Tottenham star disagrees with Mourinho claim that players were lazy against Everton

Ben Davies has claimed that Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat to Everton on Sunday was not down to a lack of effort from the Spurs players.

There was plenty of optimism around the club going into Sunday’s season opener against Everton but the dull and uninspiring performance from the home side indicated that there is still a lot of work to be done.

The Lilywhites let the Toffees dictate the tempo of the game for large periods as Carlo Ancelotti’s new-look midfield, consisting of summer signings Abdoulaye Doucoure, Allan, and James Rodriguez, took control of proceedings.

While Spurs were still a threat on the counter-attack during the first half, they struggled to create anything of substance after the away side went ahead through a Dominic Calvert-Lewin header just before the hour mark.

Mourinho insisted after the game that Tottenham forwards did not press with enough energy and insisted that the “lazy pressure” by his team allowed Everton to play out from the back.

However, Davies insisted that every one of his teammates gave their all on Sunday. Responding to the Spurs boss’ comments, the left-back told The BBC (as relayed by Football.London): “Look it’s a tough one, I think everyone worked hard.

“Personally I gave my all, I wouldn’t doubt everybody else in the team gave it their all. It’s hard to put it down to a lack of effort.

“Sometimes you have off days. But I’m sure in the next few days we’ll look at it and evaluate it going forward.

“It’s obviously not how we wanted to start the season.

“It’s disappointing but we have to look at the bigger picture – there’s a lot more games to come.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The way we play demands a lot of our front men and it was evident yesterday that our forwards lacked a bit of fitness and sharpness. It is harsh to accuse the players of being lazy since many of them have not really had a proper pre-season. Hopefully, the busy run of games we have coming up will help ensure the players get match fit.

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