José Mourinho accused some of his players of “hiding” during Tottenham’s defeat in the North London derby to Arsenal, pointing to the lack of intensity that led Gareth Bale and Tanguy Nbombele to be replaced early in the second half.
The spurs were deservedly defeated in the Emirates, despite a late 10-man rally after Érik Lamela, who opened the scoring, was sent off. An Arsenal team without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was removed from the bench for disciplinary reasons that were intended to involve timing, dominated for long periods and won with a penalty kick from Alexandre Lacazette that Mourinho called “an attack on penalty shootout”.
The main target of Mourinho’s frustration was a slow performance in the first half, in which he admitted that Tottenham were lucky to reach the draw, despite having scored a goal from Lamela. “We were poor,” he said of the first 45 minutes. “Defending badly, without intensity, without pressure. In terms of attacking football, some important players are hiding. Too bad. “
Mourinho stated that “he was not pointing the finger at player A, B or C”, but criticized “people hiding, not showing themselves, without intensity, without passes and movements”. Bale and Ndombele were replaced at 57 and 62 minutes, respectively, with the entry of Moussa Sissoko and Dele Alli.
Asked specifically about Bale, he said: “Gareth and Tanguy, we need more intensity in our game. We need to press harder, be more intense in the game ”. Lacazette scored a penalty shortly after these changes were made. Michael Oliver and VAR referee Paul Tierney judged Davinson Sánchez’s foul on the Arsenal striker, committed a split second after Lacazette missed a shot, deserved a penalty, but Mourinho dismissed those decisions with contempt.
“I don’t want to call it a penalty because it is an offense to penalties,” he said. “If someone has a different opinion, he has to be one of the great fans of Arsenal with a ticket for the season; it is the only one that I accept, because it is passion speaking. Other than that, I do not accept a different view, as it is obvious. A much happier Mikel Arteta could relish Arsenal’s first derby victory since December 2018, along with an exhibition that justified his decision to follow his principles and omit Aubameyang, who was in good shape. “I took what I thought was the right decision and we draw a line,” he said. “We know the importance of Auba for the club and that’s it. It is already solved, now let’s go ahead. “
Arsenal are 10 points behind in the Champions League, but have won three and drawn one of their last five games against the top seven, with West Ham and Liverpool their next two opponents in the league. “Until it is mathematically impossible, we will believe and try for sure,” he said.
The Fiver: sign up and receive our daily football email