- Aug 13, 2005
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/were-tired-say-tottenham-players-k59883tmz
We’re tired, say Tottenham players
Matt Hughes, Deputy Football Correspondent
September 20 2018, 12:01am, The Times
Spurs lost 2-1 away at Inter in the Champions League on TuesdayALAMY
Several Tottenham Hotspur players claim that the team’s slump is down to exhaustion and mental fatigue and believe they should be given more days off.
Tottenham suffered a third successive defeat for the first time under Mauricio Pochettino when they lost 2-1 away at Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday but the players were made to sleep at the training ground afterwards.
They stayed at the new Lodge hotel at the club’s Enfield base for the first time after returning from Milan at midnight, before training yesterday in preparation for Saturday’s Premier League game against Brighton & Hove Albion. The players have no issue with spending the night at the Lodge, which was built in the summer and used for rest periods between double training sessions during pre-season, but it has added to the feeling of some in the dressing room that they are being worked too hard, particularly given that many of them were heavily involved at the World Cup.
The impact of Pochettino’s training regime has been exacerbated by the after-effects of the tournament in Russia, which included 12 Tottenham players — third only to Manchester City and Chelsea in terms of Premier League representation — eight of whom reached the semi-finals.
Tottenham insist that the manager’s training schedule has not changed during his four years at the club, although that is part of some of the players’ grievance as complaints about a lack of time off are longstanding.
These are poch’s words about not rushing Dele back. Doesn’t exactly correlate with that twat hughes’s nonsense.
Dele Alli is training again, is he ready to play?
Still we need to wait tomorrow to assess him, to see if he’ll be part of the squad. Today was a recovery day for everyone and it’s difficult to judge today if he’s ready or not to play. Tomorrow we’ll see if he’s ready or not to be part, if it’s possible for him to help or maybe if we need to wait a few days more to involved him in the competition.
In a losing run, are you tempted to take more risks if he’s not 100 per cent?
No, we’re never going to put ourselves or our interests in front, taking risks with a player. It’s impossible. After four years you know very well we’re never going to put a player at risk because we win. We need to win and the most important thing is all the players who are going to be on the pitch, we need to feel they’re 100 per cent. Of course football, it’s a sport where you always assume risk, but not consciously. If you’re conscious you are going to take a risk, it’s impossible for us to take a decision and then something wrong happens when you knew it was a massive risk.”