Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that Harry Winks made a direct trip to the dressing room after being substituted in the 2-0 victory over Royal Antwerp because of the “cold weather” and his advice to “go for a hot shower”.
After Carlos Vinicius gave Spurs the lead, converting the rebound after Gareth Bale’s sublime free-kick, Mourinho made the bold call to immediately substitute both players and Winks, sending on Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
Winks, especially, looked upset at the decision after 57 minutes, barely acknowledging his manager while heading straight to the changing rooms, rather than joining his teammates on the bench.
But Mourinho has given an explanation, insisting he advised every player that came off to stay warm and take a shower.
“Every player that left the pitch I told them to go to the shower,” Mourinho told BT Sport. "With cold weather I always tell them to go to the shower.
“Just go for the hot shower and stay inside. I’m happy but it’s the impossible job to keep every player happy. Every club, even the ones with less potential, people who don’t play aren’t happy.”
Mourinho also explained that those players selected to come on were chosen due to the “intensity” they were able to bring, while the Portuguese also bemoaned his inability to keep everybody happy.
“The game was open, I thought about the changes at 0-0, then we scored, but that didn’t change my mind,” Mourinho said. "We needed more, more of routines that these players have more intensity, they play regularly, week in, week out.
"A last push, we kept them away from our goal. I don’t remember Joe Hart making a save, it was a question of trying to kill the game. At 0-0 at half-time, I thought that with a bit of intensity, they would collapse.
"It’s a great free-kick, but the decision was made. Harry is Harry, Sonny is intense and fast, since they arrive in the pitch it was more difficult for the opponent.
“I don’t keep them happy, I believe all of them are happy because we’re winning. But I don’t believe everybody is happy at all. I don’t make miracles.”
