Tottenham legend Gary Mabbutt has claimed that he had no issues with the way Serge Aurier reacted when he was taken off by Jose Mourinho in the second half of Sunday’s defeat to Leicester.
Aurier, who has been in brilliant form over the last couple of months, made a poor challenge right on the stroke of half-time to hand Leicester a penalty, which Jamie Vardy duly put away.
Mourinho then brought on Gareth Bale for Tanguy Ndombele at half-time but Giovani Lo Celso pulled up with an injury at the start of the second half, which forced the Spurs boss into another substitution, bringing Lucas Moura on for the Argentine.
After the Foxes went 2-0 up owing to an unfortunate own goal from Toby Alderweireld, Mourinho had little choice but to roll the dice as he brought Harry Winks on in place of Aurier, with Moussa Sissoko slotting into right-back.
The Ivorian stormed straight down the tunnel but Mabbutt insisted that it was likely a case of the defender being disappointed with his own display rather than at being taken off.
The former Spurs centre-back told Football Fancast: “To be honest, you get used to it. You know, you never want a player to be happy at being substituted, being brought off, you should be frustrated and angry. You’ve earned your place in the team, and now someone else is being brought on because the manager feels it’s not working.
“For me, a player goes off. He’s subbed. He’s not happy, most [players] will not be happy but still sit on the bench, some of them are totally cheesed off for whatever reason.
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“Then, Serge, I’m sure was more frustrated with the penalty he gave away and with himself, more than anything else, so no that won’t affect any of the other players. It wouldn’t be an issue.”
Spurs Web Opinion
One could see the disappointment in Aurier’s face as soon as he made that stupid challenge on James Justin just before half-time. The right-back seemed to have eradicated those sorts of lapses in concentration from his game over the past couple of months but he gave his critics more ammunition with that poor error.
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