Mourinho explains Gareth Bale, Dele Alli omission from starting XI vs West Ham
According to Football.london, Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has revealed the reason behind leaving Gareth Bale and Dele Alli out of the starting lineup against West Ham United.
Tottenham came into the game needing a victory in order to keep the hopes of a top-four finish alive. However, it was another disappointing display with West Ham taking the lead through Michail Antonio early in the first half.
Early in the second period, Jesse Lingard doubled the Hammers’ lead. Spurs did show signs of fight, but only after Bale had come on as a substitute. The Welshman assisted Lucas Moura to pull one goal back and came close to scoring himself on a couple of occasions, hitting the woodwork.
So, it was a bit baffling that he did not start the game from the go, especially after having put in a fine display in midweek. Mourinho, though, explaining his absence from the lineup, said, the Real Madrid loanee is not in the physical condition to be starting two games in space of three days.
“[Gareth is] not yet ready to start two matches in three days. Gareth because of his evolution. This is part of his evolution. No doubt that the performance was good and no doubt that I believe sooner rather than later he will be ready to play more than he is now.”
The Portuguese also revealed that the case was the same with Dele Alli as well, given that he returned from an injury recently.
“The same as Dele for different reasons. For Dele because he was injured and out of the team for more than a month, not even training.”
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The result has now left Tottenham nine points below West Ham in fourth place. Another season without Champions League football could prove to be detrimental for Spurs. It is imperative that Mourinho picks up things at the earliest.
