Amidst further report of a reported relationship breakdown between Tottenham Manager Jose Mourinho and French Midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, the manager came out and explained the reason why he did not bring on the midfielder in the game against West Ham that Spurs won 2-0. Spurs’ record signing has had a difficult relationship with the Portuguese manager who has on more than one occasion the player’s fitness and desire to play for the club.
Jose Mourinho said “No [there is no truth to that]. On the bench was Tanguy, Sessegnon, Toby, Vertonghen, Gedson and they didn’t play, That’s football. For me there’s nothing. I had attacking players on the bench, Lamela and Bergwijn. Two great players to bring on and then Winks to give us more consistency. This situation of the five changes, some people maybe think that you have to use all five changes. You don’t have to do it. You have the chances to do it. I felt that the team was fine. I never believed that 2-0 was a completely safe result because they were trying everything and one goal could change the state of mind and give them the motivation in the final minutes so I decided to keep the team stable and three changes was enough. You know, it’s not just him. I try to do the best for my team. I cannot start the game with 12 or 13 players, I try to do the best for the team, Sometimes I apologise to my players that are not my first choice because I feel their work in training deserves something more than I give but I have to do my job the best I can and I felt for these two matches I didn’t need him.”
