Jose Mourinho has insisted to Football London that Tottenham Hotspur’s Steven Bergwijn’s omission from his starting line-up was not a reflection on the winger.
Bergwijn was only used as a substitute for Tottenham last night, but he made a big impact after coming on.
The £27 million Dutchman (BBC Sport) swung in the cross for Harry Kane to score from to put Tottenham back in front again.
But when asked what Bergwijn needed to do to start, Mourinho fired back.
“If I start with Bergwijn you would be now asking what Lucas has to do to start, what Son has to do to start,” he said.
“They have to do nothing, they have to be team players, and team players are players that start, that go on the bench, that come in for half an hour, that come in for one minute.
“How many times has Nuno left Traore on the bench to win matches in the last 30 minutes? You don’t ask Nuno why Traore is on the bench and why he is playing Jota or Podence or Dendoncker, it’s just me.
“So he doesn’t have to do anything else – he’s a team player, he plays for Tottenham and if Tottenham wants to try and compete against the best teams, Tottenham cannot have 11 good players. It needs more, and we had them on the bench.”
Lucas also actually impressed for Tottenham last night, but he didn’t manage to claim a goal or an assist like Bergwijn.
Bergwijn has certainly added a threat to Tottenham’s attack since his arrival, and his introduction helped swing the game in Mourinho’s side’s favour last night.
Tottenham ended up winning 3-1 at St. James’ Park, with Kane netting a brace and Heung-Min Son also getting on the scoresheet in the first half.
Spurs have now climbed up to seventh place in the Premier League table, after taking 10 points from their last four games.
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