Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho has told Football.London that Giovani Lo Celso kept telling him he was ‘fine’ whenever he was going to be substituted.
Spurs were in action against West Ham United on Tuesday night, and were looking for a win after a 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
After a frustrating first half, Tomas Soucek’s own goal gave Tottenham the breakthrough, though the ball appeared to strike Davinson Sanchez’s arm on the way through.
Harry Kane then bagged the second goal from Son Heung-min’s pass, giving Tottenham all three points over their London rivals.
That gives Tottenham a real shot at Champions League qualification, and whilst he wasn’t on the scoresheet, Giovani Lo Celso was key.
The Argentinian started in midfield with Moussa Sissoko, and turned in a superb display. He racked up three key passes, three successful dribbles, two interceptions and one tackle won in an all-action display.
After the game, Mourinho admitted that he didn’t actually plan to give Lo Celso 90 minutes last night, but whenever he tried to substitute him, Lo Celso would say he was ‘fine’.
Mourinho therefore left him on, and the same went for Harry Kane as the two Spurs stars pushed through to get Tottenham over the line.
“I rely a lot on the players’ feelings,” said Mourinho. “For example Lo Celso today I was thinking not to give him 90 minutes and then in the end when I was communicating with him the feedback was always I’m fine. With Harry it was the same. In our friendly against Norwich where we played four periods of 30 minutes, Harry was the only one who wanted to play three periods because he felt that his body needed it,” he added.
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