‘He’s Seen Something…’ – Exclusive: Pundit fumes after Spurs warm-up details emerge
Noel Whelan has blasted the attitude of the Tottenham squad after Jose Mourinho revealed he was unhappy with what he had seen in the warm-up versus LASK on Thursday.
The former Premier League striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider assistant editor Russell Edge, has admitted it was a “sloppy” performance from Spurs and that it was alarming to hear what the Portuguese boss had to say.
As quoted by Sky Sports after the game, Mourinho revealed he “had a feeling” his side would be lacking in intensity and enthusiasm after watching the warm-up ahead of the 3-3 draw.
An injury-time equaliser from the Austrian outfit, who had taken the lead in Linz, meant the points were shared in the penultimate group stage match.
Whelan has admitted he was less than impressed with what he saw from the north Londoners and insisted Mourinho was spot on in his assessment of his side.
Whelan told Football Insider: “I think the main thing is that Jose Mourinho saw it before the game in the warm-up.
“You always get a sense in a warm-up, if they’re at it, if the tempo is right and he’s obviously seen something straight away he says to him they’re not at it, the tempo is not right, the attitude isn’t right.
“When that all happens in the 15 minutes or 20 minutes in your warm-up, you know that things aren’t gonna be right when the game starts and he was right in everything that he said.
“Sloppy defending against that kind of team that dominated up until the 40-minute mark isn’t the Tottenham team that Jose Mourinho wants to see.”
As quoted by Sky Sports, Mourinho said: “The fact that the Europa League group phase doesn’t motivate some of the players, I knew it.