I think it is pretty safe to say that Erik Lamela’s time at Tottenham has been beyond frustrating. The Argentine’s injury record surely now eclipses even that of the hairdresser Darren Anderton.
Last night’s cameo from Erik would have been against any physio’s advice. The 27-year-old went from being injured, to a little light physio training, and straight into a Champions League game – where one might add – he played with the devil in him. This devotion to duty was extraordinary.
José was blunt in his post match comments, blunter than Mauricio ever could be. Sure, Mourinho was supportive of his players, but the entire crux of what José was saying is that this squad is incomplete. Who could compete with this squad? Pochettino couldn’t and that was with Kane and Son available!
Gone was the “happy with my squad” corporate line, Jose was simply bewildered about his situation. Referring to certain players, like Lo Celso and Bergwijn as being “dead”, the gaffer has now just two days before the early kick-off against Chelsea, and then we are back in the FA cup.
Worse yet, Mourinho knows that this is it. There is no reprieve, and these are all the resources he has until the end of the season.
An “unenviable task” barely describes the path ahead for the 57-year-old, and who created the environment in which it fermented. This “no strikers” thing is catastrophic. In the past we’ve always at least had two options, plus attacking players who could pop up and help out.
Mourinho doesn’t have immunity from criticism, no more than Pochettino did. But it is Daniel Levy that is the transfer don, and the neglect of the squad happened on his watch. The neglect reached a crescendo last night, in some respects, one even more powerful that the farcical Champions League final loss to Liverpool.
Last night, had we watched Poch lose 1-0 with his shoelaces tied together, it’s quite possible to believe that some fans would’ve said, “Ah look, we’re still recovering from the last build his shoelaces are tied together”, yet last night this was @’d me on Twitter.
God help us indeed.