Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has told Gareth Southgate to name the Premier League managers who put pressure on him to leave their players out of the England squad.
Manchester City ace Raheem Sterling withdrew from the England squad during the international break but Mourinho believes that he will feature at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Three members of Mourinho's Tottenham side all played at least two games during the international break, with Harry Kane playing over 70 minutes of the Three Lions' dead-rubber UEFA Nations League clash against Iceland.
While Mourinho has no problem with that, he appears to have suggested that Pep Guardiola is among those who put 'huge pressure' upon the national team not to select their players.
Mourinho said: “I’m okay with that. A national team match should never be a dead rubber. The only problem for me is it should be the same for everybody, not just for some.
“Gareth Southgate, I read, supposedly said that some club managers put pressure on the players not to play for the national team. And because of that he feels sometimes the need to call club managers to cool down the emotions and control a difficult situation for him.
“I would like him to say who. I would like him to say which are the coaches who put pressure on the players not to play. And I would like him to say which are the coaches that he calls and speaks on the phone with them. He has the right, the power to call the players he wants.
“He wants to win matches, especially after a defeat, even being a dead rubber is an important match. I sympathise totally with that.
“Of course, we all know that Sterling is going to play (against Tottenham). When Eric Dier left the national team injured in the past month, he didn’t play two matches for Tottenham.
“He didn’t play the Premier League match and the Europa League match. He needed a couple of weeks to recover. And Raheem is going to play tomorrow (Saturday).
“These are the little details that I think Gareth should explain to us all. But apart from that, I totally support him that in a country like England where the shirt and the three lions is always to be respected, that he plays with the players he wants to play.”
