Jose Mourinho has refused to offer an explanation regarding the confusion behind his comments about Toby Alderweireld and has blasted journalists for writing about the incident without any knowledge of what went on.
After the 2-2 draw against Newcastle last Sunday, Mourinho seemed to lay the blame at the feet of his players for their tendency to throw away leads this season.
Reports indicate that the Tottenham boss’ comments did not go down well in the Spurs dressing room, with some players feeling ‘fed up’ at the Portuguese coach telling them they are not good enough.
When asked how his players reacted to his comments after the Newcastle game, Mourinho told Football.London on Friday: “I’m not going to answer your question because for the whole week, everybody spoke about it, everybody took for granted what they were writing, what they were saying, so I don’t feel comfortable to come five or six days later to make comments about something people write and speak like if they know everything.
“I don’t think I want to go in that direction. I prefer to play or to let you play your game, I mean the media in general, I let you play the game we’ve had during the week and I just want to play our game at 1 pm. I don’t want to play that game.”
What generated even more controversy over the course of the week was the apparent confusion surrounding the reasons for Toby Alderweireld’s absence from the matchday squad at St James’ Park.
The Spurs boss said after Tottenham’s 2-2 draw against Newcastle that Alderweireld did not return from international duty in time to get tested for COVID and train with the squad.
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However, reports indicate that the Belgian did arrive back at Hotspur Way on Wednesday afternoon and trained with the squad for the next three days.
It has been rumoured that the 32-year-old feels as though the Tottenham boss attacked him for no reason and thus wants out of the club in the summer.
When asked to clarify his comments about the centre-back, Mourinho said: “I can’t clarify and I can’t clarify because you spoke about it for the whole week.
“You play the game, enjoy the game during the whole week and now I want to enjoy my game at 1 pm and now I’m here to answer to the question that you already answered for the whole week.
“There is nothing for me to clarify. If I have to clarify, I clarify with my people and not with the people who knows everything and wrote and spoke and sold papers and with audiences on radios and TVs.
“You don’t even pay me a percentage so I’m not going to play the game. Let me play, I’ve been working in the gym for two weeks for this game and now I’m going to arrive late.”
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