Tottenham Hotspur managed to put a bad week behind them with an impressive victory last night against Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The Lilywhites scored two without reply at Villa Park following their back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Dinamo Zagreb.
Jose Mourinho made plenty of changes from the XI that let him down on Thursday in Europe, introducing the likes of Giovani Lo Celso, Japhet Tanganga, Joe Rodon and Carlos Vinicius.
Harry Winks and Matt Doherty were not even in the matchday squad, while the likes of Moussa Sissoko dropped to the bench for the Villa game.
In his post-match press conference, Mourinho revealed that he wanted angry players on the pitch who would play every minute as if it were their last, claiming that Rodon and Tanganga were two such players.
He also named Kane and Vinicius as the two best defenders on the night, while highlighting Lucas Moura for a crazy performance.
He said (Football London): “My thinking was we need angry people, we need fresh and positive feelings.
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“We need kids on the bench that live a dream, kids that if you play them 10 seconds, they play them like the last seconds of their career. I need people on the pitch that I know the match is really important for them. Tanganga and Rodon are these kind of players.
“This kind of positivity is something that the team needed. I think it was good. The two best defenders on our team were Harry Kane and Vinicius.
“In the first half, they didn’t have a shot. In the second half of course there is always a corner, always a shot, always a second ball but when you start defending with your two strikers, the team is solid and in control. So we had lots of positive things.
“And of course I understand, they deserve this individual praise. Crazy performance by Lucas, Harry, Pierre – we had some fantastic individual performances but for me, this is the victory of the dressing room, the victory of their spirit, the victory of the group that felt ashamed of what happened in the last week.
“To be ashamed I always think is a man’s reaction. Don’t care, don’t give a (swears) is not for men. To be ashamed is a man’s reaction which they had and I’m very happy for them.”
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