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Martin Keown has criticized Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho for his controversial Instagram post after Spurs' 1-0 defeat to Royal Antwerp in the Europa League.
Mourinho had made 9 changes to the team that won 1-0 against Burnley on Monday. The move backfired as Tottenham put up a lackluster performance and endured their first away loss of the new season.
While Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies were the only players who retained their place in the team, Tottenham did have the likes of Gareth Bale and Dele Alli in the starting eleven.
However, the Englishman’s return to the first team did not go according to plans, and he was hauled off by Mourinho at the break, one of the four chances that Jose Mourinho made before the second half.
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After addressing his post-match duties, Jose Mourinho posted a message on Instagram from the Tottenham bus, which was a photograph of him sitting disappointed. He wrote:
"Bad performances deserve bad results. Hope everyone in this bus is as upset as I am. Tomorrow 11 AM training."
Even though Jose Mourinho did not name any of the Tottenham players, the message did not impress Arsenal legend Keown.
Martin Keown says Tottenham Hotspur players will be disappointed by Jose Mourinho’s message
Keown started by expressing his displeasure at the Tottenham manager’s decision to post the message. He also added that Jose Mourinho risked harming his own image in the process. He said:
"In the dressing room, though, surely? I’m not happy with him going public. Maybe he didn’t say anything, we heard that he didn’t say anything a couple of weeks ago, he just left the players to it. I don’t think my respect would grow for the manager because I’m thinking some of those players would have felt wounded at half-time when they were taken off."
The former Arsenal defender pointed out that the Tottenham players who were hauled off at the break would be hurting from the decision too.
"Four of them taken off, the likes of Dele Alli, you’re feeling that maybe my career’s over at Spurs. But it’s part of a collective, it can happen. The players that came on weren’t any better. Is this how we’re going to communicate?" he said.
Keown believes that the players would have preferred if Jose Mourinho expressed his displeasure in private.
"If you’re gonna talk to me, talk to my face. It’s a bit childish sometimes what we’re hearing. We, as players, have to keep our mouths shut, but he can say whatever he wants publicly. I’d rather keep it in the dressing room. If I’m not good enough, I’ll accept that, but I want to work hard to get back in the team. Let’s keep it healthy, I’m unsure if that’s healthy," he added.
