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Europa League Exit: Jose Mourinho At Crossroads, As Hugo Lloris Hints At Deep Division In Tottenham Dressing Room – Naijanewsdirect

Hugo Lloris has revealed the depths of the divisions in the Tottenham Hotspur dressing room by accusing players of losing togetherness and complaining when not in the starting line-up.

The Spurs captain branded the performance in their 3-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb as disgraceful but pointed to underlying issues in Mourinho’s squad and a lack of unity.

He pointed to players named among the substitutes in matches not supporting those picked by Mourinho to start.

“To behave as a team is the most difficult thing in football,” said Lloris. “Whatever the decision of the manager, you have to follow the way of the team. If you only follow the way of the team when you are in the starting XI it causes big problems for the team.

“You pay in your season. This was a consequence of that. We had a great moment in the past because we could trust the togetherness that was in our team. In this game, I’m not sure about that.

“On the bench there is an influence you can have, to push the others. In training sessions to same. Everyone has to be ready to push and make sure they are ready to help the team when the moment comes.

Hugo Lloris

“It is not only to stay on the side and complain because we have to respect the badge. It’s the most important thing, over all the players in the place.

“One thing is to come in front of the camera and say ‘I’m ambitious’. It is another thing to show it in training sessions and on the pitch.”

Spurs can still win the EFL Cup this season but Lloris, in a stunning interview with BT Sport, points to problems that run deep at the club.

“It’s just the accumulation. We are a club full of ambition but the team at the moment is just a reflection of what is going on at the club,” he said.

“We have a lack of basics and lack of fundamentals. All our performances are in relation to that. Mentally we should be stronger and more competitive. I didn’t feel that on the field in this game.

“When you are not ready at this level, you pay. If you don’t respect the opponent it is punishing and that is what happened. The blame is on us – all the team, all the club, we are guilty.”

Spurs went into the tie against Dinamo two goals ahead but were defeated by Mislav Oršić’s hat-trick.

“We feel more than disappointed. It’s just a disgrace. I just hope everyone in the changing room feels responsible for the situation because it is a disgrace. What more can I say? The taste of the defeat is more than painful and we are all responsible for that,” said Lloris.

“What is more painful is the feeling that we didn’t have the desire to kill the game. When you are a competitor you cannot behave that way.

“We all belong to the team. Football is not about individual players. It is not because there are two or three or four players who are going to step up. That is not enough. We need more than that. That is something we must understand.”

Mourinho accuses players of lacking professionalism

Jose Mourinho accused his Tottenham Hotspur players of lacking professionalism and disrespecting the Europa League after crashing out of the competition.

Spurs were leading 2-0 from the first leg but lost the last-16 tie after a hat-trick from Mislav Oršić at Stadion Maksimir, making it a miserable week for Mourinho after his side’s poor performance against Arsenal on Sunday. The Tottenham manager made an apology for his team’s performance in Croatia.

 

“For me professionalism starts in the attitude. You must have attitude every day and every minute of every game, then more talent or less talent makes a difference but what is never negotiable is attitude and they beat us on attitude,” said Mourinho.

 

“My team didn’t look like they were playing an important match and it is for me and the respect I have for my own career and job. I feel sorry that my team is the one that didn’t bring to the game not only the basics of football but the basics of life, which is to respect our jobs and give everything.”

 

Tottenham great Glenn Hoddle, working as a pundit on BT Sport, branded the defeat diabolical and disastrous, with Mourinho saying his players must react to the criticism levelled at them.

 

“I don’t need Mr Hoddle’s words to hurt deeply from this. Sad is not enough. I respect everything that somebody connected or not connected with the club says about us. We have to accept it. The problem will be if they feel hurt or ashamed with the criticism. If you don’t feel it or care, that is a different problem,” said Mourinho.

 

Mourinho says his players were fully prepared to face Oršić, the Croatia winger, but the difference was the attitude of the players.

 

“The first thing is to tell you is my players, they watched and watched and watched Oršić’s actions during his career,” he said. “We prepared with the analysts’ clips and the goals Oršić scored, I saw them all and my players watched them all so I don’t know what to say, only that the first goal I watched it before, the second goal I watched it before and the third goal I watched it before.

 

“I gave them all the information about Oršić. That’s all I can say. Congratulations to him because it’s a great night for him.”

 

“Of course I’m concerned. We work very hard. We try to provide the best conditions for the players to perform, of course it concerns me. I believe we all have to be humble enough to accept any criticism that you can make of our work. But it’s not for me to go on that.

 

“They left sweat, energy, blood. In the end they left even tears of happiness. I can only apologise to the Tottenham supporters. I hope they feel the same way I feel. Today is live or die and in this moment we die. In some other matches I have the same feeling. Until the last day of the season we have to try and do our best.”

Courtesy: NBC Sports

Tunde Ogunmola
Tunde Ogunmolahttps://naijanewsdirect.com
'Tunde Ogunmola Executive Editor/CEO (OBAT CONNECTS CONCEPTS) Publishers of Naija News Direct) Tel: 08055102893, 08126439182 (WhatsApp) Email:babs.ogunmola@yahoo.com
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