Former Leeds United defender, Danny Mills has blasted Harry Winks for walking straight into the dressing room after being substituted in Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Royal Antwerp last week.
Winks has been forced to make do with minutes in the Europa League for the past few months, with the midfielder not featuring in the Premier League since Tottenham’s 3-3 draw against West Ham back in October.
The England international was handed a start in the match against Antwerp last Thursday but was taken off just before the hour mark along with Gareth Bale and Carlos Vinicius as Jose Mourinho brought on Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Tanguy Ndombele.
The midfielder headed straight into the dressing room instead of taking his place on the bench but Jose Mourinho defended his actions in the post-match press conference, insisting that he asked his players to head inside due to the cold weather.
However, Mills claimed that it was a sign of frustration on the part of the 24-year-old and suggested that the Tottenham boss could perceive it as a sign of disrespect.
The pundit told Football Insider: “Yes, of course, it is a sign Winks is frustrated. But it’s not the way to deal with things. It’s not always easy to do that when you’re in the heat of the moment essentially.
“Emotions can quite easily take over the situation. We’ve seen it’s not good to go against Mourinho, it’s no good to disrespect him in any way, shape or form. It doesn’t work.
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“It can end up going completely against you, whether you want to leave or fight for your place.”
Reports over the past couple of weeks have indicated that Winks is set to talk to Daniel Levy about potentially leaving the club next month over fears that he might not make the England squad for the Euros if his current predicament at Spurs continues (Telegraph).
Mills believes that the midfielder should have an open dialogue with Mourinho about his future.
He added: “I think he just needs to maybe have a chat with a few senior players or even the manager and get a few things off his chest and then deal with it.
“It’s football, only 11 players can play, you’re not always going to be in that 11.
“One manager loves you, the next manager doesn’t. It’s all about opinions and you’ve got to learn to deal with that. He probably hasn’t been in that situation before.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Jose is usually pretty honest with the press and would have probably expressed his displeasure at Winks heading into the tunnel if he had perceived it as a sign of disrespect. There is no reason to assume anything negative when the Spurs boss clarified that he had no issues with the 24-year-old not taking a seat on the bench.
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