere, but I still seethe every time I see Aurier playing for us.
    Whether up front or defensively, the man is an absolute dud.
    He does the occasional good thing, but overall he is, and always has been, a complete liability for Tottenham, and every time I watch him receive the ball, pass it, cross or tackle, I do so between
    semi closed fingers.
    So why Poch persisted with him, and why now Mourinho continues with him, is beyond me.
    And yes, I know we’ve lost 2 right backs in recent years who were two classes above Aurier, but
    that makes it all the worse because of Levy’s and Poch’s daft decisions in that position of prime
    importance to us.
    Harry Kane’s great pass to Aurier in that first 10 minutes showed the man had all the time to adjust to a shot, or check and turn inside and shoot, or get further to the byline and/or pick his pass to a forward.
    But what did he do? He just rammed it, without any control, first time ..at a defender!
    That cheesed me off, and from then on, whether up front or in defensive positions, he was caught out time and again, continuing all the while to make totally wrong choices.
    Thank goodness for VAR re that 2nd penalty, because I could see it all unfolding beforehand and once again it was clearly Aurier’s fault (not Dier’s). Phew. Other than that it was wonderful seeing Sissoko close to his best again. Bergwyn was lively and deserved his goal. Lamela worked his socks off, but lacks that tiny bit of cleverness (ala Eriksen). Son and Kane will find their sharpness (hope it won’t be too late). Lo Celso will carve out Eriksen’s old position for himself, i hope. And so on. Not a bad showing at all for the lads, but really we should have won this match, and now it will prove even harder to get into the top 4 or even 5.

  • Marco says:

    It frustrates me that Jose is making these statements that he had no talent on the bench. Firstly, I don’t understand why Dier got the nod at CB. Toby would have been a far better choice. Dier has been pretty useless all season. He’s so slow and gave away the penalty, so not happy with this selection. Secondly, he claims he would have liked Moura and Dele. This also frustrates me. Dele has been vacant and uninspiring all season, and we had Lo Celso and Gedson ready to jump in. Both more talented that Moura and Alli in my opinion. They just need more game time. And on top of that, what about Ndombele? – Probably THE most talented player in our team, who had a rough start, but apparently been crushing it in training and didn’t get any minutes. What a waste!.. And Sessegnon? – Proven goal scorer in the Championship, played well for us in the Champions League and he’s super hunger to make an impact. But oh no, Jose just complains instead of using the talent he has. It’s pathetic. Jose, you’re past it mate. You can moan all you want, but we had a good bench and a lot of choices. You could have subbed up to 5 players, but instead, you gave two players 20 minutes each. Maybe next time, be more creative, use the talent and the youngsters and give them the time they deserve. PS, Aurier sucks balls. Get Sess in at RB. He’ll kill it!

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