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Tottenham Hotspur manager José Mourinho was left in an awkward position when asked about Erik Lamela.
Lamela was forced to issue an apology Saturday after a photograph surfaced showing him at a large gathering of at least 18 people on Christmas Day, all in violation of the government’s Level 4 restrictions on household mixing.
The 28-year-old Argentine was with his teammate and compatriot Giovani Lo Celso, who also posted an apology on social media, and Spanish side Sergio Reguilón, who joined Spurs from Real Madrid in September.
West Ham star Manuel Lanzini was also present among the large group of family and friends.
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Tottenham “strongly condemned” the meeting in a statement and said the matter would be dealt with internally.
Mourinho said he was very disappointed in the Spurs trio of players after they had all been “educated” on how to behave.
However, there was more to the story in the way Tottenham’s three stars were treated in regards to their participation, or lack, in the team of the day against Leeds United on Saturday.
Lo Celso is still injured and missed the match, Reguilón was named to the bench but was not used and Lamela, who had returned from an Achilles tendon injury to play in the previous two games, was completely out.
With speculation about the reasons for Lamela’s absence, Mourinho was asked directly if the Argentine would be available to play in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup this Tuesday night or if he was isolated or had tested positive for COVID-19 after the headline party. meeting.
“Not available,” he said briefly before repeating, “not available.”
Mourinho was pressed further and asked why Lamela would be absent after coming off the bench in the previous two games against Stoke and Wolves.
The Spurs manager paused for a while, before shaking his head and simply saying, “It’s not my place to tell you … I’m just telling you that he can’t play against Brentford.”
One player who is back on Mourinho’s team and has started the last three games, including the 3-0 win at Leeds, is Harry Winks.
The 24-year-old English midfielder has been named to the starting lineup in just five of Spurs’ 16 Premier League games this season and did not play a single minute for eight consecutive league games stretching from October to late December. .
“So far it has been a checkered season,” he admitted.
“I’ve had some good games when I’ve been in and I’ve had some games where I’ve been left out and I haven’t been involved, which has been difficult.
“Every time I have the opportunity to play I want to play well and stay in the team, and that comes from working hard and performing when I have the opportunity.”
In a week in which former Winks manager Mauricio Pochettino finally took on a new challenge at PSG, the Spurs midfielder was asked what Mourinho had brought to the club the Argentine left behind.
“We have a different coach now with a different philosophy and a different style,” he said.
“I think the culture of the coach is to win and as players we want that too. Nothing has changed too drastically, but we have the mentality of wanting to win.”
Mourinho’s team has been criticized by some experts and sectors of the Tottenham faithful for the style of football they have been producing, especially in recent months.
“All we focus on as players is winning. The style of play is for other people to speak, not us. We just have to go out on the field right now and win, and that’s what we did. [against Leeds],” he said.
“It’s important to play well and we as players want to do it. We don’t want to not play soccer, but ultimately soccer is about winning.”
“If you win, everyone is happy, if you play well and lose, not everyone is happy.”
“So the most important thing for us is to win and if that means that at the end of the season we are up there or there, then that is all that really matters to us.”
On Tuesday night, Tottenham welcomes top-flight Brentford of the Championship for the Carabao Cup semi-final, and the Spurs are looking to reach their first domestic cup final in nearly six years.
“It will be a tough game,” Winks said. “They are a good team and they are doing well in the championship. We know it is not going to be a win.
“It is important that we approach the game well. It is important that we play when we can play and that we take advantage of our opportunities.
“We cannot afford to be complacent and this team. Even though they are in the Championship, they can still hurt us.
“So we have to tackle it correctly and we know that if we do we will put ourselves in a good position to win.”
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One thing that faced the Spurs in the modern era, particularly with the enormous strides made under Pochettino, was that world-class players like Harry Kane and Son Heung-min haven’t won any trophies.
Players such as Kyle Walker and before him Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Dimitar Berbatov and Teddy Sheringham have needed to leave the club to win important medals.
The hope within Tottenham is that serial trophy winner Mourinho with 25 major trophies to his name in 20 years in office will end the drought that has brought only two League Cups in 30 years and nothing in recent 13.
“We don’t pay much attention to what people say about it. We wanted to win a trophy every season, regardless of what people said,” Winks explained.
“Every footballer in the world wants to win trophies and we are no different.
“Obviously we know that there has been a bit of excitement around Tottenham for not winning a trophy for so long, but that hasn’t changed the way we think. We still want to win a trophy.”
When Spurs won their last trophy, defeating Chelsea in the 2008 League Cup final, their future midfielder was in the crowd at the national stadium.
“I was on the stand with my dad,” Winks recalled. “We were on the top level at Wembley and I remember being there for an hour after the game watching all the players celebrate on the field.
“It would be brilliant if we could do the same this season.”
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