‘I would still be raging’ – Hutton reacts to Mourinho’s decision regarding midfielder

Former Tottenham defender Alan Hutton has said that he would have been furious if he was in Dele Alli’s shoes after Jose Mourinho named the midfielder as their 19th man for their 2-0 win over Manchester City.

Alli has not started a Premier League game for Spurs since their opening day defeat to Everton and has been left out of the matchday squad more often than not (transfermarkt.com).

However, Football.London reported that the midfielder was with the squad at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday as the 19th man, who is usually named as a back up in case there is an injury on matchday.

The report suggested that Mourinho naming Alli ahead of the likes of Harry Winks and Davinson Sanchez (who failed to make the match squad against City) was a hint that the Spurs boss could be prepared to offer the 24-year-old a route back into the team.

However, Hutton certainly does not see it that way and suggested that the Tottenham midfielder could perceive it as a sign of disrespect.

When asked if being included as the 19th man was good news for Alli, The pundit told Football Insider: “Personally, no, I would still be raging.

“The 19th man is normally a young kid, in my experience, somebody that comes along with the squad, takes part in the changing room and stuff and then goes sits in the stand and watch the game. If that was me, I’d have headloss.

“So, no it’s not an improvement, actually, in my opinion. He should be, in my eyes, worst case, on the subs bench – that’s worst case. Even then, he shouldn’t really be. Somebody with his ability and talent would still be raging. That’s just my opinion.

“For him to be the 19th man, I understand Tottenham are doing really well at the moment, I get that, but there’s definitely a place, if they could get him backfiring, I definitely think there’s a place in that starting XI where he could be.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It was understandable why a youngster would be named as the 19th man five or ten years ago but with a squad as strong as the one we have at the moment, Mourinho is fully justified in having a strong option to call upon in case one of our starting players or substitutes get injured in the warm-up. There is no reason why Dele should view this as a sign of disrespect.

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