Tottenham players have been baffled by Jose Mourinho’s claim that Toby Alderweireld was left out of his team to face Newcastle United because he didn’t train until Saturday.
Spurs needed to field their best players for the game against the Magpies because it was a fixture they had to win.
Mourinho started the game with a central defensive partnership of Joe Rodon and Davinson Sanchez.
They failed to help the club keep a clean sheet and Mourinho was asked why Alderweireld didn’t start the game instead.
The Portuguese manager said as quoted by Mail Sport: ‘They (with Serge Aurier) went for their national teams and they didn’t make the Covid tests on time to be in the training session on Thursday, not even on Friday. They come only yesterday.’
However, the same report claims that Alderweireld was in Spurs’ training on Thursday and took to the field with his teammates.
These comments by the Special One have left members of his squad baffled, according to the report.
It further reveals that there is evidence that the Belgian was in training on Thursday and Friday and Aurier trained on Friday as well.
If the defenders truly prepared for the game, then there might be a more serious reason why they weren’t named in the team.