Tottenham Hotspur’s top-four chances took another blow as they were beaten by their London rivals.
Jose Mourinho has shared that Erik Lamela was communicating during his warm-up whether or not he could play as Tottenham suffered a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday at Stamford Bridge.
The Spurs boss told Football London that Lamela is an ‘amazing guy’ and he thinks that ‘people think I am stupid’ for not playing the playmaker.
Lamela came on a second-half substitute for his side but it wasn’t enough because Tottenham went onto to lose to Frank Lampard’s men.
Mourinho stated that during Lamela’s time on the pitch, he ‘played so well’, as he stated what was being said between the duo during the warm-up.
“Yes, [I stand by it], we knew it was important to play the way we did tactically and then use what pace we had,” Mourinho told Football London.
“We had strange game plans but we needed to have them. Like Lamela, who played well, people think I’m stupid that I don’t play him, but he’s constantly communicating with me in the warm-up, can I play or not. He was telling me about his feelings.
“That guy who played so well for 20 minutes, in the warm-up, he was in communication with me because he was not sure he could go. That’s Lamela. Amazing guy, a fantastic player and trying to help the team.”
Spurs are still in the race to finish in the top four but they are now four points behind Chelsea in the Premier League table.
Their lack of strikers at the club is now a big problem for them because it may now dent their chances of finishing as high as they want, and staying in the Champions League.
There is a lot of pressure on the likes of Dele Alli, Lucas Moura, Lamela and Giovani Lo Celso, who are seemingly their only attack-minded options.
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