In the wake of Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United, Jose Mourinho complained that he had “no bench to react” to Friday’s Premier League return.
Spurs played their first match since the outbreak of the coronavirus, facing off with fellow top-four Manchester United in a match that saw the two teams share points behind Steven Bergwijn and Bruno Fernandes’s goals.
As a result of the extended break, some main Tottenham players came back to health, with Harry Kane and Heung-min Son returning to the lineup early this season after injuries.
Nevertheless, on the day Mourinho was left without Dele Alli and Lucas Moura, with the former suspended while the latter missed due to an injury suffered during training.
Without the duo, Mourinho turned to the likes of Gedson Fernandes and Giovani Lo Celso, using as part of the Premier League ‘s return only two of the five substitutes allowed to.
“Happy with things and disappointed with others. What did I like? I liked the attitude of the team, the organization, the control, being solid. Giving United something they don’t like. Unhappy with the fact that I had no bench to react to it in the way I was reading the game. We were exhausted upfront as they were more dominant and couldn’t move on,” Mourinho told Sky Sports after the draw.
He added: “The players performed fantastically defensively-they had two risky shots that saved Hugo Lloris and nothing else. Everything else was under control. We were good with the ball for 70 minutes when we had the strength, and we knew what we needed to do.
With his counterpart Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turning to Paul Pogba, Odion Ighalo, Mason Greenwood, Nemanja Matic, and Eric Bailly with Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard among the unused replacements, Mourinho pointed to the abundance of choices on Manchester United ‘s bench.
On Tuesday, Tottenham will be back in action when they play host at West Ham, and on Wednesday, Manchester United will be home to Sheffield United.
