Jan Vertonghen appears close to tears after being substituted by Jose Mourinho last night in the second half of Tottenham Hotspur’s FA Cup fourth round replay.
Spurs overcame Southampton 3-2 thanks to Son Heung-min’s late penalty, but it was another testing evening for the Belgian centre-back, whose contract is set to expire this summer with no extension in sight.
The 32-year-old was taken off for Gedson Fernandes after just 54 minutes and was clearly distraught as he walked off the pitch and took his place on the bench.
Mourinho and Vertonghen did at least exchange a handshake on the touchline.
It was Vertonghen’s struggles to cover down the channels whenever Saints spread the ball wide that saw a switch in formation.
With Vertonghen removed, Spurs reverted back to a back four after setting up in a 3-5-2 system.
“No injury, it was my decision. It’s normal that he’s sad. No player likes to come out,” Mourinho clarified.
“I did that with [Eric] Dier against Olympiacos. Even worse because it was in the first half. In the second half I had a feeling in the first half that I needed to change to a back four.
“It was just a question of waiting for the right moment to bring on Dele, because Dele was a big question mark.
“Like a chess game with no bishops or kings, no queens. Missing so many pieces, it was very, very hard with so many injuries and problems. No [Steven] Bergwijn.
“I had to change and I decided to leave [Japhet] Tanganga and Toby [Alderweireld], a bit faster and better to cope with space.
“I sacrificed Jan. So sad yes, and with a reason to be sad, but happy now because we won.”
