Tottenham gaffer Mourinho bristled in the press conference for this game when it came to the International break, and its consequences which he was then tasked with having to mop up. I don’t blame him. As regular readers will know, I’ve close to zero time for these games which do nothing but plague Premier League coaches who have to watch their boys compete in games which rarely benefit their domestic sides.
José made a thinly veiled accusation that City were one of the clubs that were encouraging their charges to swerve international duty, in deference to the Premier League. Pep Guardiola has hit back, and in quotes carried by the Irish Times, absolutely insisting that Raheem Sterling was genuinely injured.
Was Sterling really unable to play? Who truly knows, as not every ailment can be 100% authenticated. What everyone wants is a level playing field for all sides and the existence of international breaks is never going to allow this to happen.