Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho has admitted to Football London that he almost left Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son on the bench last night, but changed his mind at the last minute.
Son and Lucas were both required to start for Tottenham again, as Mourinho named an unchanged line-up for the second time in four days.
The Portuguese boss generally likes to make some changes to keep his squad fresh, but with Tottenham’s fixture schedule so demanding, plenty of his team were tired.
And Mourinho says that he decided that starting Son and Lucas, even though they were exhausted, was the best option for his side.
“I had the feeling of starting the game with fresh players and leave Lucas and Son on the bench,” Mourinho admitted, after his side’s 3-1 victory at St. James’ Park.
“My feeling was if they go on the bench when they come in, they come in tired. They would be tired anyway.
“So I thought it was better to start with the same players who started against Arsenal. Let us see where they could go, like it happened with Gio [Lo Celso] and Lucas and we had of course a couple more who were really, really tired.
“I had the feeling that the impact could be done by really, really fresh players. So for Stevie and Lamela to come from the bench with that energy I think was very important for us, because for us it was the fourth match with two days in between.”
Mourinho’s decision to start with Son was certainly vindicated, as the South Korean fired Tottenham in front with a well placed finish.
Son nipped back inside and drilled the ball beyond Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal to put his side in front.
Newcastle did manage to come back after that, but Tottenham sealed the three points when Harry Kane notched a brace in the second-half.
Despite the success, Mourinho could well face a selection dilemma over whether to play Son and Moura at the weekend, with the games coming thick and fast for Spurs.
Tottenham take on Leicester City on Sunday, and Mourinho will surely want to protect his side against fatigue in that fixture.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
