Many managers would have been tempted, with a few minutes left and a 3-0 lead intact, to turn to the bench and beckon the 33-year-old defender, soon to leave for a new challenge after eight years at the club.
But not Jose Mourinho. Tottenham’s manager is single-minded, focused on winning as efficiently and as convincingly as possible. There is, as he would undoubtedly be quick to point out, no room for sentiment.
The player in question is, of course, Jan Vertonghen, who looks set to leave Spurs after almost a decade at the end of the season. He was not given that last appearance at the club’s glistening new stadium (though without fans it would probably have been significantly less meaningful anyway) against Leicester on Sunday.
That does not mean Mourinho isn’t appreciative of the Belgian centre-back. “The only thing I can say is every day is a pleasure for me to work with a guy of his dimension,” he said on Friday. “I can only have very good words about Jan.
“His future belongs to him. At the moment we will inform and that's the correct procedure for a player of the last generation at the club. Eight years means a lot in modern football.”
Mourinho, though, is not going to play anyone out of obligation or affection. The situation before Sunday’s visit of Leicester was simple: two games to play, two games to secure a place in the Europa League next season.
Though Mourinho has often derided that competition, qualification could mean more funds in the transfer window and the ability to attract higher quality players.
So Vertonghen was left out. The harsh truth is that he is now the past, an excellent servant of the club who is soon to leave for pastures new. Mourinho knows that, and he knows that he has struck on something defensively, too.
Spurs looked in disarray when they fell to a 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United earlier this month. There were questions asked about Mourinho’s reputation as one of the game’s most astute defensive tacticians. That was understandable, given the number of goals his side were shipping.
Since then, though, Tottenham have conceded just two league goals in five games, winning four and drawing one. They have beaten Everton, Arsenal, Newcastle and now Leicester, who had no answer to a disciplined, efficacious Spurs performance.
For the last three games, Mourinho has opted to play with Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez as his centre-backs. And they look to have formed a strong partnership. Three wins in a row suggest those two are, for now at least, going to be persisted with at the back.
