Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho branded ‘childish’ for antics after Europa League loss
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho was clearly not happy after his side lost 1-0 to Royal Antwerp in the Europa League on Thursday.
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has come under fire from Arsenal legend Martin Keown for his “childish” response to the Europa League defeat to Royal Antwerp. Mourinho made nine changes for the European fixture with the hope of giving some of his big players a rest. He was still able to name a strong starting line-up though and were expected to pick up all three points against the Belgian side.
Gareth Bale and Dele Alli were both given a rare start but they were unable to affect the game as Antwerp took a 1-0 lead in the first half.
Mourinho reacted by making four changes at the break and ended up bringing on Harry Kane as well to try and salvage a point. But they were unable to break down Antwerp’s rigid defence with Mourinho clearly frustrated after the game.
The Portuguese tactician admitted that he wanted to change his entire starting 11 at half-time. And then he took to Instagram with a funny-yet-serious post calling out his players.
The caption read: “Bad perfomances deserve bad results. Hope everyone in this bus is as upset as I am. Tomorow 11 AM training.” But Keown was less than impressed by Mourinho’s decision to take to social media. “I don’t think my respect grows for the manager,” Keown said on BT Sport.
“Some of those players would have felt wounded at half-time, the players who came on were hardly any better. “Is this how we’re going to communicate? “If you want to talk to me, talk to my face. “After the draw against West Ham, we’re hearing he didn’t speak to the players for four or five days but spoke in the public. Keep it in house. “It’s a bit childish. Keep it in the dressing room, I’m not sure that’s healthy.”
Tottenham return to action on Sunday when they face Brighton before travelling to Bulgaria to face Ludogorets in their third Europa League group game.
The defeat to Antwerp leaves Tottenham joint-second in the group with LASK while Ludogorets are yet to win in the group
