Martin Keown has claimed that Jose Mourinho’s decision to criticise his players on social media after the game was uncalled for and that the Tottenham boss should have kept his thoughts inside the dressing room.
Tottenham fell to their second defeat of the campaign yesterday as they lost 1-0 to Royal Antwerp in the Europa League.
The loss brought the club’s prolonged unbeaten run to an end and it was clear that Mourinho was far from pleased with his players’ performance.
Not only did the Spurs boss make four changes at half-time and a fifth one before the hour mark but he insisted after the game that a lot of players had made his selection decision easier going forward due to their poor showing.
The 57-year-old also took to Instagram to post a picture of himself looking disappointed on the team bus with the caption: “Bad performances deserve bad results. Hope everyone in this bus is as upset as I am. Tomorrow 11AM training.”
Keown felt that the Tottenham boss should have communicated face to face with his players rather than publicly calling them out on social media.
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When asked about Mourinho’s post, the former Arsenal defender told talkSPORT: “I’m not happy with Mourinho being so public. Save it for the dressing room.
“Is this how we’re going to communicate (over Instagram)? If you’re gonna talk to me, talk to my face. Don’t do posts.”
“Keep it in house, it’s a bit childish what you’re hearing. Players have to keep their mouths shut, but he can say whatever he wants publicly.
“I would rather keep it in the dressing room. I’m not sure that’s healthy.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I personally did think Jose’s Instagram post was cringe-worthy but Keown’s criticism is over the top. Mourinho certainly was not overly critical of his player in the post. Players post similar messages on social media all the time after defeats and most people barely bat an eyelid. It was clear from the post-match press conference that the Spurs boss was not pleased with the players’ attitude yesterday.
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